Zero Clearance Inserts for Craftsman TS

Cool addition; crafty and useful…be safe!

-- GX

Looks great, should work very well.
To shim mine I just used several layers of duct tape to bring the height up.

-- If you say 'It's good enough', it probably isn't.

Looks good!

I have the same type of saw, and am wondering, how did you mount your splitter to the insert?

Thanks alot!

-- Dean

Dean,

Here is the process (this is what I will do next time):
- take your old insert and blade off
- put the new insert on and raise the arbor until the flange is just a hair below the insert (the MDF piece in my case)
- take the insert off
- put the blade in (if you’re using the insert with the 10 blade put the 10” blade in without screwing the nut
- take a 2×4 that you will use later to hold the insert in when you cut the slot and mark the max height of the blade (the 2×4 will need to sit on the 2” (1.5”) side)
- either put a 7 ¼” blade in or you need to carve some of that MDF off because the 10” blade hardly clears the bottom of the original insert.
- put the new insert in
- secure it with a 2×4 clamped on top (set it as close as possible to the place were the blade will come out; again, set it on the side so you see your mark)
- turn the saw on and raise the blade up to the mark (when I cut mine I didn’t do all this marking process and at one point something was smelling like burnt wood – it was the flange touching the MDF)
- turn the saw off and take the new insert out’ put the old one in
- set the new insert over the blade and set your fence beside it
- take the new insert off, turn saw on and cut a slot in the new insert until it meets the one previously cut
- put the new insert on and mark were the 10” blade exits the insert at its max height (just to make sure you don’t cut into the splitter)
- make up your splitter (I used a couple of arborite samples from HD glued together; the thickness of the splitter should be just a hair under the kerf thickness; there are different thicknesses of arborite; use as many as you need; I cut a couple of pieces of paper out of a business card and glued them on the sides of the splitter)
- finally I glued the splitter in the insert and trimmed the paper shims.

Kind of a long process but it’s not that complicated. I hope it makes sense. You might find some shortcuts.

Here is a discusion on this topic http://lumberjocks.com/topics/2296

Here is a video that LJ Bob #2 http://lumberjocks.com/boboswin posted (Thanks Bob; good video, eh!) http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/097/videos/making-a-zero-clearance-insert/

My Craftsman saw has a number of little tabs and weird insets on the RHS of the blade and no supports on the LHS that make fab of an insert difficult. I have made a couple, but they took me forever.
A zero clearance insert is a huge help in avoiding tear-out and greater safety.

-- Scott "Some days you are the big dog, some days you are the fire hydrant"

That’s really good work on a project you’ll enjoy and benefit from everyday! Time well spent!

-- Rick, Tennessee, John 3:16

Scott,
That setup is pretty strange, but every saw is different. If you really want and you think it helps you could glue a metal strip to form a ledge for the insert using JB Weld.

I’ve made one similar to yours and used thin wood strips to shim the height. Works great and sure beats $30 for a prefab from Woodcraft.

-- Tim

Neat idea.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Just getting around to seeing this. Nice insert.

-- Scott - Katy, Texas

Hi, Radu. I’ve been trying to figure out how to build a zero-clearance insert for my table saw (r4512, also a very thin insert), and your design looks very promising. Did you use 1/8” hardboard for these? And have you had any problems with flex?