Question about older equipment?

[patlaw]

Where are you located? The drill press looks like a good one. I'm interested if you still have it.

 

[Gotcha6]

My table saw is a 1995 Delta, no riving knife, I don’t think I have ever seen a riving knife on a saw. Well, maybe on the SawStop… I have ripped thousands of feet of lumber without even knowing of a riving knife. I doubt I would ever use one.

Mike, you and I are just too 'old school' for all these new fangled gizmos.... That's why I hesitate to try and train anyone on power tools, because I know things have changed so much and I'm too set in my ways.
The first saw I ever used with a riving knife was the De Walt Contractor's table saw. With the rack & pinion blade height adjustment, the riving knife follows the top of the blade in a parallel fashion instead of an arc like a traditional trunnion and is very easy to adapt to. It is also easy to remove when necessary.

 

[bob vaughan]

Mike, you and I are just too 'old school' for all these new fangled gizmos.... That's why I hesitate to try and train anyone on power tools, because I know things have changed so much and I'm too set in my ways.
The first saw I ever used with a riving knife was the De Walt Contractor's table saw. With the rack & pinion blade height adjustment, the riving knife follows the top of the blade in a parallel fashion instead of an arc like a traditional trunnion and is very easy to adapt to. It is also easy to remove when necessary.

Old school indeed. Here's the front of a 1925 Crescent catalog. Splitters have been around for a century at least. Table saw guards acted as a splitter.
In today's recreational woodworking shops, the riving knife may have a place when ripping, but the variety of tooling and applications often make the riving knife something that is more of a liability than it is an asset.

 

[sandfarm]

I have been using a table saw without a riving knife for 44 years.
Also have used a Craftsman RAS for 30 years.
I have had no problems using these machines.
I would say it depends on the wood used and also the person using the machine.
The thing about a craftsman RAS is most are under powered.
But if you take the time, you crosscut away from you (push through cut) when possible, this gives you more power.
This way will represent a circular saw blade direction, blade rotation up and not down into the wood, Downward rotation will grab sometimes and hang up.