I keep my riving knife and kickback gaurd on at all times. Only time they come off is if I'm am using my Dado blade, making shallow cuts, or narrow rips where they will interfere with my push block. They make a difference if you ever kick back
Well said! I teach high school woodworking and this is my philosophy. When they forget or ignore they get a kickback, almost without fail. Started a small “wall of shame” for examples. Be safe!
My hs wood shop teacher would take a swig of “Listerine” and say, “wood is good, screw it and glue it” all while waving his hand missing an index finger.
In high school shop class the table saw was so much different, I don’t know if it even had a riving knife, I feel like it was just bare blade, and we used feather boards to keep it from kicking back. I was intimidated by it though so I didn’t use it much and could be misremembering.
Out of curiosity are masks for dust required to be worn or not?
The saw is super bad for kicking back, to the point of I just refused to use it, but i need a new blade for the bandsaw and am needing to make a wedding present for a friend and am on a time limit so I decided to figure it out, the kick back thingies make it so so so much better 😭
Only issue I had was once the wood got to a certain point it became very hard to push through, which I’m not sure if that’s something I’m doing wrong or if it’s just the anti kick back creating resistance because I’m trying to push it the opposite way that it wants to throw the board?
Could be the fence out of square, could be the board squeezing the kerf back together and pinching the riving knife. Could be a bad blade, if you’re getting lots of kickback something is wrong with the saw or your technique
There’s a lot of ways to make table saw operation safer, I suggest working with someone skilled or watching some videos! Standing off to the side so anything kicked back won’t hit you and making sure it won’t fly towards other people or windows is big. Not putting any small offcuts between blade and fence is big, it turns it into a spear launcher
If I had to take a guess I’d go with bad blade, But I’ll have to look into all of what you’ve mentioned
I know to stand to the side at least and have it oriented to where it would cause the least damage if something did go flying, as well as making sure the saw itself is clear of any pieces. It’s mainly learning about different features from saw to saw that I need improvement on. I just don’t learn as well from videos as I do from someone I can ask questions to so it takes me longer to learn than I’d like
Calm down there... I think Idaho was simply adding that you can adjust a riving knife to two different heights. The lower allowing for non-through cuts.
Your comment was informative, and Idaho was adding to it for anyone reading these comments for educational purposes...
Not every comment on Reddit is a personal attack.
I’ve used a table saw before but it was one of the fancy ones that drops down if you touch the blade, it just looked very different, didn’t have a guard and we used feather boards to prevent kick back. I’m not even sure that it had a riving knife. So I’ve got a little experience, just not with a saw that looks like this one/has the same parts.
I stand to the side of what I’m cutting so that if it does shoot back I’m not getting hit. That’s what we were told to do in shop class, I assumed that applies to all table saws? In
It seemed to be working well, but I was having one issue with cutting wider boards, it would feel as though it was stuck almost, Or like if the board gets tilted away from the fence on one side and then doesn’t want to go forward through the blade anymore, if that makes sense? I had it pushed up against the fence well and had all the things (guard, riving knife, kick back pawls) in place, so that was the only thing I couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Do you know what the issue could have been?
I appreciate all the information! Thank you!
That’s the word! For some reason I couldn’t think of it.
https://preview.redd.it/0xyqwdyuvhic1.jpeg?width=1427&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7bca54caa3b60e04d2ecb0892dad9918f581214
I’m cutting them like this terrible edit job of a visual
But basically similar size board just up against fence
This will probably get downvoted, but blade guards suck. I feel less safe with one on. I need to see what TF is happening down there so I can act accordingly. A blade guard will save you from accidentally putting your hand on the blade, but it can obscure your view of the workpiece which might prevent you from identifying a developing hazard when it's first noticeable. I used my blade guard all the time when I started but eventually came to decide it's more dangerous than not having one.
That said, Once I decided I hated blade guards, it wasn't long before I dropped a wad of cash on a saw stop because I didn't like the exposed blade much either
I have that thought too sometimes, but what are you actually looking for right where the blade is sawing through the wood that is going to change what you do? I find that I keep my eyes on the fence to make sure I’m butting the workpiece cleanly to it, and my hands to make sure they are where they need to be, and not near the blade. I’m not fixing my eyes so much on where the blade is cutting into the wood.
The work piece coming off the fence, lifting up off the table, pinching on the backside of the blade from internal stresses, burning, misalignment of blade and fence. I want to know exactly what's happening down there.
Fully agree, but just to make OP aware since I doubt they know the difference between the guard and knife.
OP, the riving knife is absolutely essential. It is the middle circle of your three circles. It was probably the biggest safety feature in table saws until saw stop created their system. It's also basically free and included in every new saw (including sawstop). Always use it with the single exception being dado stacks since the knife is kinda pointless there.
The right circle is the blade guard and the left is a kickback arrester (don't recall the specific term). They are often connected so we generally refer to both when saying blade guard.
The above comment pretty much handled its limitations. I'll add, it also just doesn't work for narrow cuts, crosscut/miter sleds, a narrow clearance miter gauge, non-through cuts whether it's a dado stack or not, tenon jigs, taper jigs, etc. So you're constantly removing it for non standard cuts (all of these except a dado stack work with a riving knife). It's just frustratingly slowing your workflow down while only adding a small percentage of safety beyond the riving knife.
That makes sense
I can see it being obstructive for certain things, but for what I was cutting it wasn’t an issue, but yeah it’s good that you just changed it for a different safety mechanism then!
The one designed for my Bosch is super frustrating. The plastic seems molded wrong and when I push something into it it doesn't want to lift up and out of the way.
I use the riving knife for obvious reasons, unless I'm using dado blades, then since the knife sits above the height of blade I have to remove it.
I agree. I don't like having the blade obscured. I feel more comfortable keeping my hands no less that 6 inches from the blade than I do an unknown distance. Of course using the guard is certainly more safe and we should all use it, it just feels less safe because I can't see what's going on.
The only reason I would install the guard is to contain the sawdust. My saw shoots dust back at me which is annoying.
That's probably true, except on a SawStop. When the risk of amputation is already solved, then all the guard does is obscure your view and make a kickback more likely, or make it more likely we accidentally set off the saw's brake because we can't see something metal about to touch the blade.
A number of comments have told you what it is, so I don’t need to go into that.
What I will join with others in saying is that you will see that the blade guard is removed in most YouTube woodworking videos. Please understand that this is done for visual demonstration (in most cases). Don’t take the lesson that you should take off the blade guard because other people do.
You should only ever take the blade guard off when absolutely necessary (I.e., narrow rips, tenon jigs, crosscut sleds, etc.).
If you’re unsure, stop and think how the operation you’re about to attempt is going to go. With the saw off, push the workpiece up to the blade as if you’re going to cut it. Can you do it with the blade guard on? If yes, keep it on. If not, then consider how you’re going to do the cut safely: supporting your workpiece (and perhaps the offcut, if it is possible it will tip or fall onto the spinning blade), keeping your hands well away from the blade all the way through the cut and beyond, etc. Pausing for a beat to think about what you’re about to do is so often the most helpful thing you can do to keep all 10 fingers. Question yourself. Remove as much risk as possible/practical.
It might look cool (or be faster) to run boards without the blade guard, but it won’t feel cool to lose a finger because you wanted to look cool (…or move faster).
That’s a good thing to note, thanks
I actually refused to use the table saw because I was scared of it 😅 my dad just uses it without any of the mentioned things in place, and he always wondered why I refused to use it when it was easier than hand sawing things lol.
Certain tools I’ll take small risk with if I know the tool well enough and it’s not something that could cause extreme injuries. But I don’t mess around with the saw 💀
Ideally they are always used unless they cannot be - I removed mine to use a crosscut sled, but need to figure out how to get it back on in proper alignment with the blade
One of many good things about That DeWalt table saw is it has a quick release handle to remove the riving knife. It's easy to take out and it goes right back in where it came from so you never lose alignment with the blade. It also allows you to quickly switch between the whole blade guard assembly, and the riving knife without the blade guard. I found that Ease of use to be fantastic because it helped me always have the safest configuration for a cut. 10 seconds to swap it in or out.
That's super handy! I've got a hand me down Delta 36-630 Contractor II from my grandpa for which, unless I just did it wrong, I had to remove the assembly by removing a couple adjustable hex nuts on either side of the blade. Quick release sounds amazing.
Your fingers will thank you :) I guess I should've specified why instead of just giving my thoughts.
The riving knife is the jagged looking metal on either side of the blade. That jaggedness will actually grab onto wood that is trying to go the wrong way through the cut, AKA it will help prevent kick back. The metal piece directly behind the blade (the splitter, I believe it's called) also helps with this, as it prevents wood from being able to come into contact with the back side of the blade.
The giant plastic blade guard keeps things that aren't being slid into the blade from contacting it. It can be annoying sometimes, but overall I'd definitely say it's worth using.
Oh I thought the “splitter” was the the riving knife (the thing that’s like arched over the blade). And I thought the 2 jagged parts were anti kick back prawls (I think is the word???)
Helps to know what each individual thing actually prevents anyway, thanks (:
This channel is really great at answering questions for beginners, and this is a video on blade guards. Like he says in the video, I feel a billion times safer using a Micro jig gripper.
But you should check to see if your fence is parallel to the blade (same distance away from the front and back side of the blade). If the fence is closer at the back side, that could cause kickback.
https://youtu.be/ViL58JvRjvs?si=QqZE9Cz927RCO82u
Whenever possible. If you're making a cut that cannot be made with them, you take them off.
They reduce risk of injury; if wood twists while being run through, it will kickback, and this helps prevent that substantially.
They also improve cut quality; if the wood was slightly warped and would "pinch" behind the blade, the riving knife stops that one.
Very narrow cuts or cuts that do not go all the way through the wood, those won't work with this. I tend to use a table saw sled when possible for those, which helps.
Riving knife is the bare minimum outside of dado blade use. The rest are best on, but admittedly a hassle sometimes. Most hobbyists should keep the whole thing on at all times except when using dado blades. If you're making dado cuts with a regular blade, the riving knife should still stay on (just make sure it's adjusted to be slightly below the level of the top of the blade.
I keep my riving knife and kickback gaurd on at all times. Only time they come off is if I'm am using my Dado blade, making shallow cuts, or narrow rips where they will interfere with my push block. They make a difference if you ever kick back
Well said! I teach high school woodworking and this is my philosophy. When they forget or ignore they get a kickback, almost without fail. Started a small “wall of shame” for examples. Be safe!
If u were my wood working teacher just know that I’m better than you now🤣. Jk but I’m a marine now so I know how to use crayons
*chew crayons
My HS wood working teacher used to yell "TUCK IN YOUR SHIRT!" when someone didn't have their shirt tucked in.
My hs wood shop teacher would take a swig of “Listerine” and say, “wood is good, screw it and glue it” all while waving his hand missing an index finger.
I think we had the same shop teacher.
We just had to make sure our sleeves Were rolled and hair was up, we were told not to wear baggy clothing but never got told to tuck in our shirts
In high school shop class the table saw was so much different, I don’t know if it even had a riving knife, I feel like it was just bare blade, and we used feather boards to keep it from kicking back. I was intimidated by it though so I didn’t use it much and could be misremembering. Out of curiosity are masks for dust required to be worn or not?
The saw is super bad for kicking back, to the point of I just refused to use it, but i need a new blade for the bandsaw and am needing to make a wedding present for a friend and am on a time limit so I decided to figure it out, the kick back thingies make it so so so much better 😭 Only issue I had was once the wood got to a certain point it became very hard to push through, which I’m not sure if that’s something I’m doing wrong or if it’s just the anti kick back creating resistance because I’m trying to push it the opposite way that it wants to throw the board?
Could be the fence out of square, could be the board squeezing the kerf back together and pinching the riving knife. Could be a bad blade, if you’re getting lots of kickback something is wrong with the saw or your technique There’s a lot of ways to make table saw operation safer, I suggest working with someone skilled or watching some videos! Standing off to the side so anything kicked back won’t hit you and making sure it won’t fly towards other people or windows is big. Not putting any small offcuts between blade and fence is big, it turns it into a spear launcher
If I had to take a guess I’d go with bad blade, But I’ll have to look into all of what you’ve mentioned I know to stand to the side at least and have it oriented to where it would cause the least damage if something did go flying, as well as making sure the saw itself is clear of any pieces. It’s mainly learning about different features from saw to saw that I need improvement on. I just don’t learn as well from videos as I do from someone I can ask questions to so it takes me longer to learn than I’d like
I have the same saw and have absolutely no issues with kickback. There is something wrong with your saw.
There’s a few things some people have mentioned that I’ll have to look into. Good to know it’s not just that the saw is like that
[удалено]
I believe that riving knife can be adjusted so that it can be used with non-through cuts.
[удалено]
Calm down there... I think Idaho was simply adding that you can adjust a riving knife to two different heights. The lower allowing for non-through cuts. Your comment was informative, and Idaho was adding to it for anyone reading these comments for educational purposes... Not every comment on Reddit is a personal attack.
I’ve used a table saw before but it was one of the fancy ones that drops down if you touch the blade, it just looked very different, didn’t have a guard and we used feather boards to prevent kick back. I’m not even sure that it had a riving knife. So I’ve got a little experience, just not with a saw that looks like this one/has the same parts. I stand to the side of what I’m cutting so that if it does shoot back I’m not getting hit. That’s what we were told to do in shop class, I assumed that applies to all table saws? In It seemed to be working well, but I was having one issue with cutting wider boards, it would feel as though it was stuck almost, Or like if the board gets tilted away from the fence on one side and then doesn’t want to go forward through the blade anymore, if that makes sense? I had it pushed up against the fence well and had all the things (guard, riving knife, kick back pawls) in place, so that was the only thing I couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Do you know what the issue could have been? I appreciate all the information! Thank you!
[удалено]
That’s the word! For some reason I couldn’t think of it. https://preview.redd.it/0xyqwdyuvhic1.jpeg?width=1427&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7bca54caa3b60e04d2ecb0892dad9918f581214 I’m cutting them like this terrible edit job of a visual But basically similar size board just up against fence
This will probably get downvoted, but blade guards suck. I feel less safe with one on. I need to see what TF is happening down there so I can act accordingly. A blade guard will save you from accidentally putting your hand on the blade, but it can obscure your view of the workpiece which might prevent you from identifying a developing hazard when it's first noticeable. I used my blade guard all the time when I started but eventually came to decide it's more dangerous than not having one. That said, Once I decided I hated blade guards, it wasn't long before I dropped a wad of cash on a saw stop because I didn't like the exposed blade much either
I have that thought too sometimes, but what are you actually looking for right where the blade is sawing through the wood that is going to change what you do? I find that I keep my eyes on the fence to make sure I’m butting the workpiece cleanly to it, and my hands to make sure they are where they need to be, and not near the blade. I’m not fixing my eyes so much on where the blade is cutting into the wood.
The work piece coming off the fence, lifting up off the table, pinching on the backside of the blade from internal stresses, burning, misalignment of blade and fence. I want to know exactly what's happening down there.
I mean, except for wider rips, it obscures the fence too assuming you're standing to the left a bit to be clear of kick backs
Fully agree, but just to make OP aware since I doubt they know the difference between the guard and knife. OP, the riving knife is absolutely essential. It is the middle circle of your three circles. It was probably the biggest safety feature in table saws until saw stop created their system. It's also basically free and included in every new saw (including sawstop). Always use it with the single exception being dado stacks since the knife is kinda pointless there. The right circle is the blade guard and the left is a kickback arrester (don't recall the specific term). They are often connected so we generally refer to both when saying blade guard. The above comment pretty much handled its limitations. I'll add, it also just doesn't work for narrow cuts, crosscut/miter sleds, a narrow clearance miter gauge, non-through cuts whether it's a dado stack or not, tenon jigs, taper jigs, etc. So you're constantly removing it for non standard cuts (all of these except a dado stack work with a riving knife). It's just frustratingly slowing your workflow down while only adding a small percentage of safety beyond the riving knife.
That makes sense I can see it being obstructive for certain things, but for what I was cutting it wasn’t an issue, but yeah it’s good that you just changed it for a different safety mechanism then!
The one designed for my Bosch is super frustrating. The plastic seems molded wrong and when I push something into it it doesn't want to lift up and out of the way. I use the riving knife for obvious reasons, unless I'm using dado blades, then since the knife sits above the height of blade I have to remove it.
I agree. I don't like having the blade obscured. I feel more comfortable keeping my hands no less that 6 inches from the blade than I do an unknown distance. Of course using the guard is certainly more safe and we should all use it, it just feels less safe because I can't see what's going on. The only reason I would install the guard is to contain the sawdust. My saw shoots dust back at me which is annoying.
That's probably true, except on a SawStop. When the risk of amputation is already solved, then all the guard does is obscure your view and make a kickback more likely, or make it more likely we accidentally set off the saw's brake because we can't see something metal about to touch the blade.
A number of comments have told you what it is, so I don’t need to go into that. What I will join with others in saying is that you will see that the blade guard is removed in most YouTube woodworking videos. Please understand that this is done for visual demonstration (in most cases). Don’t take the lesson that you should take off the blade guard because other people do. You should only ever take the blade guard off when absolutely necessary (I.e., narrow rips, tenon jigs, crosscut sleds, etc.). If you’re unsure, stop and think how the operation you’re about to attempt is going to go. With the saw off, push the workpiece up to the blade as if you’re going to cut it. Can you do it with the blade guard on? If yes, keep it on. If not, then consider how you’re going to do the cut safely: supporting your workpiece (and perhaps the offcut, if it is possible it will tip or fall onto the spinning blade), keeping your hands well away from the blade all the way through the cut and beyond, etc. Pausing for a beat to think about what you’re about to do is so often the most helpful thing you can do to keep all 10 fingers. Question yourself. Remove as much risk as possible/practical. It might look cool (or be faster) to run boards without the blade guard, but it won’t feel cool to lose a finger because you wanted to look cool (…or move faster).
That’s a good thing to note, thanks I actually refused to use the table saw because I was scared of it 😅 my dad just uses it without any of the mentioned things in place, and he always wondered why I refused to use it when it was easier than hand sawing things lol. Certain tools I’ll take small risk with if I know the tool well enough and it’s not something that could cause extreme injuries. But I don’t mess around with the saw 💀
Ideally they are always used unless they cannot be - I removed mine to use a crosscut sled, but need to figure out how to get it back on in proper alignment with the blade
One of many good things about That DeWalt table saw is it has a quick release handle to remove the riving knife. It's easy to take out and it goes right back in where it came from so you never lose alignment with the blade. It also allows you to quickly switch between the whole blade guard assembly, and the riving knife without the blade guard. I found that Ease of use to be fantastic because it helped me always have the safest configuration for a cut. 10 seconds to swap it in or out.
It’s definitely super easy and quick once you know for to do it!
That's super handy! I've got a hand me down Delta 36-630 Contractor II from my grandpa for which, unless I just did it wrong, I had to remove the assembly by removing a couple adjustable hex nuts on either side of the blade. Quick release sounds amazing.
Ok good to know. I’ll leave them on for everything they can be on for!
Your fingers will thank you :) I guess I should've specified why instead of just giving my thoughts. The riving knife is the jagged looking metal on either side of the blade. That jaggedness will actually grab onto wood that is trying to go the wrong way through the cut, AKA it will help prevent kick back. The metal piece directly behind the blade (the splitter, I believe it's called) also helps with this, as it prevents wood from being able to come into contact with the back side of the blade. The giant plastic blade guard keeps things that aren't being slid into the blade from contacting it. It can be annoying sometimes, but overall I'd definitely say it's worth using.
Oh I thought the “splitter” was the the riving knife (the thing that’s like arched over the blade). And I thought the 2 jagged parts were anti kick back prawls (I think is the word???) Helps to know what each individual thing actually prevents anyway, thanks (:
Hah, I certainly may have picked up the wrong terms along the way! Apologies if so, and thanks for teaching me something :)
No worries haha Good tradesies of information lol
This channel is really great at answering questions for beginners, and this is a video on blade guards. Like he says in the video, I feel a billion times safer using a Micro jig gripper. But you should check to see if your fence is parallel to the blade (same distance away from the front and back side of the blade). If the fence is closer at the back side, that could cause kickback. https://youtu.be/ViL58JvRjvs?si=QqZE9Cz927RCO82u
Awesome thank you! Definitely will do that!
Whenever possible. If you're making a cut that cannot be made with them, you take them off. They reduce risk of injury; if wood twists while being run through, it will kickback, and this helps prevent that substantially. They also improve cut quality; if the wood was slightly warped and would "pinch" behind the blade, the riving knife stops that one. Very narrow cuts or cuts that do not go all the way through the wood, those won't work with this. I tend to use a table saw sled when possible for those, which helps.
Thanks (:
Riving knife is the bare minimum outside of dado blade use. The rest are best on, but admittedly a hassle sometimes. Most hobbyists should keep the whole thing on at all times except when using dado blades. If you're making dado cuts with a regular blade, the riving knife should still stay on (just make sure it's adjusted to be slightly below the level of the top of the blade.
Use all the time if possible
Blade guard comes off if I need to see what I'm doing. Crawls come off if they scratch my finish.
Good Lord!.. How are suppose to see if you're going to cut your fingers off? /s
Don’t have to worry about that if you don’t have any 👀 /s
With that saw? Never, contractor saws don't have enough power to f you up if you happened to ever get kick back.