Tablesaw throat plate while cutting at 45 degree angle

[Matt McGill]

I have a blank, unused “zero clearance” throat plate ... if I’m cutting at 45 degrees, should I have a plate? If so, how do I make that happen?

[Steve Demuth]

Yes, you should (at least, I appreciate a zero or close tolerance breaking surface when cutting angles). The technique is no different than for a 90 dg. plate - firmly support your uncut plate from above by clamping asacrificial board (2 X 4s work well) across the table with the blade completely withdrawn, a crank the blade up through plate and support with the saw runnng. On most saws it's a two step process because a full size blade doesn't withdraw deeply enough to seat an uncut plate. So you do it first with a smaller blade, and then finish with a full size blade.

[Doug Hepler]

Matt,

Yes, IMO you should always have a throat plate and have a zero-clearance one when possible. As I recall, I could tilt my arbor to 45 using the wide insert that shipped with the saw. Be careful not to tilt the blade in a too-narrow slot because you may warp it without realizing it until its too late. Theoretically you should be able to tilt a 1/8" thick blade through a 3/8" slot in a 1/4" thick throat plate. Since it's 45 deg just add the thickness of the blade to the thickness of the throat plate to get the minimum width of the slot. Of course the slot would not be centered right to left.. Depending on the set of the teeth you might be able to raise the blade up through the plate to cut the slot. You could at least be able to mark the position that way and then cut the slot with a router, etc.

Doug

[Matt McGill]

Thanks! Didn’t know it was the same process...

[Lee Schierer]

Thanks! Didn’t know it was the same process...

You use the same procedure, but be sure to tilt your saw to the desired bevel angle before cutting up through the throat plate. Do not try to tilt you saw with the blade already through a custom cut throat plate.