The Shark Riving Knife for the Robland X31. My thanks to S. Monroe for the photo's of an 8.4 Shark on a Saw Stop. The Robland will be similar and the riving knife mount will likely be the only difference.
For starters, UNPLUG THE SAW! Then remove the throat plate. |    |
Installing the 10.0 and better clamp with pawls. | These come installed already, but if you need to remove or reinstall or otherwise work on them, here is some information an images that should help you do that. Installation for anti-kickback pawls. |   |
Installing the 8.0 version and better Clamp | Here are a couple exploded diagrams of an 8.0 and better clamps. The larger bushings on an 8.4 go to the left side. The curves on the bottom of the clamp halves are at the front. Plain bronze bushings are on the rear bolts. Machined brass bushings are on the front bolt. It will be basically the same setup without pawls. |   |
Splitter Alignment | At this point of setup you will need to align or verify alignment of the splitter to the blade. Install your blade if you have removed it earlier. You will need to use a straight edge, steel ruler, framing square or something similar. The splitter needs to be completely in the shadow of the blade. If you looked from the front of the blade dead on at the blade while squinting, you should not see the splitter at the sides of the blade. On some saws it seems impossible to align the splitter with the blade. The splitter simply won't move far enough to the right even with all the splitter shims removed. For instances like this, I offer brass blade shims here on the site that will help you to align the blade to the splitter. These will allow you to nudge the blade to the left to align with the splitter. Click the image to the right for a Flash File to see how these might be used. |  |
Using the Shark Guard The Shark Guard has a horizontal hooked slot at the rear and a vertical slot further forward. These slots are the mounting slots for this guard. The hooked slots get hooked on the rear studs of the clamp. There is now a safety hook that slips down over the rear stud to keep the guard from coming off when not intended. You can see in this image that the guard can be left in the upward position by hooking only the rear slots and resting the guard on the front stud. This feature is beneficial when measuring between the fence and blade with a steel rule. The front slots just slip down over the front studs with care taken to use the smaller bearing surfaces. With this done and your red tail hook slide down into place, your blade guard is installed.
It will seem to some that the guard isn't clamped down anywhere and only rides or sits on these studs. Can that be right? Yes, the guard itself isn't really fastened to the clamp in the normal sense. What does happen is it's locked onto the studs when you feed stock under the guard or when the blade height is low. In either case the guard can't be lifted up enough to remove it from the clamp while in use.
Dust collection can be hooked up to the top of the guard or you can simply cap off the dust port. I suggest that something be done to the port though. If left open, you can get a fountain effect of sawdust right into your face. I will have caps that plug this port available soon. For a good fit with something that is readily available, spray paint tops will serve as a good cap for the dust port. You can even get color coordinated caps this way. Rockler, Woodcraft and other outlets sell a nice 2 1/2 inch clear flex hose that fits this dust port well. It is a fairly snug fit by itself, but can be clamped down as well. I like leaving mine as a slip fit, because I utilize the same overhead hose for my router table.
There are numerous ways the you can support the hose for the dust collection. On my Gallery page, you will see some photo's of different setups. On my Review page, you will find links to individual websites where some owners used varied methods of supporting this hose. |    |
Shark Guard configurations | Click on the image to see the gallery and get an idea of some of the ways a Shark Guard has been mounted in the past by owners. | |
| I will continue to add more to this page as time permits, but this should get you set up and on your way to a safer sawing environment. No more excuses about the guard being such a pain in the butt. Here are some operational pics of one of the first prototype Shark Guards in action. It's come a long way since then. |   |
If you have any questions about installation, setup or usage of this blade guard or parts associated with it, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks a bunch and I hope that you enjoy using your Shark Guard.
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