First Shop Jig...of sorts

I think everyone should make themselves plates like these and just use the ones that came with the saw as a template. I made mine from MDF which works wonderful and is inexpensive.

-- Don

plate looks good and does save money unless ya screw up like I did, Damn near lost the pointing finger on my right hand making a zero clearance out of oak, it dosn’t work as good as it used to with a 5/8 radius into the bone and knuckle but I gotta built it radius gauge now, at least for 5/8.

-- Randy, Fla http://www.kelleyscabinetsupply.com

I’ve made one on the bandsaw. I don’t have an appropriate router bit with bearing on it. It fits good though and I haven’t put my old plate on again. Cleaner cuts and no binding when a thin shaving slides into the slot. I even built in a wood riving knife. Never had one before and it really cuts down on any binding.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Looks good and you can make more for Christmas presents

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

I’ve never seen any coated plywood. Where did you get it? I’ve seen several posts refering to this but have never seen any. What is the brand name? I like that insert and I would like to make some for my saw.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Yours looks very nice. I use a similar procedure to create my inserts.

I use 1/2” mdf that I get at Home Depot in 2’ X 4’ handy panels. I cut a bunch of blanks out on the tablesaw at a time and cover them with whatever formica is available from the scrap bin at same Home Depot. Put the laminate on with contact cement and double stick tape the original to the mdf copy and route to shape on the router table with a flush trimming bit. I add a 1” hole in the operator end to facilitate air flow and make it easy to pull out of the saw opening to change blades or insert. I have dedicated inserts made for 45 degree cuts and 22 1/2 degrees also. I have a couple that I use for different width dado’s and always have spares waiting their turn. I bought flat head phillips self threading 1/2” metal screws at a local stainless screw dealer and use these to adjust the height to be level with my Unisaw tables. The Unisaw 10” blade does not down far enough to allow a new insert to clear the blade. To correct this I put on the 8” dado set with a 3/8” or so stack and clamp the insert down with the rip fence, CAREFULLY placed to not be over the blade. Turning on the saw and slowly raising the dado set to cut a shallow groove on the bottom, I count the turns on the height wheel after contact with the underside of the insert, this cuts a shallow groove on the bottom that will clear the 10” blade when I change back to my normal blade. Recently I have started to cut a slot on the away end for a splitter that I got from LeeWay Workshop. This adds to the tablesaw safety also.

I think it takes as long to type this description as it does to make one. They work great and I never have a cutoff drop down between the blade and insert.

-- Bruce - Fav. Quote "A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry Calahan

My Ridgid uses thinner material for inserts. I found Scraps of laminate flooring works perfect. I made a tutorial on making ZCIs, 3 at a time. http://www.hoistman.com/HoistMan/ZCItute.html

-- Dan-- Info for all @ http://www.hoistman.com

Good ZCI Chris.
Dan, thanks for the link, good info.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

Chris the insert looks great.

-- Whether You Think You Can or You Think You Can't, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!

Great project and follow up ideas!