What’s a “hybrid”? Rifing knife vs. spl
morty
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I’m unclear on the definition of a “hybrid” TS. Also,what is a rifing knife & its pros and cons as to a splitter?
Thanks. I need all the help I can get.
Morty
Replies
The way I understand it, the riving knife is in roughly the same position as a splitter and accomplishes the same thing. It keeps the wood from closing together on the blade (drifting away from the fence) and causing a kick back.
The clever thing is that it is mounted at the height of the blade and moves up and down as you move the blade up and down (It's attached to the blade carriage). You do not need to take it off for the majority of cuts (Not having used one, I can't say for sure but it looks like you only need to take it off if you switch to a narrower blade or a stack dado.)
A guard you don't have to take off is, of course, far more useful than a guard collecting dust somewhere in the shop.
I'm sure others can add more info to this post.
To see a great pic of one, check this out: http://www.sawstop.com/images/additional%20cabinet%20saw%20photos/Cabinet%20Saw%20-%20Interior%2010.jpg
Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
Here is more detail.
Mark
http://www.amgron.clara.net/circularsawbenches/rivingknives.htm
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
Mark's right, a riving knife's really nice feature is that it can be set about 1/8" behind the blade and left there. It doesn't extend above blade height and so you can do cuts that normally you would have to remove the splitter.
The proximity to the blade is one of the best things about it since it doen't change when you adjust blade height. Invariably every once in a while when you are doing a narrow trimming cut that narrow ripper curls behind the splitter and jams between the stock. Its just about impossible for this to happen with a properly adjusted riving knife.
As far as a hybrid saw its a saw that is a cross between a cabinet and contractor saw. Exactly what that means seems to be up for debate. There are a couple of other discussion sites you could post that question and get a furball started. Woodcentral and Saw Mill Creek are two that come to mind.
But you could go to Delta, Jet, and Sears sites and look at their information on their hybrids. Sears markets theirs as a cabinet saw due to how the internals connect to the saw cabinet but the drive belt is still tensioned by gravity like a contractor. I think its the 22124.
Hope that gets you further along.
The best I can do, regarding a hybrid saw explanation, is that it is a cross between a contractor's style saw and a cabinet saw. On most (not all) hybrids, a contractor's style trunnion assembly carries the blade but the motor hangs down into the cabinet (like a cabinet saw) instead of poking out the back. There are other variations now, like saws with fully enclosed cabinets and at least one saw with the trunnions mounted to the cabinet, rather than the table. I think most of the hybrids also incorporate a better system for dust collection. Generally, they also have slightly more HP than the typical 1 1/2 HP contractor's models.
Edited 3/26/2005 11:47 pm ET by wooden splinter
Edited 3/26/2005 11:48 pm ET by wooden splinter
Edited 3/26/2005 11:49 pm ET by wooden splinter
I found a link to an article that has a pretty good explanation of what a hybrid is with good illustrations. Something I had on file but hadn't scanned down far enough.
http://www.rd.com/americanwoodworker/article.do?siteId=2222&categoryId=7002&contentId=244
I forget which link but the file name will be TT_tablesaws.pdf
Doesn't cover the Craftsman but after reading that article you should be able to head to Sears and have a good idea what incarnation they are selling.
On traditional American table saws, a splitter is attached to the underside of the cast iron tabletop, it therefore stays stationary as regards height and angle irrespective of the blade, so is limited in it's usefulness.
Most European tableways have a riving knife. A riving knife is attached to the same assembly the arbor is, so as the saw is raised/lowered or ungulated, the knife maintains the same relationship to the blade and can be used for all cuts (with the exception of dado's).
You can do dadoes with a riving knife.
Wouldn't that require an adjustment to get the riving knife at or below blade level? If so why would you want to bother, I would just remove it for that operation. Dado's closing and binding a board are not much of an issue.
The riving knife is the height of the blade. My table saw is 10", the stacked dado is 8" The knife would have to come of in that situation. If my dado was 10" then it wouldn't be a problem.Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
It takes about 30 seconds to adjust the height of the riving knife on my saw. It can be adjusted for various blade heights. You're right though, there's not much need for it when doing dadoes but it can still be used.
What type of saw do you have?Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
One last bit of info.
Workbench magazine did a review of four hybrids in the Feb issue. I hunted it down at the library as the review isn't on their website. Pretty decent information and they cover the new Craftsman as well.
I'm considering a hybrid as I think it is "enough" saw for the work I do. But I'm also a little skeptical about not buying enough.
Long ago learned the lesson of cheap tools but I'm trying to keep an open mind. My really cheap Grizzly contractor saw does about 90 percent of what I need a table saw to do but I don't like having to work around my tools so I need something a little stronger and hold settings better.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled