Table saw riving knife.

**Rorschach** · Dec 21, 2018, 02:49 AM

My table saw came with a riving knife to which the crown guard attaches. It works very well but is limiting for certain jobs as you can only make a full depth cut as the knife sits much higher than the blade.
There is no other option from the manufacturer so I decided to make myself a new riving knife. Picture below demonstrate the process, any questions please ask.
To make the knife I used my portable bandsaw with it's table attachment (pics here on another thread), and files to refine the shape. Not a long process and it works perfectly.

**DIYer** · Dec 22, 2018, 06:39 AM

Thanks Rorschach! We've added your Riving Knife to our Table Saws category,
as well as to your builder page: Rorschach's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Riving Knife by Rorschach

tags: table saw

**Troll Hunter** · Dec 22, 2018, 10:21 AM

Hi,

I have the same problem and to cut a slot, ie less than full depth, I have to remove the riving knife. The major problem with this is that the blade safety guard is mounted on the riving knife so not good! Have you addressed this problem?

Mike

**Rorschach** · Dec 22, 2018, 01:38 PM

The only way to solve that problem is to have the safety guard mounted on it's own arm. I have not done this.

I don't use my table saw a lot, if I am going to make a lot of full depth cuts I will switch back to the original riving knife which has a guard. This knife is purely for use when doing doing slot cutting. If I do a full depth cut I take extra care. I am lucky that this saw does also have a sliding table with fence which makes it a lot safer for cross cutting.

**Troll Hunter** · Dec 22, 2018, 10:50 PM

Thanks for the detail. My situation and procedure are the same, and for slotting I remove both the riving knife and the safety guard.

Mike

**Tooler2** · Dec 23, 2018, 08:09 PM

FWIW you do not have a riving knife you have a splitter. A riving knife goes up and down and angles with the blade, it should follow the curve of the blade and be just shy of the same protrusion.
Rob

**Rorschach** · Dec 24, 2018, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by Tooler2

FWIW you do not have a riving knife you have a splitter. A riving knife goes up and down and angles with the blade, it should follow the curve of the blade and be just shy of the same protrusion.
Rob

Did you look at the pictures? That is most definitely a riving knife. It follows the curve of the blade, sits just very slightly lover than the top of the teeth and is attached to the trunion so it moves up and down and angles with the blade.

**Tooler2** · Dec 24, 2018, 03:27 AM

No, sorry, I did not look further than than the guard attached to the top like a splitter. What make/model is the saw?
Rob

**Rorschach** · Dec 24, 2018, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by Tooler2

No, sorry, I did not look further than than the guard attached to the top like a splitter. What make/model is the saw?
Rob

It's a draper saw model CTS200. It appears to be a generic 8" table saw that many companies re-brand and adjust to their own specifications. I got it for an excellent price and it's honestly a very nice saw once you get it set up properly. Setting everything square etc was not the easiest as you might expect from a budget model but once done it is very smooth, quiet and takes a nice cut.