Help with tablesaw offcuts

[Jerry Bruette]

I'm having a recurring problem with the offcuts when making angled cuts on my tablesaw. I have a ZCI for 90*, 45*, and 221/2* cuts but don't have one for any other angled cuts. For the odd angled or one off cuts I use the factory insert and it's giving me the willies. I was making some 10* cuts today and the offcuts are short enough to drop in the slot in the insert and jam into the blade which sometimes launches the offcut. Hopefully the pictures show it better than I'm explaining the problem. What can I do differently to make this problem go away? I thought about raising the blade to fill the slot more but then I'd have alot of blade up above the piece I'm cutting.

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[Steve Demuth]

Zero clearance is a must for your situation. But if you don't want to go to the troubled making an insert, just take piece of 1/8" or 1/4" Masonite and rip the slot you need. Clamp the half ripped Masonite at the front of the saw and double sticky tape it at the back.

That said, sawing pieces that small on a table between fence and blade isn't something I'd do. I would be clamping them on a sled, myself.

[Tom M King]

I make disposable inserts with scraps of Baltic Birch plywood, and plumbers epoxy putty as feet to flush it to the top. Make a bunch at the time, once you're set up for it.

Steve's method sounds good too.

[Matt Day]

Either make a new insert or cut off a larger piece. Those little cutoffs an be nasty projectiles.

BUT, as said that size board is not a smart cut to begin with. A sled would be the best choice but an angle cut sled isn’t common. Maybe a Grrr Ripper or a good solid push block.

[Bill Dufour]

Masking tape? or will that affect the angle too much? maybe on both sides so it is level. Maybe a bridge attached by double sided tape over the cut so the cut off stays in relation to the main piece.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

I would put a piece of 4x4 or 6x6 on the table in front of the blade to catch any thrown bits. This way hopefully they do not hit you in the tummy.
Bil lD

[Patrick Walsh]

Man I’m pretty fearless on a tablesaw. Some would even say reckless but I never do anything I’m the slightest scared by and or don’t feel fully in control of.

But that right there is just dangerous. 100% employ anything suggested just don’t do it the way you are doing it.

I once had a small mitered piece like 1.5x3” get Way from me on a job site saw on site. It hit me in such a way in the gut it nearly nocked the wind right out of me. I pretty much hit the deck. When all was said and done it was nothing but I could insert my pinky into the puncture up to the top of my fingernail.

I’ll cut parts as you are with no push stick but only with a zero clearance insert.

[Darcy Warner]

I would completely pass on that operation.

That board needs clamped to something.

[Lee Schierer]

As others have stated making that type of cut be tween the fence and the blade is dangerous. A crosscut guide and cutting from the other side would be much safer.

Your saw appears to be a Craftsman table saw just like mine. I discovered years ago that luan underlayment could be used to make zero clearance inserts for my saw. They are very inexpensive and you can make a new one for any angle you need. I held mine in place with the single countersunk screw that holds your factory insert in place. I would glue a stiffener, made from scrap) to the underside of the luan to the right side of the blade to prevent deflection of the insert during cuts.

Here is an insert that I used for ripping and for 45 degree bevels.422325 You can see the stiffener. If you have a table mounted router you can make a pattern from 3/4" material and then adhere luan blanks to it with double sided tape and make a bunch of inserts quickly with a bearing guided flush trim bit.

I no longer use the luan inserts as I had a machinist friend make me a custom insert out of aluminum that has a replaceable insert that is easy to make and easy to customize to any angle I wish to cut.
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[Jerry Bruette]

Thanks for all the replies.

Well next time I cut these parts I'll be changing my methods. I'll probably use some masonite like Steve recommends along with my Grrr Ripper. Not sure how I'd make a sled because I'm cutting the angle on two adjacent sides.

[Steve Fish]

Thanks for all the replies.

Well next time I cut these parts I'll be changing my methods. I'll probably use some masonite like Steve recommends along with my Grrr Ripper. Not sure how I'd make a sled because I'm cutting the angle on two adjacent sides.

flip the piece over for the second cut? I like the sled idea with a toggle clamp if you’re working off small pieces.

[Jacob Reverb]

I would put a piece of 4x4 or 6x6 on the table in front of the blade to catch any thrown bits. This way hopefully they do not hit you in the tummy.
Bil lD

Either that, or don't stand behind the blade. (Jerry, I think I would find a way to use a sled or the miter gage to do the cut shown in your pics, if only to get my body more to the left of the blade and "muzzle.")

But in general, I worry more about small offcuts catching/jamming somehow and then coming up toward my face rather than hitting me in the right arm or shoulder.

For my own down-and-dirty general-purpose ZCI or aZCI (almost zero clearance), I clamped it down in the throat, started the saw, then raised the blade into it from various bevel angles to hog it out so I can use it with any blade bevel angle. It's not really zero clearance, but good enough for most situations unless the offcut is really small ... and much better than the factory throat plate.

[Matt Day]

Remember you could also use a simple miter gauge on the left side of the blade. Flip the piece over and you’ll have the same angle. And you’ll be away from the off cut. You might need to clamp it to the miter gauge since the piece is small.

Your original cut is considered a trapped cut.

[Tom Bender]

Maybe I'd do that with a push block but probably the sled would be better. It really helps to have both available. Jerry I think you need to make a sled.

My push block is a big hunk of Balsa wood with a piece of Oak attached to the back. Both pieces are sacrificial so I only run the blade just above the surface of the part. The push block covers the whole part if it is this small. It is Balsa because a big Oak block went flying when the blade sucked it down into the teeth. Balsa does not provide the purchase to do that. Smooth sailing.

If you follow that part with another, even if sacrificial, it will help.

[Floyd Mah]

If this is a one-off kind of problem, just make a sacrificial sled or glue an extension to your board that will make it too wide to drop into the saw slot.

For an extension, you can tape or glue the extension to make your offcut wider than the saw blade slot.

For a sacrificial sled, double stick tape a substrate, either plywood or a piece of hard board, to the bottom of your board that makes the cutoff wider than the slot. When the workpiece passes over the blade slot, the offcut will be wider than the hole.