# Adding a Riving Knife to a Craftsman TS



## SteveKoz (Feb 22, 2019)

I have an old Craftsman Table saw. I'm updating it with a new Shop Fox fence. Been seeing more about riving knifes and thinking it has some advantages. Is this something that can be added to an old saw? How does it attach? Any recommendations? Thanks!


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Micro-Jig has a line of "MJ Splitter" products that may interest you:
https://www.microjig.com/collections/mj-splitter


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## SteveKoz (Feb 22, 2019)

Thanks for the reply. Looks interesting. I just sent them an email. My table saw has a much smaller/shorter plate than the ones in the videos. Not sure I have enough room for a couple splitters.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Need more/better photos.....*

My splitter is attached to a long 3/4" diameter rod that goes under the table and is held by the trunnions so it will tilt. Your saw may be different, but we would still ned to see the direct under view and a view down into the rear without a throat plate. Some riving knifes, the Shark attach to the upper rear portion of the trunnions with a sing horizontal bolt ... if I recall, I don't own one, just saw them on the web. That's another alternative for a riving knife, but there may be a waiting period as he makes them a few or one at a time:
https://www.thesharkguard.com/


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## Cephus (Jan 28, 2018)

The question wasn't can you add a splitter, it's can you add a riving knife and that may not be possible. The riving knife has to mount to the blade carriage and raise and lower and tilt with the blade. There was a product a while back called a BORK (bolt-on riving knife), but the guy who made them got sick or stopped for some reason.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

As far as I know the BORK was not a true riving knife, it was advertised as a splitter that worked like a riving knife. When installed it protruded above the blade so had to be removed to make a non-through cut.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*splitters VS riving knives .......*

New table saws come with a riving knife and were designed for them. Older saws came with splitters and typically they also held the blade guard, like my Craftsman 10". The splitter also had the antikickback pawls and those were a real pain. So, I never used mine until I realized how important they were in maintaining the workpiece from rotating away from the rear of the fence and causing a kickback. That probably was not their original function, but an unintended consequence. :surprise2:

So, better late than never, I drilled out the anti-kickback pawls which left me with a large plate, a splitter only. Yes, you can NOT make a non-through cut because the splitter sticks up beyond the height of the blade, unless you remove it for those rare times. I also eventually made a blade guard from 3 pieces of wood and bolted to the splitter:










It's a "friction" fit so it's adjustable from all the way up o right down touching the workpiece. It also is high enough for the thickest cut allowed with the 10" blade to pass underneath it. The splitter has made a significant safety improvement on my table saw, and I always prefer having it installed, so it rarely comes off.


This video shows a DIY version made from a thin shelf bracket:


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## SteveKoz (Feb 22, 2019)

Cephus said:


> The question wasn't can you add a splitter, it's can you add a riving knife and that may not be possible. The riving knife has to mount to the blade carriage and raise and lower and tilt with the blade. There was a product a while back called a BORK (bolt-on riving knife), but the guy who made them got sick or stopped for some reason.


To be honest I really didn't know the difference between the two until today. I've built several pieces of furniture over the years and always dealt with wood pinching behind the blade. Just thought that was part of the process to be aware of and just worked with it. While looking to replace/upgrade my saw I started reading about riving knifes and realized there was a solution for that problem. While looking at the shark guard and shield products I remembered the saw came with a guard. Thinking I might be able to modify it somehow I dug it out of a box where it had been sitting since I first purchased the saw. I removed it because I couldn't see what I was cutting not realizing what it was attached to was a splitter AND it's purpose. Can't believe I've wrestled with this for so many years. It attaches really easy so I'll learn what I like and don't like about it and modify it if needed to fit my liking. Probably should have purchased a new saw like I first intended to get all the new features. I've built several pieces of furniture over the years with this Craftsman and it's a decent saw. I ordered a new SawStop fence, now I'll attach this splitter and planning on adding a catch table might make working with this saw feel like a newer saw.. I appreciated all the advise.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

I guess we all have those Ah Ha moments when we discover that in our haste to use a new item we rushed into it before following all the steps to set it up. Table saws for example come with a splitter which unfortunately is a component of the guard which is all too often considered a nuisance rather than a safety feature.

We can spend hours and a lot of cash on measuring devices to set the saw up going through the drill, blade to miter slot, fence to miter slot, blade height and debate if the back of the fence should be kicked out a few thou or not. Then despite all this we experience a kick back and wonder why.

This is not unique to tools, I have friends that would install a new operating system on their computers and then immediately go in to delete features that the hackers had determined affected performance only to be hit by virus or malware that brought the machine to a halt.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Integral splitter and blade guards ......*



FrankC said:


> I guess we all have those Ah Ha moments when we discover that in our haste to use a new item we rushed into it before following all the steps to set it up. Table saws for example, come with a splitter which unfortunately is a component of the guard which is all too often considered a nuisance rather than a safety feature.


The older Craftsman table saws had the blade guard with the anti kick back pawls riveted to the splitter plate, or integral, so it made using one without the other impossible ....except, if you got ambitious or creative, you could drill out the rivets, as I did, and use just the splitter. Best thing I ever did to those old saws! 

This "error in design" meant not using the dang thing at all because there were too many issues with the wide blade guard causing a even more narrow passage between the blade and the fence. And the anti-kickback pawls were a real pain when ripping a short piece or making trail cuts because you couldn't back out your workpiece. Sure, they could be held up above the workpiece, but that was another thing you needed to do on an already tedious operation.....

So, they never got used much, then lost over time and when you did want it, it was no where to be found. :sad2:


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## Frank Kerman (Feb 1, 2020)

You should exchange old jigsaw to new jigsaw with a high degree of maneuverability.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Not about jigsaws, Frank*



Frank Kerman said:


> You should exchange old jigsaw to new jigsaw with a high degree of maneuverability.



You posted this in the wrong place. try again. :|


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## McLendon (Jul 15, 2020)

Would you be willing to post pictures of how your splitter mounts to the trunnions?


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