Welcome to the forum! Glad you were able to get in as a member. Are the rollers parallel to the fence in your design or is there a cant to keep the workpiece registered to the fence?
Thanks RF Guy, and excellent questions. My best effort at answering below...
That's easily user adjustable. The two slots are simply oversized. One aligns by the amount one wants them canted by eyeing relative to the fence. About 1/16" -1/8" cant between the wheels, or 1/4" over the length of the 13" long holder.
Do you recommend a riving knife be used in conjunction with the Little Proteus to further minimize kickback?
I have to confess to no experience with any riving knife. My saw is an old Powermatic 66. I do almost all of my solid wood ripping where I"m separating (as opposed to trimming)on a big, powerful band saw, and on the table saw I don't worry about kickback with sheet goods. But I would recommend leaving the riving knife in place whenever possible. The wheels are probably too close together to permit this without grooving the rear wheel to allow the RK to fit partly inside it. That grooving option is easily done though and can work well. Some commercial feeders come with pre-grooved wheels for that purpose. On a conventional saw it might be possible to put both feed wheels behind the RK, which can work really well in conjunction with Jessem guide/s in front, but I think the SS table is too short in back for that. For rips greater than 2 1/4" the wheels can simply fit between blade and fence. For narrower widths, it's a common practice to use an L shaped fence with the short leg the work rides against lower than the work, so much of the feed rollers can sit above the auxiliary fence. One of the best uses of the feeder on a table saw is grooves, dados and molding cuts, where RK isn't as much of an issue .
Many Shopsmith owners have the model 500 Mark V which only has a 1-1/4" wide fence. The newer 520 model Mark V/7 has a 2-1/2" wide fence. However in pictures of your system it is usually mounted on a Biesemeyer style fence that I assume is at least 4" wide. Can the Little Proteus be mounted on top of a 1-1/4" wide fence and if so any concerns with stability for this kind of setup in your opinion?
It can be mounted on a narrow fence, and the holder is designed to easily allow an outboard anti-deflection plate to run down to the table, effectively widening the fence platform. This can be left attached, or made easily (tool-lessly) removable so the holder can be used elsewhere with a shorter fence height For another machine with equal or higher fence height, the anti-deflection plate can just be left in place. See attached example on a commercial router table.
Lastly, has anyone ever reported a kickback event using the Little Proteus or does its design completely mitigate kickback?
I've only been selling this in any significant numbers since the FWW review late December. About 100 units out there now --no reports of kickback have reached me. Like Jessem guides, the feeder achieves antikickback control largely through superior stock control rather than brute force. All the brushless motor drills I've tested have electronic brakes that act as anti kickback control (like the Jessem's 1-way bearing), --even if the battery runs out of power. But I don't believe the design completely mitigates kickback. So I highly recommend figuring out how to leave RK in place or replace with splitter for solid wood separating cuts. On a table saw for work one considers kickback risky, and with sheet goods, I highly recommend using with Jessem guide/s or the much less expensive Board Buddie/s.
Kickback on a table saw is a tricky subject, and I don't want to feign expertise. I see where Oliver makes a big power feeder specifically for the table saw with built in anti-kickback pawls. It has only two feed rollers, larger than most, and they're grooved so rollers can fit over the blade- over $2k delivered and 150 pounds.....
