Adding a splitter to a new tablesaw throat insert is an excellent safely practice. Once installed, neglecting it requires a conscious effort, so the odds are that it will see everyday, real-life use.

I’ve found, though, that the usually recommended procedure of extending the kerf behind the blade and gluing in a wooden tongue is hard to pull off without introducing minuscule errors. And the slightest error will result in a device that snags the workpiece. This method solves those problems.

Raise the sawblade through the new insert. Then place the insert against a fence on a drill-press table. Align things by lowering a drill bit of a diameter that is equal to the blade thickness (usually 1/8 in.) into the kerf. When the bit is centered in the kerf, lock the fence, change to a drill bit 1/32 in. smaller, switch on the drill press and bore a hole near the outfeed end of the kerf. Now push that same drill bit into the hole, shank up, along with a dab of cyanoacrylate glue. The drill bit will now serve as the splitter pin. It will be aligned perfectly with the sawkerf and should have about 1/64 in. of clearance on each side.

Michael Standish, Roxbury, Mass.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, October 2001 No. 151

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