Make a Zero-clearance Insert for Your Tablesaw -- WOOD magazine

Avoid tablesaw tearout with a zero-clearance insert. This insert, which replaces your saw's factory-supplied throat plate, provides up-close support for the wood fibers during cutting, and also prevents small offcuts from falling into the throat and rattling around in your saw.
WOOD Magazine's Jim Heavey shows you two easy methods for customizing an insert for your tablesaw.
NOTE: This video was produced before riving knives were required in the U.S. Here's how to add a riving knife: www.woodmagazine.com/woodwork...
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[@markrpatterson9717]

I swear, Jim Heavey could do a half hour video on tying your shoes and I'd watch it twice. He does the best presentations and instructionals on the net.

[@gwadaflat]

While watching a lot of videos on the subject, I wondered why not use a rolling mill and use the original as a template, and I come across your video that uses this technique! 😉👍🏽

[@hendrikjbboss9973]

Of all the "easy" methods on KZbin this is by far the easiest! Thanks!

[@NormRidg]

Using a pattern router bit is a great idea! Now I can see the value of the double sided tape. Looks like I am going to make a few more inserts using this process.

[@geekazoid]

I used this method today and it worked like a charm

[@debbiescott9709]

You do have to spend some time setting the saw up... blade, fence, etc. But once done, the saw is great. Fairly compact which is Nice kzbin.infoUgkxXh-4_3-ZT1fFWP91ZV7iVqzElr0lEb-a I did get an Incra Miter Gauge which takes some setup as well. The stock miter gauge can be adjusted in the miter slot with a little painter's tape... this tightens up the side to side play a lot.

[@DiHandley]

Simple really. Thanks.

[@mrlifetime64]

good job thx

[@U2BER2012]

I need to borrow your band saw. I really like the tip on using a pattern bit to shape the insert.

[@weekendwarrior9570]

excellent

[@angeltorres9372]

Enjoy watching Jim Heavey lectures at the wood show in Sommerset, NJ

[@talltimberswoodshop7552]

If your zero clearance insert has seen better days, tape off the top of the insert and pour epoxy onto the underside. Recut the slot and it's as good as new.

[@TylerHarney]

Ohh that's brilliant! thank you

[@talltimberswoodshop7552]

@Gideon I don't think it would work with the normal metal insert unless you put something on the back for the epoxy to grip like a piece of 1/4" plywood. You would have to sand off the paint underneath creating "tooth" on the metal. If there's room underneath for the plywood, go for it. Might have to use an 8" blade to cut the slot first before using your 10" blade.

[@davidbrinley5280]

@@talltimberswoodshop7552 DO NOT fill your original insert. You absolutely need that extra wide gap for for the tilted blade on bevel cuts. If you fill it you will never be able to do a bevel cut without cutting a wider gap back in or it will bind the mechanism which will break, or when you start the motor you will have a fragmentation grenade !

[@talltimberswoodshop7552]

@@davidbrinley5280 A thinking person would have two inserts, right? If I cut a 45 using my main insert, I ruin the zero clearance. If I have two inserts, I'm good to go.

[@davidbrinley5280]

@@talltimberswoodshop7552 My concern was limited availability of replacement parts if you have an older (very) tablesaw such as my Craftsman, I have already broken the plastic center of my tilt crank wheel while trying to free up some rust when initially refurbishing this gem and barely was able to find a replacement, now I'm extremely careful not to burn my bridges, but its a WONDERFUL saw now, inherited from my long gone father-in-law and irreplaceable.

[@chivone21]

EXCELLENT INFORMATION. Very nice video. I have one question, if anyone.....PLEASE, can help me. What do I do if I have a half-massed table saw that has an insert that is all of 3/8ths of an inch thick because the screws that tabs that divide the actual depth of the insert and whole edge is beveled! Yeah, it isn't even straight down. I think this saw was built in Kabapakstan on the Friday afternoon while a monsoon was raging and the engineer that designed this were floating on a bananna boat on their way down the Yanghtze river looking for pink mangos

[@bigviper64]

Great idea and video, but my Craftsman 10” saw has about 1/16” thick Throat Plate! I’ve used Masonite Board but its too thick…

[@vincechoraszewski2394]

How do you make a square table insert for a Ryobi saw?

[@frankinanrcm5747]

dont see riving knife...?

[@wilhelmtaylor9863]

Using a dado blade to pre-cut the kerf is probably not wise: The teeth on my 8" dado blade measure 0.148" wide while the plate is 0.110 thick. My regular 10" blades are mostly .080" plates with 0.123" teeth. Clearly you will NOT get a "zero clearance" if you do this. A better way is to cut the first kerf while the insert sits ON the factory version, held down securely.

[@316woodworks9]

Im thinking you can use a router to hog out some material and can probably to it free hand

[@denchwoodwerks]

How do you take into account the riving knife?

[@williambranham6249]

Can't use . You can add a splitter. Several companies make or you can make your own.

[@petenilsen985]

Cut your slot for the riving knife by flipping the insert upside down and raising the blade again.

[@darrenhome1316]

Hard to believe wood magazine isnt using any sort of riving blade in that saw. Im missing two fingers because i wasnt using mine

[@antoniobavia6167]

that's a smart and serious observation. I can't believe how many videos shows to work without any protection system or removed. Even results are good, in my opinion, shouldn't be reason to teach a bad practice to work. And the same for the router table... I'm starting to think that I'm the wrong!

[@martymitchell9855]

Darren I’m a stickler about the riving knife too, I’m not taking any chances without one. I’d be interested to hear your story on what happened that caused you to lose two fingers. Could be a good opportunity to teach others watching this video.

[@kennoneya4671]

I'd also like to hear your story. I can't see how the lack of a riving knife could cause the removal of fingers. I guess since I grew up with a table saw without all the modern day safety stuff on top the table, I've removed all of it from my saw. But I also ride my Harley with my hair feeling the breeze! Tough being in you mid 70's at this point in time!

[@glensegarra7187]

Ken Noneya you can also close your eyes when you’re riding. That’s fun too!

[@brianmoore3294]

Without a riving knife the wood can raise up and to the left, sucking your hand into the blade. There is a demonstration of this on Stumpy Nubs channel that explains it better than I can here. As for WOOD Magazine's claim that saws didn't come with safety equipment when this video was made, "virtually every table saw has shipped with a splitter or riving knife since the 1980's" (- Woodshop News). The DeWalt table saw that I bought in 2013 in the US came with 2 riving knives and a blade guard. This video (2016) and others like it that ignore shop safety should be pulled to help reduce the number of table saw injuries whether due to misinformation or lack of common sense. (67,000 table saw injuries per year resulting in over 4,000 amputations)

[@vashon100]

How do you connect plate to saw, my furnished plate clips in?

[@boughttheticket]

If you use a tablesaw with a thin steel throatplate, like a Sears or Royobi, here is an easy way, by modifying the existing steel plate. You epoxy a wood plate below the steel, then glue a filler piece for a level deck. Here is my "how to" instructable.: www.instructables.com/Easy-zero-clearance-throatplate-for-any-table-saw/

[@frankherring6253]

Like your splitter pin a lot!

[@MrPete1x]

Don.t forget the riving knife

[@bobcarver3554]

what can you do if you own a sawstop

[@Wood]

Anything you can do with any other tablesaw.

[@benblackwell44]

I have made zero clearance inserts using this technique and it works fine. However, even when using good quality Baltic Birch plywood, I have had issues with not getting a perfectly flat top side. You can add leveling screws they will not correct a non-flat top side. How do you deal with that?

[@keithjeffries5469]

Cut another piece that is perfectly flat or close to it, and if necessary sand out the high spots. If your Baltic Birch is so out of flat that you're burning through the top layers to level it, you probably need to find a different supplier.

[@benblackwell44]

@@keithjeffries5469 The problem with (even high quality) plywood is that it is a layered construction and it will not be uniform in all directions. Even if you start off with a perfectly flat rectangular blank, the process of rounding the two ends, drilling a finger hole, drilling leveling screw holes, cutting the zero clearance slot and any other cut outs on the bottom side can yield a non flat top surface. Any machining operation relieves internal stresses and the shape will change. A few thousandths of an inch protrusion above the surrounding table top is enough to catch your stock. This effect was very pronounced when I recently cut a number of dovetail slots to accept MicroJig dovetail clamps. I ended up with a banana shaped object. I have not done this yet but my next zero clearance insert will be made from MDF. MDF is less subject to warpage due to machine operations since it is much closer to being uniform in all directions. While MDF is not as strong in bending as plywood, I think it will be strong enough for this purpose.

[@coronaking812]

Only a carpenter would call that 0 clearance.

[@citylumberjack8381]

Your zero clearance insert needs to be installed first so that when making your zero clearance insert using the plywood you use to make it with won'thave chip out. Time to break out the Delorean.

[@keningilbert]

While I appreciate it an easy to follow video on this topic I feel to publish it without incorporating a riving knife since the video was made seven years after riving knifes were required in the US. I have to believe wood magazine could’ve easily found a more modern saw to do this demonstration on. Requiring a riving knife is as basic as safety glasses. Even more irresponsible not to publish a more modern video four years later and not take this one down given the risk of so many inexperienced woodworkers not understanding the importance of using one. Minimum your link to how to add a riving knife should be in the video description not just buried in the comments.

[@keningilbert]

@@Wood your reply appears to be automatically generated because clearly you didn’t read my entire post.

[@Badbehavior]

YOU! missed the POINT🤔

[@fishhuntadventure]

It’s funny that anyone would think this was a real person. I hate the term ‘riving knife’ anyway because it is neither a knife nor does it rive… Nevertheless, pinch on the blade and kickback can be an issue but it is nowhere near a crises issue to get one’s tighties in a bunch over. If the cut is pinching, withdraw from the cut! Finish it with a circular saw, joint it with a plane or electric jointer, and square it out. You can’t really use warped wood anyways, right? You can work safe without a splitter but that requires being aware of what you are doing- which Saw Stop or not you should be doing anyways.

[@HaHa-sh7cu]

No riving knife, no guard and using disc sander on the incorrect side. Who came up with the concept for this video? Answer: cowboys

[@harrybond007]

@@Wood The attitude from WOOD magazine over this issue is disgusting, rather than pull a dangerous video they would rather argue the point and be a smart ass, yer a bunch of over the hill cowboys

[@davidmuresan628]

I invented a new Power saw named "Parallel Guided Power Saw" you can see on you tube. I can give you one 8ft for free to test.