Thread: Help with Table Saw

Hi, I have just purchased a table saw too, and have been reading lots about them, esp the alignment process.

As far as I can ascertain, and I could welll be wrong, the riving knife should be the same thickness, or slightly thinner, than the blade, and it should be right in line with the blade, not offset. The idea of the knife is to prevent the cut timber from closing up, as it does tend to do, grabbing on the blade and kicking the timber back at the operator at a million miles and hour- very scary stuff.

The 1mm gap between riving knife and blade is pretty tight, and likely to fill up with gunk - not good. Try to get the 5mm gap if possible. Again, I could well be wrong, but that's my 2 bobs worth.

Have a look at http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?p=40628

I hope this helps

regards,
Jill

Thanks for the info JillB. It seems that the riving knife should sit directly behind the saw blade, so I'll see if I can get a bigger clearance than the 1mm (estimate). I read the link which was full of usefull advice. Once again, thanks.

I have just checked. What I said about aligning the riving knife is correct.
regards,
Jill

Nick,
The knife is supposed to be in line with the blade if it is to do any good. Use whatever shims you have to to achieve this. You can file a bevel on the leading edge also to help the knife locate in the cut. If you have to round off the bottom corner to get better clearance. I had the older model ryobi for many years and found that by locating the knife then tilting it back or forwards altered the clearance with the blade.
There is a lot of general table saw information on the web. In fact google will find you hundreds if not thousands of articles on table saws. All table saws have to be tuned to work properly.
Regards
John

Thanks John,
On my Ryobi tilting also alters the clearance, but only from about 1mm to just touching the saw blade. Too close for comfort. I will round off the bottom edge of the knife to achieve more clearance and by placing it on the other side of the shim to which I have it, will place it directly in line with the blade. The instructions for assembly of the saw table were very vague and, so far, Ryobi support has not been forthcoming. I will also google it and find out more info on tuning. Many thanks for you information.
Nick

Given that its a toy saw bench and the possibility of any kickback etc that you cannot control will be very remote the simplist solution is to take the riving knife off. Cause currently it appears to be more dangerous with it on.

Don't you dare take it off! That would be negligent and dangerous.
If you do, replace it with something else that does the same job protecting your personal safety.

rod1949,
It may not be expensive but it is 2HP and will kick back with the best of them. The fact it is not as solid as a cast iron machine is all the more reason to have the knife properly adjusted. No point in courting trouble. Table saw accidients are usually ugly.
Regards
John

Sounds like the same saw I got from Santa last year...and the same problem I had.

Originally Posted by Bitnchips

I can put the riving knife on the other side of the shim which would place it directly behind the blade but the bottom of the riving knife is very close to the saw blade, approx 1mm.

I took to the knife with a bench grinder and removed a smidge (couple of mm maybe) from the blade side of the slotted end to give it enough clearance which also seemed to make it curve around the blade more evenly.

(If I'm not describing it well, I can post a pic if you'd like.)

Now mine's attached thusly: mounting brackets -> riving knife -> shim -> flat washer -> split washer -> nut head

Thank you all for your input. I have not had any experience in woodworking before, but am willing to learn as much as I can.

I have placed the riving knife on the other side of the shim and it lines up (not perfectly) with the saw blade. I shall tweak it to get it as close to perfect as is possible. The riving knife will NOT be coming off.

Hey RedShirtGuy I will do as you suggest and grind off a bees deek at a time from the leading edge - the blade side - as when I was re-aligning the riving knife this afternoon a similar thought crossed my mind. It sits in it's mounting bracket exactly as you describe with your attaching.

My new toy did bite when I cut a piece of stock - I was very aware at the time - and can attest to the power the kick could give the unwary. At the time I was looking at keeping the riving knife off, now that is simply not an option. I wish to enjoy my woodworking, not butcher myself.

I have made a couple of picture frames and am now tackling a bookcase, will post pics of the bookcase when done. The picture frames gave me pleasure in the making and a deal of pride and satisfaction when complete. Now for something bigger.

Once again I thank all for your valuable advice.

Nick

My new toy did bite when I cut a piece of stock

Why did this happen, if you had the riving knife in place?

regards,

Jill

JillB, The riving does not prevent all kick backs, it only helps to pevent kick back if the timber closes on the blade

Originally Posted by JillB

Why did this happen, if you had the riving knife in place?

regards,

Jill

Hi Jill,

As I said earlier, the timber was butting up against the riving knife, so I removed it. I also ensured that my limbs were as far away as possible and used the push stick slowly.

Nick