Thread: Zero clearance insert

Its not hard to make and it will cost you a bit of scrap and 10 minutes of your valuable time

there are SOME excellent ones on youtube but also some doozies that boost some yobbos own ego and worth zip.

personally i'd message a few local people that have CNC's and ask them to spit you out 3 or 4 in one go so you always have some spares on hand.

seems to be plenty of sellers on etsy and amazon (most in america though) selling them. someone is even selling the digital plans on etsy for $7 buy that and ask some locally or on here to spit you out a few

Dewalt Table Saw DWE7491 Zero Clearance Insert Digital - Etsy Australia

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Its not hard to make and it will cost you a bit of scrap and 10 minutes of your valuable time

thanks gents, rwb, 10mins of your time probably equates to 10 hrs of my time, being a retired plumber

as it happens I just found some 12mm ply offcuts in the shed so I will have a play around when I've got a spare 10 hrs

I've been looking at some youtubes and it seems the riving knife needs to be altered a bit to allow the blade to rise to full height

the idea with the CNC's seems interesting - not something I'd thought of and I will investigate

back to the youtubes

cheers
Bryan

after spending an afternoon making a template I made some inserts with the bandsaw and some flush router bits with guide bearings
,first of 12mm ply which turned out to be somewhat warped

the second pair I made were of 12mm meranti which seem to be very flat and flush

these allow me to cut to a depth of 72mm, which is short of 84mm possible with the standard insert, which I'm ok with for now
if I cut right thru the insert at the riving knife end, it wouldn't impede the cutting height but wouldn't be as solid
or if I trimmed off the back of the riving knife it would also work
but for now it is what it is unless I feel the need to make a deeper cut

I've done a few comparison cuts and these reduce splintering and tearout cosiderably
I'm quite happy with the results and I still have the template to make more should I need to

Hodgo

Hi H. I recently replaced the incredibly flimsy insert on my Makita job site saw. It was always going to have to happen but when a piece of wood was grabbed by the blade and smashed through the stock insert it meant the saw became unusable. Easy to do because the opening is rectangular.

Very nice Hodgo. They look better than the plywood ones I have made for my Hare & Forbes table saw, and have given me a couple of ideas.

They look great. The meranti is much nicer than a plastic or metal one.

I have a Makita job site saw too. The insert is on its last legs. I'll have to have a go at it as well.

thanks you guys

while I'm happy with the meranti so far
, I'm wondering what would be a more stable timber concerning cupping and warping be for future reference

I even thought about making a batch out of customwood with a more sacrificial approach in mind

cheers
Hodgo

bet they put a smile on ya dial when your mates drop by. "I made those myself." big boost to ones confidence. Love them.

What is it that is actually catching on your insert to prevent you raising the blade higher? Is there a wider part on the riving knife below the surface?
I made my insert from MDF and put a lick of Shellac on it so it doesn't absorb moisture over time and swell. The MDF is quite strong but I did add some bracing underneath where I could to beef it up a bit.
Does your insert allow you to tilt the blade or does it have to cut a new kerf in it for angled cuts?

Originally Posted by Treecycle

What is it that is actually catching on your insert to prevent you raising the blade higher? Is there a wider part on the riving knife below the surface?
I made my insert from MDF and put a lick of Shellac on it so it doesn't absorb moisture over time and swell. The MDF is quite strong but I did add some bracing underneath where I could to beef it up a bit.
Does your insert allow you to tilt the blade or does it have to cut a new kerf in it for angled cuts?

Hi Dallas
its the curved back of the riving knife which gets closer to the back edge of the insert hole as it rises, more so at the bottom edge of the insert

I can trim about 10mm off the back of the r knife if need be which would rectify the situation, but its ok for now

I didnt have angled cuts in mind when I made these, I've seen a guy on utube make one that does all cuts, and I will experiment with making one (or two)

cheers
Hodgo

Is it possible to widen the slot at the back to just clear the splitter or does the slot need to go right through the back like the original metal insert?
I have 2 inserts for my saw. One for 90° and one for all other angles. By doing this it keeps the 90° insert slot a neat fit around the blade whereas once I start to tilt the blade it starts to move slightly to one side and therefore needs more clearance in the slot.

Originally Posted by Hodgo

I'm wondering what would be a more stable timber concerning cupping and warping be for future reference

I've got plenty of dried / seasoned gidgee and about to get some more. Some of that would look nice and should do the job well - though some would say probably a waste of good gidgee timber.
I also have no shortage of suitable jarrah which would work well and look nice.

So far, I have only used plywood. I carefully made up a template slightly larger than the original metal insert which was quite a loose fit - and once I had a template I was happy with, I quickly made half a dozen or so on the bandsaw and router table. If I want one for cutting any specific angle, I can simply use one of these spares.