zero clearance insert

[Leon]

Hi, Paul,

I sell UHMW and have cut it for more than 10 years.

First of all, you should be using a carbide blade for it.

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

May be you forgot to mention, maybe you were not aware, a decent carbide blade can be reshrpened. Your statement about the blade still feeling fairly sharp when you replace it makes me think that you don't have blades resharpened.

[Phisherman]

Well, as soon as you use the blade for plastic or wood, obviously it won't be as sharp as before the cut. Plastics won't dull a blade all that much, especially for one or two inserts. I never understood why folks buy inserts--they are very easy to make from a piece of cabinet-grade ply scrap and work just as good, maybe better because the wooden ones can be shaped for a perfect snug fit.

[Robatoy]

Mine are solid surface (Corian) Why? Because I have a bunch of it and it is 1/2" thick. Different colours too!! Yippee.

[-MIKE-]

Same info, however.

[Phisherman]

I don't put any body part in line with the blade, including the family jewels.

It's easy to move the fence a half inch or so over the plate to hold it in place. So many accidents from not thinking about what you are doing.

[B A R R Y]

And rightfully so, considering the media...

I fly within a box +/- 50 feet. Try that in a car.

[B A R R Y]

Thanks for posting actual professional experience!

[-MIKE-]

Too many things wrong with your statement to even start.

So I'll go to his.... Is he making 250k cuts on plastic, only. If that's the case, no wonder he doesn't notice any dulling. Is he going back and forth between plastic and hardwood and still not noticing? That would say something. Which is it?

[surplusdealdude]

One little point;

If you're going to be trying to resaw a 4" wide piece (cutting it to

1/2 of the thickness instead of trying to make 2-2" wide pieces), you'll want a more specialized blade.

UHMW tends to warp if you use a standard rip blade and you'll think the stuff is possessed when you try it.

For thick pieces, I use a rip blade with the widest chip-clearance that I can find and one that has square chip-clearing teeth.

A couple of years ago, I made an interactive Help Center for UHMW on Google Groups;

are a few pointers on there for various things you can do to it

- if I ever get some time, I'm going to add to it. If you have a special question, you can post it and I'll get a copy of it.

In my experience, a 2" wide fence works very well - my rip fence is actually on 3/4" high and I've never had a problem with it.

[surplusdealdude]

If you cut with a regular steel saw, yes, you'll run into problems almost right away.

Use carbide, and the blade lasts forever.