I haven't used the guard or splitter for my Jet Contractor saw since
I bought it. I didn't think it was needed because I primarily cut
plywood and smaller pieces and rarely needed to rip any lumber. Last
week I needed to rip some 8' 2x4s so I thought it would be a good
idea to install the safety device. Worked fine and probably saved me
from injury since the 2x4s twisted and bowed like crazy as they were
ripped.

After that I went out and bought a decent blade (Freud finishing blade)
because I was installing a new kitchen and had to cut finished
materials - fillers, toe kicks, etc. This is when I noticed a problem,
even though the splitter was lined up with the blade, the wood would
bind between the splitter and the fence. The finishing blade is the
same width as the splitter.

I want to keep the splitter and guard so what do I do? A few thoughts
I have a

Sand the splitter to make it thinner
Add an auxiliary fence that stops short of the splitter
Aftermarket splitter and guard
Zero-clearance insert with 'splitter'
Adjust the splitter further away from the fence side of the blade

I like to hear any thoughts on these or any other ideas. I want to
keep the safety of the splitter and guard.