29
WARNING
To prevent personal injury, always disconnect the plug from the
power source before making any adjustments and when attaching or
removing the Smart Guard System .
Checking riving knife alignment
WARNING
Check riving knife alignment to the blade periodically and make
adjustments as necessary .
An improperly aligned riving knife may result in workpiece instability, loss of control, and
KICKBACK. If the riving knife is misaligned and cannot be adjusted, do not attempt to operate
the saw. Have a qualified service technician perform riving knife alignment.
1. Check that the blade is properly aligned parallel with the miter-gauge groove per the
instructions in “Adjusting Blade Parallel To The Miter Gauge Slots” and adjust the blade if
necessary. Check that the rip fence is aligned with the blade (see instructions in “Aligning
Rip Fence”) and adjust the rip fence if necessary.
2. Raise the blade to the full height (up) position. Raise the riving knife to its full up position
(see instructions in “Positioning the riving knife”). Remove the anti-kickback pawls and
guard assembly from the riving knife. Remove the table insert. (Fig. 32)
3. Place the rip fence on the left side of the table. Carefully move the rip fence against the
blade so that the rip fence is parallel to the blade and just touches the tips of the blade
teeth. Lock the rip fence and make sure that the front and back of the blade are still
touching the rip fence (Fig 32).
4. Using the rip fence as a guide, check the riving knife alignment with the plane of the saw
blade. Since the riving knife is thinner by approximately three thicknesses of paper on
each side, than the width of the blade’s KERF (Fig 31) you must make a temporary paper
“spacing gauge“. Make two folds in a small piece (6" X 6") of ordinary newspaper to make
three thicknesses. Place the paper spacing gauge between the riving knife and the rip
fence (Fig 33).
5. Repeat step 4 with the rip fence on the right of the blade and check with the paper spacing
gauge.
6. If the paper spacing gauge does not fit between the rip fence and the riving knife per
steps 4 and 5 above, the riving knife is not correctly aligned with the blade and must be
adjusted. If the riving knife needs adjustment proceed to section “Adjusting Riving Knife.”
If the riving knife is correctly aligned with the blade then no adjustment is necessary.
NOTE: The riving knife has been properly aligned at the factory - Check the alignment before
making any adjustments.
Fig. 30
Blade Body
Blade Tooth
Riving Knife
Fig. 31
Riving
knife
Kerf
Width of three
thicknesses of
paper on each
side
Workpiece
Blade
