Table saw Injury cont'd

[Lud martinson]

I have an older Pm66. I built several zero clr inserts the other day with glued in riving knives. Brought the blade up through the leading edge to accommodate cutting 3/4 "stock. The insert was held down by the fence. It occurred to me that if the insert was a little loose fitting and the blade was cranked up a hair too tall, that when starting the saw, the insert could easily become a projectile if you are planning a cut that requires the fence to be wider than the insert. I added a piece of tape to the trailing edge of the insert in order to make it a tight fit, then stood off to the side when turning on the saw. Anyone have any better ideas?

[Dave Richards]

When I cut a slot in a new zero clearance throat plate, I move the fence away and clamp a 3 foot long scrap piece of 2x4 over the plate to hold it securely in place. That way the plate can't shift when the blade comes in contact with it. I usually raise the blade to the desired height without the saw running, crank it down counting the turns and then raise it up that many turns when cutting the slot.

[Charles Wiggins]

When I cut a slot in a new zero clearance throat plate, I move the fence away and clamp a 3 foot long scrap piece of 2x4 over the plate to hold it securely in place. That way the plate can't shift when the blade comes in contact with it. I usually raise the blade to the desired height without the saw running, crank it down counting the turns and then raise it up that many turns when cutting the slot.

This is pretty much what I do. Depending on the design of the rim of the throat I have seen where folks have added a small screw or tab underneath the plate that hooks under the lip of the throat so that the plate has to be hooked in, so it will be less likely to raise up during normal use.

[Randy Bonella]

This is pretty much what I do. Depending on the design of the rim of the throat I have seen where folks have added a small screw or tab underneath the plate that hooks under the lip of the throat so that the plate has to be hooked in, so it will be less likely to raise up during normal use.

+1 for putting a small tab that locks the plate in. Thats what I did with mine.

Randy...

[Thomas Hotchkin]

+2 for small tab that locks the plate in. My tab is a 3/32 aluminum rod about 3/4" long with 1/4" sticking out the back the plate. Tom

[John Downey]

Mine is one of those aluminum ones with the replaceable inserts. First thing I did was install a cap screw at the back to keep it from kicking out. That said, I've never seen it happen on inserts without the tab.

[Matt Day]

I use a "Z clip" to hold it down, and make it tight with 2 set screws in the side.

[Bill Space]

I have an older Pm66. I built several zero clr inserts the other day with glued in riving knives.

Hi,

If it is glued in, I think it is a splitter rather than a riving knife.

Thanks for the pointer. I recently made my first ZCI and just copied the layout that came with my saw. There was no clip on the back side to hold the normal insert down, so I did not add one to the ZCI I made. Seems like a good idea to add one.

When I cut the slot in the ZCI I raised the blade fully, so I do not think I need to worry about the blade striking the ZCI during normal use. Afterwards, I cut the slot for my riving knife, slightly wider than the 1/8 inch saw kerf.

Seems like adding a clip to the back of the ZCI is a great idea! I plan on trying to do that.

Bill

[glenn bradley]

Your insert should be a clone of the original in regard to hold down method. My previous saw had a beaver-tail which I used to simulate on the plywood insert by leaving a projection and filing it to shape. Later I just drilled a hole and inserted a roll pin. The front was help by a shouldered screw in a counter bored hole. This was easy to duplicate with a couple of sizes of Forstner bits.

286864

I know, I know, a lot of folks just set them in there and trust to fate and have had no issues yet. A small brass screw at the front and at one side can be used to cure the fit if you under-size the blank.

[John TenEyck]

Exactly right; clone the original. Both my C-man and Unisaw have a means to prevent the back of the insert from being lifted up by the spinning blade, so I incorporated that feature in the ZCI's I made for them. No way I would run it without that feature.

John

[Lee Schierer]

My original Craftsman throat plate had a slot big enough to drive a Miata through. It had a dangerous tendency for thin cutoffs to drop in between the blade and the edge of the opening, usually accompanied by a loud noise. It had a spring clip at the back that was intended to hold it in place, but would not have resisted the force exerted when raising the blade up through on the initial cut. I now use a custom made aluminum throat plate with a replaceable wood insert. It is held down with a flat head screw as was the original craftsman insert. It doesn't move.

[Mikail Khan]

My 3 year old grizzly 691 has a bolt that hooks into a tab at the back and a machine screw that holds the front in place. I make my zero clearance inserts with provisions to use these two hold points.

MK

[Lud martinson]

Thank you for all the replies...my ZCIs all came by tracing around the existing throat plate that came with the saw. That fit is loose at best - more like sloppy. Not a PM66 original? I intend to account for that in the future while adding the tab as well. Bill, exactly right, not a riving knife. Lee, pretty funny about the Miata like slot size. Back in the day I thought that was where the thin cutoffs were supposed to end up.

[Peter Quinn]

Clone the original? Sounds like he has. The pM 66 has nothing holding the plate in and it's not a particularly tight fit either. So copying that won't help him. Those stay in place by proximity...meaning they have huge hole so the blade can never find the plate to chuck it. Down side, they allow thin off cuts to get sucked into that hole and create havoc. I bought a leecraft phenolic insert years ago, it fits super tight, I've never actually used it except as a pattern for shop made inserts. If you have created a riving knife like function by raising the blade into a knife just behind the blade I definetly add a hold down in the back. I've never had an issue with just a friction fit, doesn't make it entirely safe .

[Mark Blatter]

This is pretty much what I do. Depending on the design of the rim of the throat I have seen where folks have added a small screw or tab underneath the plate that hooks under the lip of the throat so that the plate has to be hooked in, so it will be less likely to raise up during normal use.

+3 or 4

I use a small finishing nail that I inset into a small hole drilled into the back edge of the plate. That holds it is place pretty well. I also put in four small screws, one on each corner, for leveling. I simply copied the design of one that I purchased 10 years ago.

[Bill Space]

In my case, I did clone the insert that came with my Grizzly G1023RLWX. There is no clip or anything on the original insert to hold it in place. There are four set screws for leveling, but that is it.

I plan on adding some type of clip or extension that will inhibit lifting of the rear of the ZCI insert I made. I wonder why something like this has not been incorporated in the Grizzly design? Perhaps because the opening for the blade and riving knife is so large that having either lift the insert is likely impossible?

[Chris Kennedy]

On my saw, there are four cast-iron tabs that the insert rests on. I countersunk rare-earth magnets to hold the insert. Sometimes it can be really hard to get the insert off.

Chris