Replies

1. 
   mapleman | Apr 11, 2007 05:05pm | #1

   Woodrider,

   Biesemeyer makes a removable splitter with anti-kickback pawls for about $100. You will still need an overhead guard of some sort, but the splitter snaps in and out in a matter of seconds (you must remove the throat plate to remove the splitter).

   I have on installed on my powermatic and would say it is a definite improvement over the stock assembly.

   Lee

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Apr 11, 2007 10:28pm | #2

   Afternoon woodrider...

   You might consider adding a crown guard over-head with your existing Delta splitter. Take off the pawls and chunk em. You can use the existing plastic shield or add one as I did for much better dust collection coupled with a cyclone-DC-whatever connected to the main rear port.

   And you are going to have to take it off if you do angle or through cuts. But... it won't take days to remove it if you simply replace the splitter's rear 5/16" bolt which you have to turn with a wrench 6 thousand times and add a shorter 5/16" bolt with a "star" handle. Remove the stock forward bolt that is difficult to get to with a wrench and replace with a 5/16" T handle bolt after you cut off just enough of that T handle to clear the back of the saw casing. Grab it and twist twice and the splitter will slide right out.

   You can't do it in a few seconds..... but you can do it in under 30 seconds once you make the transition. Nothing in life is perfect, "Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud"..... Shakespeare

   Plastic shield purchased from Penn State for $24.95 and I modified. The star handle and T handle bolts are about $1.25 each. The axle for the shield is a cut off 6" hex head bolt for $.032. End cap covers for the axle is $.027 each. Crown guard is scrap white oak from the scrap bin and the hose is left over from a 2 1/2" shop vac replacement. Overhead rotating pipe support are left over pipe clamps from the days before they invented Cabinet-masters with 2 fittings and one 3/4" pipe connector for around $.089 apiece from the box stores.

   Total cost around $29.28. My wife says I'm cheap, well..... I like to think I'm thrifty! ha.. ha..... ha..ha..ha..

   Have a good day...

   Sarge.. jt

   
   

   ---

   Edited 4/11/2007 3:30 pm ET by SARGEgrinder47

   
1. 
   Scrit | Apr 12, 2007 10:17pm | #5

   Sarge

   I'm surprised you didn't mention the shor rip fence your Bies. is sporting as another aid to minimising kick back ;-)

   Regards

    

   Scrit

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Apr 13, 2007 08:24am | #7

   Morning Scrit...

   I was trying hard to keep on subject and the Euro short fence is another story altogether. I built it from scrap MDF with a $12 phenolic facing. A coupe of thumb screws and some glue and screws. I won't rip without one anymore.. period!

   But most are not interested or either don't see the merits, even though the merits are self evident if you just look at it closely and relate it to what actually takes place when ripping and how it can aid safety with it's simple design function.

   I've preached "short fence" and crown guard for years. Maybe one in  100 actually listen but that one improves their safety by walking away and adding these features at an in-significant cost compared to the all the trendy high dollar additions that promise much but come up short most of the time on actual delivery. .

   I do firmly believe in "too each his own"... I deliver my presentation on the subject and all are free to take it or leave it as they wish. ha.. ha...

   Regards...

   Sarge.. jt

1. 
   jointerman | Apr 13, 2007 09:53am | #9

   I understand the saftey advantages of the Euro short fence. But is there any disadvantage to using a fence like this?

1. 
   dougmeyer | Apr 13, 2007 04:54pm | #10

   My understanding of the splitter is that it is supposed to fill the full width of the blade to stop the wood from pinching the back of the blade and flipping back at the user.

   So if it was undersized buy any real amount it would be pointless would it not? I understand the problem with keeping it alinged but....

   Doug Meyer

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Apr 13, 2007 05:21pm | #12

   Morning Doug...

   And you are quite correct. As I just posted, a short fence allows a "free zone" for reaction wood to spread and not ricochet back into those rear rising teeth. A correctly sized splitter or riving knife checks reaction wood closing on those rear teeth for the most part. There is no perfect world.

   If the stock contains extreme reaction it could still close and pinch those rear teeth even with the very close tolerances you have allowed by proper adjustment. In such a case, the saw should have been stopped when that violent reaction was en-countered and that wood discarded for another purpose as it is not only dangerous to cut but you have the first clue that it is not going to be stable in a glue-up!

   Regards...

   Sarge.. jt

3. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Apr 13, 2007 05:06pm | #11

   Morning Jointerman...

   "But is there any disadvantage to using a fence like this"? ... jm

   If there is JM, I haven't run across it in the last 4 years since I adopted the idea from Sgain Dubh (Richard Jones Furniture). Give it some careful thought and see if you can come up with a reason. This thing is standard safety in Europe and other locations which are very strict on safety regulations.

   With the exception of a very few, the majority of TS fence design does not use the rear of fence as a dual lock on for stability of fence position as some of the old designs did. The T system pretty much is copied now and that has been perfected to be secure with only a front lock set-up.

   With that in mind, what is the purpose of having a fence that goes beyond where the actual cutting action of the blade has finished severing the stock? That point on any saw or any blade is always before the center tooth of a blade and never beyond that point. Never... ever! So the point of extending it beyond the final cut IS.... ?

   The point of not extending it IS... you have finished the cut at some point before mid-blade or center tooth. The danger of kick-back is not so much with the front down cutting teeth of the blade, but the "rear rising teeth" which can grab and bite the wood if they make further contact as they serve no useful purpose at that point.

   In an ideal world the splitter or riving knife has that portion of the stock already severed separated from the rear teeth. But.... but... if you run into a piece of reaction wood that reacts by spreading, where does it have to go beyond the blade other than against an extended fence. It will touch it and what will happen if there is no more room for it to spread is it will ricochet back toward the rear of the blade where those dangerous "rear rising teeth" are just waiting in ambush. This could happen also if the operator loses balance or moves stock carelessly if not concentrating on keeping it firmly against the fence. And if the already severed stock touches those rear teeth, only your creator knows which way the stock is going to launch as a sharp blade spinning at over 4000 rpm powered by 2 + HP is very capable of launch.

   Some type of crown anchored to the splitter or riving knife will check upward movement in that event.. but an open top splitter alone will not. The fence can check movement on it's side.. a feather-board or spring-board on the opposite. With the top and both sides covered that only leaves forward and backward as a launch zone. That is eliminated by "keeping the lane clear" (never positioning yourself in front or rear of a spinning blade) and if under all circumstances you keep your hands at least 9-10" away from the blade by using push sticks, you have put yourself in position to be about as safe as your going to be with a piece of potentially dangerous machinery without the large expense of large sliding tables which are another story of their own.

   Regards...

   Sarge.. jt  

    

   
3. 
   scooter1 | Apr 11, 2007 11:34pm | #3

   I'm with you.

   I popped about $100 for the Merlin and found that I had to fabricate some parts to make it work. Thats complete bullpucky as far as I am concerned, and they should tell you that!

   I hate the company and I think they are dishonest.

   Regards,

   Scooter

   "I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow." WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934

4. 
   BigK | Apr 12, 2007 08:11pm | #4

   I too use a Delta Unisaw for my ww'ing. The original splitter/blade guard left an awful lot to be desired. However I have found the Delta overarm guard with the included splitter to be an excellent set up. The splitter is easy and quick to remove or install, and the kickback pawls will stop anything. I had tried the Biesemeyer splitter, thought that it would go on and off faster. However the splitter was so thick that it had to be absolutely in line with a full-kerf blade so as to not pinch material against the rip fence. If the blade was a little under full kerf then the material would not clear the splitter easily.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Apr 13, 2007 05:11am | #6

   I rather like the idea that the Biesemeyer splitter fills the kerf, since this helps prevent bad things from happening.  I've never had much problem keeping it aligned with the blade.  Perhaps it is due to the solidity of my 40's vintage Unisaw. 

1. 
   jointerman | Apr 13, 2007 09:51am | #8

   I also have the Biesemeyer splitter (mounted to my Delta contractor saw) and think that its a little thick as well. It sometimes is a hassle if you need to remove the throat plate to change the blade and catch or knock the splitter. Once you lose the perfect alignment, wood just doesn't move through the splitter very easily. Though I admit that I do love it and it is easy to remove when needed.

2. 
   BigK | Apr 14, 2007 08:23am | #14

   Perhaps the older uni is a little stouter, who knows? My uni is about 10 or 11 yrs. old. I just couldn't seem to find the sweet spot where the heftier Biesemeyer splitter would work right. Wierd thing is that I don't own any thin kerf blades, so I didn't understand why I couldn't get the damn thing to work. I really wanted a full thickness splitter for safety's sake. Had very recently stuck my left index finger into the blade, was still holding that hand up in the air to releive the throbbing. Still have the finger, works fine, sensations in the tip are different though. One hell of a wake up call, I was damn lucky. However I have found the slightly thinner splitter that came with the Uniguard to be quite adequate.

1. 
   jointerman | Apr 14, 2007 08:41am | #15

   BigK,Ouch! Sounds like you got a touch of nerve damage on the finger. Anyway, just a comment on the blade kerf and Bies'y splitter. I used to be in love with my Tenryu Gold Medal blade, but I decided that the safety of having a splitter in place was worthwhile to switch to a regular kerf blade. The splitter is a tad on the thick side. I admit that switching to the WW2 is at least as good, if not better than the Tenryu.

1. 
   BigK | Apr 16, 2007 06:47pm | #16

   Perhaps blade brand name has something to do with this problem, I don't know. My blade/brand of choice is Systimatic, and I only use full kerf blades. What I do know is that the splitter which I am using is quite adequate and performs flawlessly. I am in no hurry to fix something that isn't broken.
   However, an adjacent discussion that is taking place elsewhere in this chatroom about a short rip fence does have me thinking a little. That argument seems to make a lot of sense. I am considering experimenting with that notion a bit. Let's just say that I am always open to the idea of improving shop safety.
   By the way, I want to take this opportunity to explain that my accident happened primarily because I wasn't paying strict attention to what I was doing. Contributing factors were the fact that after repeated frustation with the worhtless stock blade guard/splitter, and repeated incidents of kickbacks and pinched stocks I had removed them. I was using my tablesaw with an exposed blade, and that situation was actually much safer that of what Delta provides out of the box. Apparently it was not safe enough. It is my contention that Delta should offer their tablesaws with the option of the overarm blade guard/splitter as a package rather then as an aftermarket item. I have talked to Delta about this but they have no desire to change anything and feel that the stock guard/splitter is more then adequate. What a joke.

   Edited 4/16/2007 11:51 am by BigK

2. 
   jointerman | Apr 16, 2007 08:02pm | #17

   Yes, the Tenryu is an oddball metric kerf of .111 inches (I know that's not a metric measurement). I think that most if not all of us have done not so smart things on the table saw. I too have the blade guard and splitter removed, in fact, I don't know if I even have the factroy guard/splitter anymore. I decided to fit the Biesemeyer splitter back in and get a full .125 inch kerf blade after a dumb incident. I was ripping a long piece of wood, not wanting the wood to pinch back, I put shims in the wood as I was ripping it. One of the shims fell into the blade, luckily, it didn't shoot back at me but caused me to think that that was a bad idea!

5. 
   mudman | Apr 13, 2007 05:25pm | #13

   Ive got Delta's removable splitter on my Unisaw. I think it came with the Uni Gaurd, but it is availible seperately. I do have to remove it for dados, but it only takes 30 seconds to loosen the knurled nut and pull out the splitter. It catches the boards like it should on kickbacks.

   Mike

   Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.