Zero Clearance Insert

[FEngelman]

how bout loading a smaller blade into the saw, then raise that into the fastened down throat plate, after this, you can put the ten inch blade back..?

[Tom Watson]

I usually run a slot on the underside of the insert with the outer blades from a dado set, just to give it enough relief for the 10" blade to fit.

Then I clamp on a piece of waste stock over the insert, clamp it down, and run the 10" blade up very slowly.

Regards, Tom.

"People funny. Life a funny thing." Sonny Liston

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Hisself]

| >> I bought a zero clearance insert for my Unisaw. This is the first time | >> I've owned one, and I'm a bit puzzled as to how to make the slot. My | >> first instinct was to lower the blade completely under the table, turn on | >> the power, then slowly raise the blade with the new insert in place. | >> However, even when the blade is at its lowest point, the bottom of the | >> insert hits it. I couldn't possibly run the saw this way to get the slot | >> started. | >>

| >> What am I missing?? | >>

| >> TIA | >>

| >> -m | >You aren't missing anything (yet). | >

| >Just lay the ZCTP into the opening (with the saw blade fully lowered). | >Carefully(!) hold the plate up with your fingers and start the saw blade | >spinning. | >

| >Be VERY careful now -- you want to continue "not missing anything"! | >

| >Lightly / gingerly / (insert your own phrase ) lower the plate onto the | >whirling blade. Press it on down 'til it lays level in the throat. | >Now begin to raise the blade on through the plate. | >

| >WHen you have it cut through, turn off the saw and remove the new zero | >clearance throat plate. Take a sharp chisel to the bottom side to clean off | >the accumulated crud-stuff. | >

| >While care and good fortune you will still "not be missing anything" and | >you'll have your ZCTP ready for use :-) | >

| | You, sir, lack common sense. You have described an excellent way to lose a | finger or two. | | Use a smaller blade to start the cut. An 8-1/4" works fine, as does an

8" off a | dado set. Even a 7-1/4" off a circular saw will do well in a pinch. | | Make sure the zero clearance insert is held (I clamp a piece of 2x4 over mine, | wide side down). Raise the small blade into the insert, until it is fully | raised. Shut the saw down. Lower that blade and change to a 10". Repeat the | process, including the holddown. | | Do not EVER use your bare hands to place an item onto a spinning blade. NEVER. | | Charlie Self | "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not | hereditary." Thomas Paine

LISTEN TO CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[George E. Cawthon]

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 13:53:51 -0700, Fly-by-Night CC calmly ranted:

Yabbut, it looks like you've pared 'em all down to the same length now, Owie. What'd you use, the routah or the crosscut sled, or a Radio Alarm Saur? Huh, huh, huh? Got pics?

[Mike Pio]

I can't believe how much controversy this question generated, but I really do appreciate all the different opinions. I have many smaller blades at my disposal including both circular and dado cutters. I don't know why I didn't think to mount a smaller blade first, but that's the method I'm going to use. While the first suggestion may work, I'm personally just not comfortable lowering such a small piece of material onto a spinning blade -- not when I could just use a smaller blade and the clamp down method to get the same result.

[Lobby Dosser]

Good! Glad to see you can still type! :o)

[Fly-by-Night CC]

N-o-t-a. Lathe work wears out my fingers as I check for flats and rough spots and while friction polishing. The gloves I usually wear have all worn out in the fingertips...

;)

[bridger]

My powermatic won't drop below the inserts I make from 1/2" stock.

[mac davis]

well, don't know about fear being all that bad.... I have a healthy fear/respect for the moving things in the shop, and if I ever lose that, I'll quit.... IMHO, when you get too comfortable and safe feeling, you're going to make one of those "I KNEW better, but...." mistakes and lose some skin..

[mac davis]

hell, any good wood worker know that for a surface that flat, you need a jointer...

[mac davis]

ya know, mike... that's the beauty of groups like this... the things that one person hadn't thought of are the "been there, done that's" of others in the group...

I've only been following rec.woodworking for about 3 weeks, (recommended by 3 guys in a Dodge NG!), but the tricks, short cuts and safety stuff I've learned here have helped me so much...

Just bookmarking the pages of some of the folks in the group with skills that I envy is like having a wood working course on disk!!

[mac davis]

In my case, I could loose 6 or 7 and not lose typing fingers or speed...

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 21:54:53 -0700, Fly-by-Night CC calmly ranted:

"I see." he replied, with a large grin.

(Please note that I succeeded in -not- mentioning the term "friction polishing", a phrase upon which kids'd go wild.)

[Fly-by-Night CC]

It's not just kids.

[Sam]

Running a piece as small as an insert through a planner doesn't seem like a swell idea either.

[Dave Balderstone]

Use a sled. It'll be fine.

[Charlie Self]

But it's fast and simple to make a carriage for it.

Charlie Self "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary." Thomas Paine

[Tom Watson]

What good would it do to make the insert thinner?

[Charlie Self]

Tom Watson asks:

Well, you'd have a thinner insert, which could then be drilled and tapped for allen head adjustment screws to lift it up level with the table top, after you were able to run the 10" blade through to make the ZCI. :)

Of course, doing the job with an 8" and then the 10", is much, much easier and works better.

Charlie Self "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary." Thomas Paine