This is the splitter I recently made for my DeWalt DW 746 Table saw to replace the stock splitter/blade guard/anti-kickback pawls. The design was based on the connection slots and general shape of the stock splitter, with some modifications:
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The new splitter rises to just under one inch in height over the table surface. This height allows the Gripper tool I use as a push block to clear the splitter even while cutting wood as thin as 1/16". Note that the Gripper tool cannot be used with a splitter-mounted blade guard. If you don't use a Gripper you might want to make the splitter a little taller. |
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The trailing end of the splitter is notched in a bit (1/2") to clear the zero-clearance throat plates I make for this saw. A full-width splitter shaped like the stock part would force me to have to kerf the insert all the way back to the edge, making it less safe and prone to twisting in my opinion. The 1/2" relief allows me to maintain some connecting material at the rear of the insert. |
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The leading edge will be beveled to help separate reaction wood that threatens to close around the blade. The splitter is cut from approx. .100" steel so it gives about .012" clearance on either side of a 1/8" full-kerf blade. |
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It attaches and detaches in seconds, now that I have replaced the metric hex nuts on the mounting flange with wing nuts. Since it's easy to put on or take off, I'm much more likely to keep it on the saw, which will make my cuts safer. |
Mounted in the saw with the zero-clearance insert.
The splitter mounting in the DeWalt DW746 Tablesaw.
In use while cutting a maple 4/4 board.
Why do this? I personally feel that while blade guards and splitters are important safety devices for table saws, I think the ones they give you with your table saw are junk. These bits of plastic and stamped sheet metal are a cheap excuse for a safety device, designed by bean counters to prevent lawsuits and not injuries. In some cases they make safe cuts more dangerous! The thin sheet metal splitters aren't thick enough to keep a kerf open when a board starts tightening around the back of the blade, and the anti-kickback pawls make it dangerous to make stopped cuts or handle thin off-cuts safely. And they are flimsy, the stock splitter/guard for my DW746 BENT within 48 hours of my assembling the saw. In my opinion, a safety device should NOT be so delicate!
In addition to those problems, I think they are poorly designed because A) they must be defeated every time you need to make a cut that doesn't pass through the board, and B) they are usually difficult to remove and even more difficult to re-attach and align. The stock guard on my DW746 wasn't very difficult to align, but without wing nuts on the mounting screws it was a chore to remove and attach it. Many saws are much worse. Many woodworkers just get fed up with these poor safety devices and they end up on a shelf or in a cabinet where they can't do anything to protect you.
A better solution is to have a heavy-duty steel splitter (without anti-kickback pawls) and a separate over-arm blade guard with an unbreakable polycarbonate shield that can be quickly and easily moved out of the way when necessary. So why not provide this better, safer, more user friendly suite of safety devices right from the factory? Because the blade guard would be considerably more expensive, driving up the price of the tool which is already pretty steep. We get the cheap guard because -- it's cheap! It provides the minimal amount of protection mandated by the government (which obviously doesn't understand how the tool is used) and costs the least to produce.
It's possible to buy these safety devices aftermarket but they can be very expensive, ranging from $250 to over $1000. But safety doesn't have to be expensive, the splitter cost me less than $10 (most of which was reimbursing a fellow woodworker for postage) and the blade guard will cost me about $50-75 when all is said and done. A Biesemeyer splitter alone can cost around $40 alone, and that fits only Delta Unisaws. But you don't necessarily have to buy one, these devices aren't very hard to make, and for a reasonable amount of money plus a little of your time and skill. The splitter shown is my first step in this safety upgrade process, and cost me less than $3.00 plus about an hour of my time. I cut it with a simple jigsaw and a bi-metal metal cutting blade, and finished up with a file. The over-arm blade guard will be the next step for me.
My thanks to Larry Loo of California who was kind enough to send me a few pieces of steel to develop this splitter.
This is a drawing / tracing of the splitter in case anyone would like to try and duplicate it.
The table saw table height is represented on the drawing by the dashed line.
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