General Riving Knife Kit

[WarrenC]

has anyone installed the retro kit available for the General T350/650 Table Saw. Curious as to to what you think. Was it worth it? I understand they are quite pricey and require some work to install. Also wondering, in light of that lawsuit in the states, would you expect this "saftey accessory" would come down in price.

thanks

[Wooden Heart]

Hi Warren; I was also looking into the retro kit (I have a 350); the General dealer that I usually go to told me it was right around the $800 mark. I also talked with a General sales rep right at the plant and he told me that it took two of their trained technicians something like 7 hrs to install one so I'm thinking it might be a bit of a PITA to install. From what I understand, the General reps are actually discouraging people from buying it because of all the support they have to provide to the people installing them. That in itself wouldn't bother me but the price tag sure does . Still, you never know, as riving knives become more popular....and hell freezes over, General might bring down the price on them and make it a little more worth it.

Regards, Mark.

[Chris Fournier]

Yikes, that's some serious cash and time for a riving knife. Certainly not worth it in my opinion.

On my 350 I use a shop made maple kerf splitter. I have one that is about 2" high. If you were really serious about using a splitter all the time and for non-through cuts you could simply machine up a long strip of kerf splitter stock and cut it to length for any application. Not as convenient as a riving knife but for the cost of shop scrap and a wee bit of time it's a table saw safety deal!

[WarrenC]

Yeah, I agree that it's a bit too much $$$. I already have a splitter (well the Shark Guard), but at times, it's a bit of a pain. Can't cut anything less than about 3/4" wide, can't make bevels and can't make dadoes unless I take it off.

[scott in rochester]

$800 seems pretty steep for what is essentially a nicer splitter. Maybe you'll figure out a way to retrofit something on your own.

[That Dave Guy]

$800 seems pretty steep for what is essentially a nicer splitter. Maybe you'll figure out a way to retrofit something on your own.

$800 is not just for the splitter, it is an entire new trunion, 100's of lbs of cast iron.

David.