Bork (Bolt on Ripping Knife) tablesaw Splitter

[stevepay]

Disclaimer: I do not have a direct or indirect financial or other interest in the product or the provider (including friendship).

I have recently purchased an aftermarket splitter / riving knife from the Bork Store and I though I would let everyone know how it went. I ordered the stainless version with dust collection hood.

I like many people do not like the existing splitter / guard device that comes standard with alot of saws and it is good to see that many manufacturers are moving to riving knifes etc..

For starters I have a Jet tablesaw, JTAS 10inch right tilt model. I first checked that the device would fit my particular saw and accorcing to the website they have a version that fits. I would advise anyone to double check that their saw is supported before ordering a kit.

The process of ordering from the website is mostly straightforward and dealing with Bob is a good experience as he tries to make sure you are ordering the correct model for your saw and was generally very helpfull. also the cost of purchase included postage to Australia so I was very happy

The package arrived not long after and everything was nicely boxed up with bubble rap etc... no issues here and everything appeared to be as described again no issues.

This is where things got a little more difficult. The instructions that come with the device (I also had some instructions emailed to me from Bob) are best described as basic with a general overview and a couple of pictures of an installation on a saw that was not like mine and appeared to be reversed or back the front if that makes sense anyway moving on to the installation and it went fairly smoothly untill it came to the alignment process.

Please note that if you like things to work straight out of the box with no tweaking or limited adjustments or if you are not a very patient person do not buy this kit as it requires alot of both

Basically you have to align the knife with your saw blade by adjusting a series of screws in and out to make it inline with the blade and adjust a clamp on the arm of the device which is attached to the trunion of the saw (which in my case has a round hole which makes clamping the arm to it bloody dificult as it tends to move) and to have the distance front to back also inline with your blade. the kit does come with a wooden guide and that gets you in the ballpark but after that you are on your own.

I had several goes at it to get it right and was never really able to get it lined up with the blade but also so that it was the correct distance from the back of the cabinet so that it did not hit the blade or hit the back of the cabinet.

now I like to think of myself as fairly patient but after 4 hours on day one.... then another 3-4 hours a week later I never got it properly aligned and eventually gave up and removed the device.

The problem as I see it is that there are too many areas of adjustment that need to work together, and the adjustment technique is rather crude and slow. You have to remove the knife to access the adjustment screws then relace the knife and screw that into the holder, check alignment and if not correct remove everything and start again this gets very tedious, especially when its through a small opening in your tablesaw. I would think that having the screws adjust from the other direction would allow it to be tweaked without removal of the knife completly?.

Overall my thoughts are that the device is a good idea and I think its filling a need in the woodworking community for an aftermarket device for older saws that the manufacturers are washing their hands with as they just want you to buy their new saws which most have these devices fitted as standard now.

Where the device falls short is in the execution of the idea, its a great idea and very simple but doesn't work straight out of the box and requires alot of fiddling around and more patience than I have, perhaps it is just my model of saw that is difficult ?? I can't say for sure.

I plan to have another go at it later as I still believe in the concept, and I recommend the various videos on you-tube etc... as these really help (although clearly not enough for me )

Note after watching the videos they are silent and would be better with sound

Steve

[artme]

Good review and good to know of the problems.

[simops]

Steve....what you are describing is what I have with the standard supplied riving knife that came with my Woodman SB12 cabinet saw. A frustrating process of alignment also requiring removal of the knife to adjust!

Mike

[fletty]

I hope Steve is still lurking somewhere on the forum?

If so, Hi Steve, did you ever get the BORK to work on your table saw. I also have a JET right tilt table saw and came across both the product and your review via Uncle Google.
I long ago discarded the splitter which came with my saw for the simple reason that it was more often OFF the saw for dado cuts etc than ON the saw? Also, the factory supplied pawls damaged every piece of timber that passed their way. A riving knife is clearly the way for me to go, but.......

fletty

[stevepay]

Hello Fletty,

Yes I am still lurking in the background...

Honestly I never got the Bork to work satisfactorily on my Jet table saw, it currently is sitting on a shelf in my shop gathering dust.

The main problem for me was getting the whole thing to align properly and not move once installed, which for a round shaft is pretty tricky. I had ideas to make a more permanent fix but never went through with them.
If it is something you are seriously interested in the Bork have a look at your other options (might be more options now than when I was looking) and if you are still interested in the Bork PM me and about it and we can work something out that will be a lot cheaper than getting one from the states.

Steve

[fletty]

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply and candour. I have followed a number of the US reviews and there seems to be 'enough' people who are happy with it to leave me with some hope. Given your experience, would it be any easier with the table removed? I need to remove it soon anyway to properly fix a loose split pin in the lift mechanism?
fletty

[stevepay]

Hey Fletty,

It would definitely help with access if the table was removed, won't help with the adjustment mechanism as its quite rudimentary.

Steve