: Well, I suppose maybe I oughta make myself clear here: when I say
: I'm old school, I mean like had a job in industrial woodworking
: (in a shipyard making oak cradles for blowboats) before I was
: old enough to (legally) drive cars, and have been employed in
: commercial cabinet shops in more recent years. None of the table
: saws, or its variants, that I have ever seen ever had a riving
: knife, whatever it is, or any other safety dealy tacked on. In
: my world, everyone catches a kick-back exactly once; we call it
: the original crotch rocket. Never happens a second time, because
: either you learn valuable lessons at supersonic speed, find
: other work, or die outright (not really). And yes, I've suffered
: enough accidents to know how it works, though never yet with a
: power tool. I harbor no illusions of immunity, yet still plan to
: die of old age with all ten fingers intact.

: Many, many thanks to Deano, who committed the heresy of saying his
: riving knife came right off, stayed off, and now collects dust
: on a shelf somewhere. That's exactly what I needed to hear. I am
: genuinely afraid that stuff would cause more trouble for a guy
: like me than prevent, and would never even try to get used to it
: - there's simply too much at stake, for my money. But it's a
: moot point, as I have no reason to believe I'll ever need to buy
: a new saw. And like I said, no way I'll preach removal to noobs.

: Oh, and if I ever do buy a new saw, I'll be damned if it'll ever be
: one of those weenie-hugger things........

Mine is the same way, it's an old Craftsman with it's 3rd. motor and a Vega fence. I never installed the safety devices when I bought it new something like 25 years ago.

Bill H.