Making a Raising Riving Knife for an Old table saw // Table saw build Pt1

[@jeffreyhope4850]

I watch make it / build it / fix it KZbin videos compulsively when not able to be at my own multi hobby work bench. Out of thousands of videos over the last year, this is literally the most inspiring thing I’ve seen for ages … you’re right up there with Mr Chickadee! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

[@jeruedas]

Smart solution. You are very close to the solution for these old Unisaws. Still, the blade has to always be at the same high as the knife. Thanks for the video. Gave me an idea of what to do.

[@thosoz3431]

Very nice job. I will have a closer look at my table saw as result of you excellent work. A lot of wood workers don't seem to like metal work so this is refreshing to someone who likes both.

Love to work both, the only reason I don’t also have a machine shop is space and money aha

[@patchesofgreen3832]

Shaping the spacer is a really elegant solution. Well done.

[@peregrine1970]

Nice job. Not perfect but then, seeing as everyone usually has different saws, gives a good guide to work it out for ourselves. Thanks for that, it was just what I needed!

Gald you found it useful!

[@donaldfennell971]

I need this for my Vintage Craftsman 113.27700 However I think that this out of my league. Great work!

[@woodbeeturnings]

Very informational and great camera shots. Closeup and can see well. 👍 Great advice. Thank you.

[@Patrick-kc5ur]

Great workout! Simple and clean using only one piece of metal for the attachment and one piece for the riving knife which can be changed for various kerf blades. I like it!

[@toddelliott3239]

Damn! Skills on the machining!

[@sneakyhippo8663]

This is what I had in mind but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Thank you for this!!!

[@drawlele]

I will say this you are rather Ingenuitive. Looking forward to seeing the next step on this

[@rosivo3142]

hoping i can harness the dedication to do this so i can a riving knife to my craftsman contractor’s table saw that’s from the 70’s

[@polmateer1899]

Love to see the evolution of your videos and the comedy gold about needing new Alan Keys ....and Screwdrivers.

[@offroad6309]

Good video. I hope when your old saw quit you kept the parts and made use of them. For example extending the top of your new one with the cast top you have. Adapt the blade height as a table height adjuster for the drill press. The motor put a grinding, wire wheel or buffing wheel. Just a couple of thoughts. If you put your champer bit in a hand held drill it will save from swapping bits. Not a big deal for one or two holes but for more it's helpful.

[@jeffhallford5284]

To keep your tap straight here's one way to do it. Clamp the work piece on your drill press table. Use your center drill for a starter hole. Drill the hole sized for the tap. Remove the drill bit and reinstall your center drill. Lower the table and use the center drill to center the tap. Most good taps have a center hole in the drive end. That way you can use your tap handle and keep it perpendicular to the work piece with the center drill. It's easier to do on a milling machine, but you can make it work with a drill press. Great video and nice work, BTW.

Yeah totally! I used the chuck as a tap handle in part because it’s such a large chuck (3/4”) that I can get a good grip on it. I want to make a spring tap follower to use your method more! Thanks for the advance!

[@theelectricmonk3909]

@ Another way to start a tap true is this: Once you've drilled the hole, put the tap in the drill chuck. Fire up the drill, then turn it off. Before it stops spinning, engage tap in hole. The tap will start, but not go too far before the drill runs out of momentum (reducing the risk of snapping the tap). Undo the chuck, and carry on with the tap handle. One thing - without a power tapping unit, don't try this if you've moved the work piece between drilling and tapping; or the side loads on the tap will kill it.

[@Preso58]

I made a similar mod to my saw which has the same rise and fall mechanism. I put a slot in the bottom of the riving knife which is concentric with the circumference of the blade edge. You can then move the riving knife independently of the rise and fall mechanism. You just need to reach down through the table throat to get to a pair of socket head clamp screws.

That’s a great idea! My saw sadly has too tight of a fit and doing so would have made the riving knife super thin all the way up which would have made it very flexible.

[@crossgrainwoodproductsltd9230]

LOVE the music! I want to be you when I finally grow up!! Your brave to take machines apart. That being said, as a society we discard so many items each year that with some thinking and ingenuity like what you have shown here, maybe fixable. Your saw looks to be an older saw that still used cast iron tabletops and parts. I have a Dewalt 745 plastic and aluminum job site saw, that is built into my workbench, and is brand new because it was what I could afford at the time. I can be impulsive at times and not thinking a purchase fully through before putting down the money for it. The $400 I spent on it could have gone towards an older Delt/Rockwell, or another solid iron cabinet saw when saws were made to last. Have you thought about finding an older cabinet saw and updating it with modern safety equipment? Your so creative, and it would be much less than a brand new $2-3,000 saw. Your big woodworking company in Canada is General I think, and they have been making solid equipment for many years. Even now, I find myself checking Facebook's MarketPlace for table saws. I'm addicted to tools!

Tuning up an old saw is a great idea! i hear the delta unisaws are nice and fairly cheap if you get an old model. Sadly even with all the fixes I did, the delta saw in this video ended up totally breaking and I replaced it with a sawstop. It was nice to have it made from cast iron and so on but the saw was still not designed for professional use and I ended up wearing out many parts simultaneously and new parts broke seemingly every day.

[@BarneyGumbl3]

The trick to working on machines is to see them as a bunch of simple parts combined instead of one complex thing. They're only held together with screws and bolts, and everyone can use a screwdriver and a spanner

[@northwardchaser2823]

I absolutely adore this retrofit! I have an old Tradesman brand table saw that predates riving knives that I bought from a retired woodworker for a steal. It uses this old style trunion/splitter setup (or at least that seems to be what google calls it). But I have been thinking about whether I could just build my own riving knife mount for the blade assembly. Will definitely use this as the basis for it. I'm wondering if it could be possible to make the riving knife easily adjustable/extendable to try and solve the issue you highlighted at the end associated with the raising and lowering of the blade being based on tilt.

[@derrickhowell408]

I have an old delta with the guard/splitter mount at the back of the table. I really need to do something like this to upgrade mine. Luckily my best friend is a machinist, lol. I should get him over to size it up.

[@matthewmay7248]

Seems to work great, thanks for the good info. Now I have to do one for my old saw.

Glad the information was of use to you!

[@CarlosMDominguez]

I was working on a similar project on a grizzly saw, I stopped when I realized that the trunnion follows an arc, making the knife not raise and lower as is supposed to, I think the saws with the riving knife mechanism raises and lowers in a plane, however watching this video, inspiring me to keep trying, may not be perfect, but its better than nothing. Good job!!!!

I’m glad it inspired you to try again! I’ve been using the riving knife everyday for months now and I’d say 80% of my cuts the knife is engaged and 95% of the ones I need the knife to be engaged in its engaged so although not perfect, it’s a major upgrade. I’ve seen some table saws where the pivot point is on the far side of the blade which makes the riving knife have much less movement. I’m not sure if this is a cheap way to do it or the standard way though.

[@rodneybaker2629]

My saw is a Grizzly and I can send you a couple of pics if you are interested how I did it.

[@CarlosMDominguez]

@@rodneybaker2629 Sure, thanks, I would like that very much!

[@rodneybaker2629]

How do I get them to You?

[@CarlosMDominguez]

@@rodneybaker2629just email to: [e-mail] thanks.

[@edwalker7400]

Very Nice , thank you was looking for ideals to retrofit an old Delta contractor saw - this works for my budget - I think I will do a few sizes / longer knife that works for thinner material .

Glad the video inspired you! As for the knifes, It’s not been a huge problem so far since the cuts where the riving knife is critical are usually full width cuts so I can just raise the blade more. But making different sized knifes will work for sure!

[@dre7637]

Great job! Love your channel!

[@DRPowell]

Just a quick tip. Always apply toward the movable jaw of an adjustable (Crescent) wrench, and pull, don’t push. Your knuckles will thank you.

[@TONKATOY]

I just watched this and I've got to say for a woodworker and novice metalworker, you've done an admirable job! I'm a 25 year machinist and you've got a promising future my son. Keep up the good work and keep learning!

[@rosivo3142]

my son? :/ i don’t understand this stuff. please expand your horizons and make the world a safer place because you can

[@JD-ft2lr]

This appears to be a talented young woman😊

[@ernieferguson6346]

I have same knife rise problem... I thought perhaps I could use a leaver or gear attached to other side to make rise equal

[@jeanginomiele7690]

So impressive!

[@rickfromboston]

I think it’s strong enough. Nice mod!

[@atnfn]

10:10 ok he needs new push sticks as well. But this video is 4 years old so if he still has all his fingers intact he probably got som longer sticks by now.

13 years of woodworking and I can assure you I still have all my fingers :) Cause I film most things on a slightly telephoto lens, sometimes my fingers look a lot closer to the blade than they actually are

[@bobbyb1607]

Nice work!

[@kevinthomson6324]

Great solution to add a splitter. One option to improve it is you could make two splinters one for 1” or less stock and 1 for thicker stock

That was my original idea yes! Ende dup never doing it though

[@MrBez007]

my wadkin has a missing splitter. I looked in to making a true riving knife that raises and lowers with the blade, but it involved a pallelegram mechanism to get over the problems you encountered. this would be all good but the dust shroud I built would be in the way of the mechanism. don't know what's more dangerous, long term exposure to dust if I remove the shroud, or kickback without the rivibg knife ?

[@JLT2342]

good job. My saw doesn't have a riving knife mechanism and last week i got a kickback, now I am so scare to do the rip cut.

Oof yeah thats never fun. You can try making a splitting knife. Its like a riving knife but it doesn't go up and down. You can make one out of wood that is attached to a custom insert plate. Its not as nice but its less comitment and time than what I did in this video

[@solomonquinn5240]

did you end up making that blade guide?

[@didiwin78]

Nice work! I've been meaning to do this on mine, it's one of those projects that I really should, for my own safety, get to doing. But I haven't, just making careful cuts every time, oh well lol.

It improves safety but also the quality of cut! I really recommend it!

[@socatean974]

Where do you get the clamps for your drill press? Solves many problems! Thanks, great job.

Those are 5/8 hold down clamps. They are made for milling machines and other metal working machinery. They won't fit on smaller drillpresses that you usually find in woodshops. But if you have a 22" or larger drillpress they usualy have 5/8th t-tracks which work with hold downs and they are fantastic!

[@offroad6309]

You can go online or even harbor freight carries them as a set. Very handy.

[@jusb1066]

That's a nice job. I'm glad you 'engage'd with that job captain. (Crappy reference lol)

[@dannypbobber]

Hello, did you make the next video yet? The one to solve the issue where the knife does not rise up soon enough? Seems pretty challenging

No I have not. My table saw broke (for unrelated reasons) and I upgraded to a saw stop. What I can say though is that it ended up not really being a problem. I just always raised it a little more than if I had a riving knife that followed the blade perfectly.

[@morgandavidpatton]

Very impressive!

[@pcastle33]

You did a great job with this build, and you did about as good as is possible considering the limiting factor that is arc path that the blade takes which limits the effectiveness of the depth of the riving knife. I'm wondering after you've used this for some time now do you find the depth of the riving knife to be much of an annoyance? I don't know if I want to commit to building something like you did or if I just want to be lazy and build a set of splitter throat plates.

I used the saw perhaps about 8 months after this video. I later upgraded to a sawstop (the Delta was getting really warn out and it was problem after problem each week and finally broke. All just related to wear, not what I did to it). The riving knife really only had one major issue which was how it would proportionally raise less at the biggening of the ark during raising. It mostly just ment i had to keep the blade more exposed than I ideally would during shallow cuts. Other than that, it worked as well as any other riving knife. For me the effort was well worth it.

[@jerrystark3587]

The riving knife works beautifully. (1) The quarter-inch stock for the riving knife mount should work just fine. (2) Being able to raise the blade a bit before the riving knife appears is probably practical for shallow cuts and shallow cross cutting. I see no problem. Well done! Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, I didn’t really get to use it before publishing the video but now that I’ve been using it I’m real happy with it! It works perfect! Thank you!

[@EngineerMikeF]

I'm guessing you have 3/8" belts on the drill press. Link belts slip much less & have less vibration. Harbor Freight sells a 0.5" link belt, don't know if they've added a .375. I found my .375"x5ft link belt on Ebay. Great project & nice compromise on knife Ht on a design that rotates the blade up. I didn't see if you tapered the blade side edge of the knife; mine has a fairly narrow taper which protects from a closing kerf behind the blade.

The knife is only slightly tapered on the blade edge to make it line up I case it was some how positioned incorrectly. On the drill press the part slipping was actually the Pully to the shaft that it is bolted on. It isn’t keyed for some weird reason and it comes loose every now and then. But thanks for the advice, I may actually use a Link belt on the table saw to cut vibration!

[@EngineerMikeF]

@ You may be able to fix that pulley better by drilling a divot where the set screw lands

Great idea!

[@grant3226]

Good idea, looking forward to how you change it. Ive got a saw with the same missing riving knife and identical blade carriage. FYI, when doing my apprenticeship was told to leave half inch between riving knife and blade, cant say if that's an actual requirement though. Thanks

I checked online after you posted this and I didn’t find that anywhere. Everywhere it seems to say to set it to 1/16 inch away but most tables saws don’t let you set the distance anyways. Perhaps the 1/2 inch is for a splitter not a riving knife or for a specific machine you were using? I’m not sure.

[@brucethompson6400]

1/2" between riving knife and blade would not have prevented my kickback accident yesterday with a small block of white oak. 1/16" certainly would have.

[@chrisgraham2904]

Not quite there yet but great innovation for a substantial safety improvement. Thousands of older workhorse saws out there without this safety feature. "Things that eat meat have sharp teeth......Tools have sharp teeth"

[@rigorhead01]

Nice work brother! FYI you can buy a tapping head for your drill press for under $100. That said, you did a great job using your drill press to tap, ensuring a perfectly straight tapped hole. Again, awesome work brother! I need this for my old table saw that has no safety and no riving knive.

[@amorgan5844]

Great work, is your cover plate thick enough to make a wood inserted plate? It would be much easier to just make a wooden plate with a riving knife. There are a couple videos on how people do it. Mine is paper thin so i have to go with your creative approach

[@aros007z]

Great instructional video, loved it!

[@theelectricmonk3909]

Nicely done! As a hobbyist metalworker, I can't fault your techniques given the equipment you have available. Hit "Subscribe" as soon as I saw the logo going on, that totally makes it a professional installation! 🤣👍

[@mrrberger]

The Electric Monk : T-slots should be in compression not tension. When clamping onto the drill press have the pivot stud as close to the work piece to achieve a compression between the T-nut, base table, packers, work piece and clamp finger. If you ever blow out a T-slot, you get fired, simple. If it's your machine you hate it every time you look at it and know the table now needs regrinding to flatten due to stress change in table. He did do a nice job on the riving knife.

[@theelectricmonk3909]

@@mrrberger "T-slots should be in compression not tension." - I guess you're referring to 3:50? Good spot, I didn't notice that. I learned how to use that sort of clamp by watching Darrel Holland's "How to run a vertical mill" videos. Occasionally, you don't have any choice but to have the stud at the wrong end of the slot, but for the most part, yeah; get as close as possible to the front end of the strap as you can.

[@Biglou13-z3p]

Don't feel bad. I have 20+ yr old jet with no riving knife. :)

[@TecxasDave]

Anyone know where I can get some of those drill press clamps at the 4:00 mark?

Those are milling hold down clamps. They are easy to find but you need a large drill press with t slots that are 1/2 inch at the minimum. Most drillpresses smaller than 22 inches can't take them. www.busybeetools.com/products/deluxe-52pc-clamping-kit-1-2in-x-13nc-wil.html

[@daviddetomas3645]

Boy for not being a machinist, you sure have some nice equipment!!😘

[@jchase1702]

Impressive!

[@puffkat68]

Ya, I have an older Delta table saw, wanted a riving knife but mine uses a splitter as well. My skills in metal shop do not go anywhere near trying this. I will be finding the cash to get a new saw with that feature (my 72 year old neighbour got kicked back a week ago, no nice) Your project looks good, subscribed #999 who will be lucky #1000

[@John-gm8ty]

"OK so I need a set of new screw drivers" classic! cracked me up.

[@gibsoncolton2294]

i realize I am kinda off topic but do anybody know a good site to watch newly released movies online ?

[@John-gm8ty]

@@gibsoncolton2294 slightly?

[@emanuelaydin3306]

@Gibson Colton I watch on flixzone. You can find it on google :)

[@9q7a5z]

What cookin' with all dat jazz, maaaan?

[@TwiztedOakCreations]

Subscribed! 😊

[@rinzler9775]

Make sure the knife thickness matches each saw blade you want to use. Cut a groove in a scrap peice, the knife should be just thin enough to move in the cut, but no thinner.

[@TwiztedOakCreations]

Hey u did a great job. Can't say I would r known how to do that lol 😆

[@GlutenFreeNLuvinIt]

Did you end up making the blade guard and larger riving knife? I am thinking about how to tackle adding a riving knife to a 40 year old Craftsman table saw and was very interested in seeing how you tackled the next part of your project. Nice job, by the way!

[@joer5627]

My 1964 craftsman might could use one of these.

[@brucethompson6400]

Why is your fence mounted on the right side of a right-tilt blade?

Yeah it shouldn't be. I often end up placing my self behind the kickback zone when I put it on the left aide which is also unsafe so i keep it that way. Its not ideal for sure but I also almost only use the tilt for cross cuts

[@markneuenschwander9215]

Great music !

[@javieraranda2952]

Which model is your table saw?

All I know is what I posted in the video, a delta 1-3/4 hp hybrid saw. I bought it used and the label doesn’t mark much on it

[@zanebrock5812]

@ It appears to be a Delta 36-714 through 36-717 series. I have the same saw.

[@scottwillis5434]

Good video! Replacing the music with narration of what you are doing would be better. "Here I'm cutting out the hole for ..." is easier to follow than watching machining operations for as-yet unknown reasons with jazz playing.

[@misterfee6467]

Great video gonna do this to my saw. Got a lil distracted trying to figure out if this was a dude, a girl or both.

[@offroad6309]

Does it really matter??

[@misterfee6467]

@@offroad6309 yes

[@judithrob1591]

Riving Knife should not be in line with saw blade though +- 0.3 mm to the right slightly outside the saw blade. PS it is best to make a Riving Knife from spring material BV. aluminium. And the wood remains pressed against the guide and the rest of the wood remains clamped in place against the guide and cannot shoot away, no kickback saw wood (I've had it like this for years) win win situation !

[@funlovingJohn]

The disadvantage of having the blade so high to cut thin wood, outways the safety of the riving knife.

In theory it wouldn't have since there was supposed to be a blade guard on top of the blade. But I never had time to build it before replacing this saw. So for the months that I used it, I simply didn't raise the blade for small cuts. Since as you said, it's more safe to not have a riving knife but have the blade less exposed.

[@funlovingJohn]

@ I mounted a home made riveting knife in one of my Throat Plates behind the blade. I pop out the Throat Plate when covering the saw table with a sheet of Plexiglas to keep the iron table from rusting.

[@rodneybaker2629]

I can show you a much simpler way to do a riving knife that does track with the blade. I built mine for an old Grizzly 10" table saw.

Yeah?

[@tondo7629]

any chance you gonna share it?

[@jmckinney0040]

How did you do your riving knife?

[@joeleagles5491]

Nice video! FYI it's called a riving knife

Oh yes. Did I miss-pronounce it in the video? I didn’t notice aha

[@laurentco]

Jai la meme scie. Pas super, pas terrible. ~~ Laurent de Winnipeg. P.S. Did you consider modifying the "sort of" riving knife that came with the saw. I know it would be fixed and not move up and down with the blade. I basically have nothing right now and I'm not happy about it.

I have never tried that no. But I dont really see a need to do that since the point of having a riving knife and not a guard is usualy to be able to make partial depth cuts

[@laurentco]

@ yeah. I meant to use just the metal part and not the plastic guard. Of course, it would not move with the blade.

[@bmandrakeeee8378]

great solution, man. so much safer this way I'm thinking: couldn't you change those screws to some sort of quick release system, allowing you to intercalate two riving knives? one, bigger, for thin stock, and the already existing one for deeper cuts. anyway, great video. It will be important to so many people.

Yeah totally! Shouldn’t be overly complicated. At least you could easily used one of those hex handles and a slit in the knife instead of the holes. For me though I ended up just not bothering since the knife is almost only useful for full depth cuts which I can just raise the blade higher for.

[@tegastream]

I too have an old table saw that doesn't have a knife.

[@Nick_Graham_Woodwork]

The dust collection/ safety shield is not the next video.

I ended up delaying it, the video will be published in the next month I expect

[@Nick_Graham_Woodwork]

Ebenisterie Éloïse I’m just joking with you. I don’t do video because I don’t have the time, knowledge, or desire to edit them. I don’t like my voice.

Haha, okay. The voice is always tough on camera! I think a lot of people take a while to get used to hearing their own voice.

[@mickleblade]

Great vide, but you choice of elevator music was worse than the bad sound problem

Touché

[@sebringpolevaulter]

At 3.40 I relished this is no easy task lol

[@woodensurfer]

Just put a splitter in. Most TS saws will let you do that. The difference is not as large as optically indicates. The wood is cut at the front edge of the blade, closer to the operator. Besides, the splitter can be a rectangular with the long side parallel to the table, hence making the distance to the rear edge of the blade rather similarly close to that of a riving knife. It is not difficult to adjust for the thickness and alignment of the splitter with the kerf. A warning though. Those who are reckless enough to adjust the height of the blade while the motor is running should not use steel for the splitter. Use aluminum. For plunge cuts, one always removes the splitter or the riving knife, so it matters little. For the traditional splitter, it is positioned so that even at the max blade height, the splitter still will not be cut. If you want to effectively move the splitter closer, you have to be particularly careful.

[@billybobjoe198]

You were in my recommended, so lucky you getting pushed by KZbin. I don't see any hate comments, I presume you moderate them pretty aggressively? On that note, Riving knives are an intrusive "safety" feature. The worst kind of safety feature. They reduce the capabilities of your saw, and make it a pain to use sometimes. They're likely a good feature for someone who doesn't use a table saw, or someone who's very small and weak, or with diminished mental function though. Yours not poking its head up for a 3/4" cut does make a lot of the headaches of a riving knife not apply though which is nice I guess.

I don't exsactly understand what you find restricting about a riving knife? Perhaps you are thinking of a splinter or you had a cheap riving knife in the past? A good riving knife doesn't restric the saw in any manner. It should be just shallower than the full blade depth and go up and down with the blade without issue. Although for example, blade guards and push sticks can sacrifice practicality for safety, a riving knife should not. As a matter of fact, it can often help give a more accurate and cleaner cut, mostly if the wood warps as it gets cut. And no my comment section s are not moderated other than for the odd rude comment which happens about once every 6 months aha

[@Volksaholic]

@ I just came across this video... nicely done. It looks almost exactly what I did on my Delta Contractor's saw, only in aluminum. One difference is I slotted the attachment point and attach it with wing nuts to overcome the fact that the knife height doesn't track properly with the blade height. That actually works pretty well because I find I don't often use the blade at extreme heights so for a particular project I can for the most part set the projection of the knife to be just below the crown of the blade and it will still be effective for subtle height adjustments. Also, I think you hit the nail on the head... the comment by byw indicates that he/she is confusing a riving knife with the splitter that these saws came with. My splitter probably hadn't been on my saw for 20 years because it's a nuisance... hence the reason I finally decided to make a riving knife. I'd like to improve the design so it tracks with the blade better... but then I'd also like to buy a modern saw that's beefier and safer than my contractor's saw! :) I hope you've gotten enough donations to replace your Allen wrenches and screwdrivers! :D

[@markreynolds3919]

Kirk !

[@wahiwoodworks3324]

Problem solving at its finest

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

I do not understand

[@tegastream]

Wasnt 100% successful but great attempt and great video nonetheless.

[@GNU_Linux_for_good]

07:12 Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, haaaaaaaaaa........ the moment of *schadenfreude* - sorry dude. No offense.

[@entrapment55]

DUDE, at the risk of being the table saw police, you really should NOT be using 2 "chicken type" pushsticks. see colin k. in attached video kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXfTaqyMd8uCnrc

[@glenpaul3606]

ugh...lose the music....

[@williampierce5236]

God I hate the background music! Better not to have anything than that!

[@mefirst4266]

NOT TAKING MY SAW APART TO PUT A RIVING KNIFE IN !!! I WILL CUT WOOD INSERTS AND PUT THEM IN