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Many older table saws came equipped with a splitter, which is not as safe as a riving knife. I have one such saw, a Powermatic 64, but there are many others.

What are some options for equipping a riving knife on to a table saw which came with a splitter, but not a riving knife?

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    Unfortunately shopping advice isn't a good fit for the Stack Exchange format, but you may be able to salvage your question if you can reframe it without asking for a purchasing recommendation.
    – rob
    Jun 6, 2015 at 20:55
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    If I ask which ones are known to fit, will that work?
    – Jeremy
    Jun 6, 2015 at 21:00
  • Yes, that would work. Making the question more generic and asking for riving knife options for any saw that came with a splitter would be even better. Either way, you can still mention which options you've looked at already.
    – rob
    Jun 6, 2015 at 21:40

1 Answer 1

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Since 2009, every new saw sold in the US is required to include a riving knife. However, prior to 2009, many saws had traditional splitters which are not as effective at preventing kickback as riving knives, as discussed in What is the difference between a riving knife and a splitter on a table saw? (which you also referenced in your question).

If you do have an older saw, your options will vary based on the popularity of your saw, but there are at least a couple commercially-available aftermarket riving knife options on the market; for example:

You also mentioned these in the original version of your question, and I haven't run across any other commercially-available aftermarket riving knives that I recall.

In addition to commercially-available options, some people have also crafted their own custom riving knives for their older saws.

Based on one article I found, it seems the design of the arbor assembly on the original Powermatic 66 cannot be modified to accommodate a true riving knife, which raises, lowers, and tilts with the blade. If you cannot retrofit a riving knife on your older saw, there is a less convenient but somewhat viable workaround. This involves making several zero-clearance throat plates, each with an integrated splitter at a different location based on the hight of the saw blade. In addition to custom solutions, there is at least one commercially-manufactured option.

The obvious downside is that you basically need a separate throat plate for roughly each height you want to cut, and even then you can only handle cuts with the blade set to 90 degrees. Perhaps you could also make custom integrated splitter throat plates for other angles, but it may not be practical or advisable. MicroJig's MJ Splitter is only designed for 90 degree cuts.

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