I forked this off from here to a separate thread/discussion…
I went in today to take care of this. There are actually two items that come with the table saw (t/s) that can be used to protect the kerf and keep wood from binding behind the blade: the riving knife (r/k) and the blade guard/spreader (bgs) assembly (i.e. they are two different things as far as manual is concerned).
To get the clamp assembly that holds one or the other of these when in use, manual suggests using the r/k. I did this per manual and was able to align the clamp with r/k inserted pretty much perfectly (about .002" deflection from front to back of r/k measuring/testing from both left and right miter slots), and was making multiple repetitive rip cuts of 1" to 3" with fence locked in place. Hooray.
But when r/k was was then replaced with bgs in the clamp, same problem as last evening (i.e. serious binding). This seemd really odd/off, so I called SawStop Customer Support; they said that if one of the two splitters is working as expected and one isn’t, then it probably is a ‘poorly machined’ part, in this case the bgs. They are sending a new one tomorrow, probably overnight. We should expect it by Thursday at latest, I think. If anyone reading this happens to be there to receive the package, please save the box and packing/shipping materials as they would like the defective one back. Problem ticket/case number is 34-39830, if it is needed.