Tru-Cut® Zero-Clearance Throat Plates

[Jim Eller]

Does anyone who owns one of these know if the inserts can be shop made? Are they just a rectangular piece with screw holes? How thick?

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=55985&cat=1,41080,51225

Yes, I have made my own ZCI's. Just looking at some thing different.

Thanks,
JimE

[Trent Shirley]

I do not own one but it looks to be just rectangular and that you could cut your own.
But you can do the same thing by buying one good ZCI and routing out the removable piece.
If I ever get the time I will be doing just that but making it a slide in insert with slots to hold it in place rather than a drop in that I have to remove screws from.

[Cary Falk]

I had one on when I had my Unisaw. The inserts can be shop made. I forget how thick they were. They were probably about 1/4" thick. I liked it a lot. I wish they made one for my new saw(riving knife). One of these days I will probably try to make one myself.

[Jim Eller]

Just a followup to my inquiry.

After posting this message I thought..........maybe I should just ask the same question to the manufacturer. I figured they would be reluctant to answer because they were in the market of selling replacement. But, I was wrong.

I received an answer from them on SUNDAY. Here is the reply:

Hi Jim,

The Replacement Inserts can be shop made. They are 1/4" thick, rectangular with 90 degree cut edges, have six countersunk holes and a starter groove in the bottom.

We manufacture the Replacement Inserts out of 1/4" thick solid phenolic material, we have found phenolic to be very stable, rigid, durable, and easily cut with carbide tools (basically the best material for this application). I'm not sure how many inserts you need or if there are some that you will use more often then others, but give me a call and we can discuss your best and easiest options. Depending on the quantities you are looking at I may be able to work with you on pricing as well.

Thanks & give me a call to discuss,

Tom Stoffel

BetterleyIndustries Inc.

PO Box 490518
Blaine, MN 55449
(763) 755-3425 Phone
(800) 871-7516 Phone
(763) 755-5084 Fax

I consider that great "potential customer" service. I will be ordering one this morning.

JimE
Kodak, TN

[Joe Spear]

I have one of those that I got for $20 on closeout at a Rockler store three years ago and really like it. I made a dozen inserts out of quarter-inch plywood. They work fine. When one gets chewed up too much or I need a new dado width slot, I just grab a new one and screw it in. We have a Metric Screw store in our town, so I bought a lot of screws that I keep in the extra inserts to making changing out easier. I counter-sink the screw holes with a handheld reamer to get the heads below the surface of the inserts. I use my cordless drill with a Phillips bit for quicker changes. I still haven't used that blue original phenolic insert, except as a template for new inserts. A good thing about this throat-plate is that bottom is hollowed out so the dropped blade doesn't protrude so far as to lift up the plate before the slot is cut. You just pop it in, turn on the saw, and crank up the blade to cut the slot.

[Jim Eller]

Thanks Joe.

I wish I would have picked one up three year$:) ago.

Jim

[Rick Lizek]

Search the site and web for Wood Dynamics throatplate. Easily made from wood or metal by various methods. Best ZCI design by far... Another forum had a tutorial on hoe he made one from aluminum using woodworking tools. Very doable.
http://www.pacifier.com/~wood/products/dru10.html

[Kent A Bathurst]

Jim- FWIW, the guys at Betterley are great to do business with, and great on the customer service side. I've got two of their router dust collector bases, and they helped me work through some design issues on custom attachments I made that were for a specific task, and would do a better job for that one task than the alternative they have available. I thought that was classy.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Search the site and web for Wood Dynamics throatplate. Easily made from wood or metal by various methods. Best ZCI design by far... Another forum had a tutorial on hoe he made one from aluminum using woodworking tools. Very doable.
http://www.pacifier.com/~wood/products/dru10.html
I have one that I made that's identical to the Wood Dynamics. There are no screws holding the replaceable wood plate, so change over is very quick. When a feature is quick, I am more likely to use it. One thing that's very lacking on the Wood Dynamics is a finger hole. If you get your insert dialed in so that it fits snug, it's difficult to remove without a finger hole.

The replaceable wood strips can be made in long lengths and then quickly blanked out. I probably have at least 10 that are unused. I also have about 15 ZCI's for various blades and dado configurations.

[Gordon Eyre]

Thanks for posting this Jim, I really like the LV design and ease by which the inserts could be made. I will probably go ahead and buy the original and then make my own inserts.