Thread: Hafco contractor style table saw few questions

Try machinery house for the riving knife,or make one, they are just apiece of flat steel cut to shape.

The shaft sticking out the front (1) is the blade height adjustment. The wheel is missing. The one at the side (3) is tilt. The bolt (2) looks like a lock. If you wind them you will see the blade tilt raise and lower. The winding wheels are missing. I hope you got them with the machine?

Not sure about your specific saw, but on most table saws there's a large handle on the front for blade height and one on the side for blade tilt.

The table saw has other winder handles for tilt and raise/lowering the saw, so all these extra bars/rods are not for any of those functions.

The riving knife doesn’t have any mechanism down inside the blade area for attaching a flat riving knife


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3 is the front, just under the table, above the height winder.
1 and 2 are both at the rear of the machine, 2 inches approximately apart


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I had one of these, but I got rid of it a few years back and the details are really hazy.

My memory is that in no 1 the long rod was what the combined blade guard and riving knife attached to. There was a kind of nearly-round chunk of metal that slipped over the rod, with a flattened side and two screws that fixed the blade guard on. This arrangement cantilevered the bulk of the blade guard over the rear of the table and made it tilt when the blade tilted.

The front of the blade guard may have been fixed at the rear of the blade slot somehow, as the gap in the insert which you have circled would indicate, or maybe it did not - can’t remember.

I don’t recall a separate riving knife. I’m pretty sure the clear plastic blade guard articulated on the top of the ‘riving knife’ and it had a couple of anti-kickback pawls on either side, and a rather crudely sharpened leading edge. As the machines aged the riving knife/blade guard combination lost alignment and was usually removed - very troublesome. I used to just give mine a yank to left or right when it played up, but the more you did this the shorter the interval to a repeat performance was.

You should be able to get a parts diagram from somewhere. There was on in the very skimpy manual that came with it.

Thanks Arron, that bar out the back makes sense as the guard holder.
Cheers very much for the insights [emoji106]


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Another thing has come back to me.

The blade guard/riving knife assembly was fixed at the front, inside the cabinet and just behind the blade. I think there was a single bolt holding it here, so look for a threaded hole on a face that runs parallel to the blade, just behind it. Probably very easy to overlook. I remember it was awkward to remove the blade guar, had to loosen one (?) bolt inside and two out the back, then kind of jiggle it upwards and forwards.

I also remember no 2 now, but vaguely.
I think it was a lock, to prevent tilting. I remember I never used it , I kind of regarded it as something for specialised users.

And another thing. Not from memory, but just thinking what’s logical.
Check no 3 and whether it can be a stop mechanism. Perhaps something to make the tilt stop at 45 degrees exactly.

The table insert you've got is possibly not the one the saw was originally supplied with. Rod No. 1 sticking out the back is a sure sign that your saw had an integrated splitter with anti-kickback pawls and blade guard of the type pictured. They are a complete PITA, so that probably explains why it wasn't with the saw when you bought it. Make yourself a batch of blank inserts and drill and tap the cast iron supporting tabs in the insert opening so you can screw the insert down. You can then fit a small piece of hardwood in the back of the blade slot in the insert to act as a guide for material exiting the saw blade. This works well. Remove the rod at the back of the saw, it only gets in the way.
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If you try to construct any kind of fixing point for a rise and fall riving knife alignment will be a constant problem.

Plastic finish flooring with the MDF type base that's about 8mm thick is fantastic insert making material. You might need to shim the supports with some masking tape to get a really nice flat fit, but it is close to perfect thickness.

Originally Posted by aldav

You might need to shim the supports with some masking tape to get a really nice flat fit, but it is close to perfect thickness.

The flooring is a great idea.

I have little (12mm?) flat headed screws in the bottom of mine. I can adjust the height & level of my insert by adjusting the screws. It is easier than it sounds and only needs to be done once.

My insert is currently ply, I have another screw on the side in a countersink that I use to stop it from moving sideways. That one is needed because the size of the insert changes ever so slightly with the weather.

Hi Aldav,
Yes more research has suggested the guard assembly is as per your picture. Looks painful to build from scratch [emoji31] and painful to keep aligned.
I have seen videos of the zero insert with guide vanes instead of riving knife and that was the alternative idea I was looking into.

Sometimes buying second hand is painful however a brand new machine, however much discounted, was still unjustifiable sadly.


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Oh and great idea for the flooring insert, I have some left over from the floor to the office next door my workshop [emoji106]


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Originally Posted by Runningman

Hi Aldav,
I have seen videos of the zero insert with guide vanes instead of riving knife and that was the alternative idea I was looking into.

That's what I did with mine.

I made two inserts, one with the vane and one without.

To put the vane in I brought the blade up through the bottom so there was a slot. Then flipped it over and cut from the slot through the back using the fence.

I glued in a bit of 3mm ply which sits around 30mm proud, and sanded a bit of a taper on the leading edge. It's only minimal extra effort to add the vane in and it works pretty well.

My inserts are finished with a bit of wipe on poly and carnauba wax. Not to make it pretty, just to reduce friction.