Craftsman 509398 - Manual (Page 40)

40
Hold Down Function
The hold down must be set correctly during
ripping to act as barrier against the infeed
side of the blade, to help keep the workpiece
flat on the table, and to deflect workpiece
chips. It must be lowered to just clear the
workpiece.
The hold down must be re-set each time a
different thickness workpiece is cut.
Follow the Ripping Set-Up Procedure to cor-
rectly set the hold down.
Pawls and Riving Knife Function
The pawls and riving knife must be set cor-
rectly during ripping to reduce the risk of
kickback, to prevent wrong way feed, and to
act as a barrier to the hazardous outfeed
side of the blade.
The riving knife rests on the table. It keeps
the workpiece kerf open. This reduces the
chances that the cut workpiece will spring
closed and pinch the blade. Pinching the
blade is a cause of kickback.
The pawls rest level on the upper surface of
the workpiece. During cutting they allow the
workpiece to pass freely from the infeed to
the outfeed side, but help stop the kickback
motion from outfeed to infeed side by grab-
bing into the workpiece surface.
The pawls must be re-set each time a differ-
ent thickness workpiece is cut.
Follow the Ripping Set-Up Procedure to cor-
rectly set the pawls and riving knife.
Set Hold-Down to
just clear
workpiece
Set Pawl level
on workpiece
Set Riving Knife
fully down
Ripping