Zero Clearance inserts

How about a piece of solid Maple or other dense hardwood?

Thanks Lew
Do you think a piece of maple would be Ok with a 1/8” rim? I guess the centre part could be about 1/2”

-- Max, New Zealand

You could use a polycarbonate plastic such as Lexan.

Now, that’s a great idea, because Lexan is probably more easily available in New Zealand, than Maple.
Thanks

-- Max, New Zealand

If you use a polycarbonate, take care when raising the blade. You will want to avoid excessive heat build up at the cut to prevent melting and warping.

Make it out of 1/2” baltic birch. Use the original insert to trace the outline and cut it (and several others) to size. Then, rout the needed recesses on the edge on the router table. Odds are you can set it to a certain depth and rout around the entire insert. That’s what I did on my old Craftsman table saw with a similar metal insert.

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

Any good strong hardwood would work.

What exact saw do you have?

-- I never started a project I couldn't screw up.

The saw is made by SMI in China and is sold under a variety of brand names. Mine is a 10” cabinet saw from Jacks machinery in New Zealand. I don’t know whether you would have the same model in the U.S.

-- Max, New Zealand

Max you shouldn’t have any trouble doing as your friend suggested by using an aluminum plate and cutting through it. Just clamp the plate down by placing your fence over the edge of it (keep clear of the blade path) or clamp a board over the plate to hold it in place as you “slowly” raise your blade through the plate.

Make sure you use a carbide tipped blade, an inexpensive one will work. I would make several of them for future use once you are set up.

-- Roger1

Thanks Roger
I take it that this will ruin the blade for fine woodworking and that I should throw it away after cutting the aluminium.

-- Max, New Zealand

Try using a small sheet of UHMW. They are smooth and as easy to cut plus more stable than wood. Also very easy to make the rabbet with a router bit

-- Ed

You shouldn’t ruin the blade cutting through aluminum. Sure, it may not be as sharp as it was. I’ve used a regular carbide tipped saw blade to cut sheet aluminum up to eighth of an inch with no problems. You could use an older blade that you’re about to have sharpened or replaced anyway and then you don’t have to worry about that blade anymore.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

If you do use wood, you can strengthen it by putting a layer of epoxy in there to level the plate with the saw top and to strengthen the insert. That is the way rifle stocks are bedded and strenghtened in weak areas. As long as the epoxy is abut 1/16th where it bears and a little thicker adjacent to that in the hole, it shoud be fine. Use plenty of Johnson’s wax as a release agent on the saw. It’s much more reliable than any of the spray on stuff I’ve ever used.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Raising the blade as long as it’s tungsten is the way to go through aluminium I have cut aluminium many times with my saw it cuts like hard wood watch the chips with your eyes though Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Aluminium will gall and cling to you teeth too. Can gum up a blade in nothing flat:-((

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

when i had that type of a saw i used some left over laminate floor i had, i think it was 8 mill, it worked realy well

-- a truly wise man never plays leap frog with a unicorn

We cut aluminum channel and I beams all of the time with a DeWalt sliding miter saw and carbide blade at work . As noted above , the aluminum will stick to the blade , so we just hit it with parrafin wax before and during use. Good luck to you. I had a Delta benchtop 10” as my first saw and it also has an 1/8” insert in it…....Curse the designer of that mess everyday of my life !

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .