ZCI with changeable insert?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Anyone ever make a zero clearance insert like this one?

woodworkingtips.com/etips/2007/03/23/ws/

I've got a pile of laminate flooring in the basement that I'll be using for jigs and whatnot. Was wondering if I couldn't use it for the insert too and just whip out several.

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/images/20070323ws.gif

Just tested out a sheet on the saw table to see how it slides.. Dang thing is like riding on a cushion of air.. Will make a nice cross cut sled base.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I don't know what brand, but our local Woodcraft sells a kit, that contains a throat plate, and replaceable wooden inserts. They have different pates for many saws, but not yet for a Sawstop. Cost a few bucks, but the wooden insert is esay to make, (block of wood) instead of having to make a rabbet insert. You can have different inserts for different dado widths. Easy to swap out the wood blocks.

[Jim O'Dell]

I believe Infinity Cutting Tools also has one. But yes, you can make your own. There is a pretty good presentation on the net of someone making one out of aluminum plate. Machined it with regular woodworking router bits. I made one late last Spring out of Corian for the base plate, with MDF for the inserts. I still need to work on it some...not 100% happy with the method of holding the insert down. I tried using a dovetail way on the first one, but decided it was harder to make the inserts than I wanted. So I have an odd shaped insert routed into the Corian, and the inserts are held in by 5 flat head screws. I just need a more secure mechanism to put the screws into. I'm thinking some threaded inserts. I need to get back to that.
So go for it! Use your old insert as a pattern with a template bit in your router table. I found it was a pretty easy and fun/frustrating :rolleyes: way to spend a day in the shop! Here is where I have some pictures on my process. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1129602 Jim.

[glenn bradley]

I assume it is my skill level but the one I tried making (they really fascinate me) didn't go well. By the time I got the insert to slide in and out well enough to allow for regular blade changes, it was too loose to remain very "zero" for very long. If you're a one-blade-does-all type of guy and only had to swap inserts very rarely, mine would work. I'll bet some of our machinist/woodworkers here could make a working model in their sleep. Not so for me I'm afraid.

[Jim O'Dell]

Glen, that's exactly why I changed the design I used and went to a bolt in style. On my dovetail one, the insert insisted on sitting proud of the plate and getting in the way of things. Didn't lend itself to pushing wood through the blade.;) Jim.

[Tom Veatch]

Anyone ever make a zero clearance insert like this one?
.

Not exactly like it but:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=606292&postcount=13