I'm gearing up to do some built-in beds for my kids in a house we are renovating.
I currently have a ShopSmith model 510, which I've used for several small projects. I've not been a huge fan of the table saw, however. I'm looking to pick up a used saw, but I'm not incredibly familiar with older saws.
Requirements
- 1.5+ HP
- Riving knife
- decent dust collection
- 10" blade
- able to use dado sets
- able to build outfeed tables around
So far in my research I've discovered brands like Powermatic (specifically model 63 and 66), Grizzly, and Delta (Unisaw).
I'd like to score one on Craigslist or Facebook, but that will probably require some travel, and I'd like to know as much about these as I can before taking a trip.
Questions
- Do all of these allow for things like riving knives to be installed?
- Are there any reputable brands or models that I'm overlooking?
- Any good resources (besides here) for this info?
While I can't honestly say that it is impossible to retrofit a Powermatic 66 with a riving knife
(because I have a thread that explains just how I did just about that), I can say that it is highly impractical, and required a LOT of tools and expertise way outside of the woodworking field. Also, the castings on these older saw designs are working against you here.
I don't use a riving knife for every cut, but I do use it whenever possible, and I personally feel that it may be the most important safety feature a table saw can have.
That being said, while I've seen a lot of used table saws come and go, I have never seen a single one with a riving knife. Perhaps they're just too new in the field here, but I suspect some of it has to do with people keeping them now that they have them. Maybe you'll see them at garage sales in 50 years, but for now, good luck with that.
As for outfeed tables, you can build that around ANY saw. Don't sweat that.
If you're open to a splitter vs. a true riving knife your options open tremendously. A true riving knife rises and lower with the blade and is very close to the back of the blade all the time. An adjustable splitter can accomplish this but needs to be adjusted every time the blade height is changed significantly to keep it effective and keep it from contacting the blade. I have a Unisaw and would only consider a PM66 as an alternative.
If you're talking about a behind-the-table splitter, there's no way I'd consider that. I feel that those make things more dangerous. There's too much of a chance of tensioned wood leaving the blade and hooking straight into the splitter stopping it dead next to a running blade. I don't want any part of that.
I don't have any experience with splitters that are built into your table insert. I suppose they're PROBABLY close enough to the blade, but remember that as you lower the blade, the rear edge of the blade moves forward in the table, so the gap to the splitter still grows. It may be small enough, but the 1/8" gap to my knife is something I KNOW is close enough.
Also, I worry that the insert splitters are kind of flimsy, being made of either plastic, or home-made of wood.
