ZCI's - why make one...

[Rich Engelhardt]

When you can just as easily make ten!!

:D

I finally got around to making a ZCI for my Ridgid TS3660.
I bought a couple from Woodcraft that, while nice, set me back about $25.00 each.
I had some 1/2" MDF laying around so I decided to try my hand at making one.
Once I saw how much time was going to be involved in setting up each step of the process, I decided to just go ahead and use up all the spare MDF I had and make as many as I could.

99% of the time involved was in fine tuning the fit - so - once that was done for one, it only took a little extra to run the other nine through.

I figure it cost me about $5.00 in material for all 10.
Quite a difference!

[Dave Zellers]

That's what I do except with scraps of Baltic Birch. I have a pattern and can just bang them out on the router table with a flush bit.

[Greg Cuetara]

i tried to use some MDF that i had laying around and got the fit right but there is quite a bit of flex in the middle. Is there anything special to do to not have any 'give' in the middle?

[glenn bradley]

i tried to use some MDF that i had laying around and got the fit right but there is quite a bit of flex in the middle. Is there anything special to do to not have any 'give' in the middle?

Use ply? :) Seriously, you may be able to glue a spine down the underside that will not interfere with anything but, I would just use 1/2" BB ply if available. A sheet is about $26 around here and you would have ZCI's for life. MDF has little structural strength on its own. Properly supported I use it or everything from a router table top to drawer cabinets but, as you have found, it doesn't take much of an unsupported span to show the lack of any long-chain strength. A strip of 1/4" by 3/4" hardwood glued on would probably cure your flex.

261699

[Alan Bienlein]

Wow that would last me ten life times! I'm still using the same one I made back in 2005. I only ever use it if I'm ripping or cross cutting something where the cut off is small enough to get pinched between the blade and the opening of the stock insert.

[Ellen Benkin]

I also found it easy to make multiples. Now I have a different one for each of my regular dado cuts.