# Acrylic zero clearance throat plate?



## babaraccas (Jan 29, 2015)

Hi everyone. First post on this forum in honor of my new Ridgid R4512 table saw. I haven't aligned it yet but I've read a lot about zero clearance inserts and I was wondering if I could make one out of acrylic. I have access to a laser cutter and I could make a bunch really easily. But I've never cut acrylic with power tools and I'm not sure if it's even safe to try and raise the blade through it once installed. Has anyone done this or have any feedback? If so, would thin acrylic be strong enough on its own or would I have to back it with a thicker material? I'm vey much a novice woodworker so any suggestions would be appreciated. This is my first good table saw and I don't want to screw it up. Thanks.


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## JayCop (Sep 26, 2011)

As long as you use Cast acrylic it should be plenty strong and not melt when you first raise the blade through it. Extruded will make a mess. Also you may want to make sure there is a tab at the back of the plate so it doesnt get kicked up at you should it vibrate.


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## HornedWoodwork (Jan 28, 2015)

When raising the blade through the zero clearance make sure you have a sacrificial piece on top of the insert pressing down. This is the safest way to go about raising the blade. As Jay said, Cast acrylic is the best choice.


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## gwilki (May 14, 2014)

When you say "thin" acrylic, how thin are you talking about? It will need to be thick enough to make it level with your table top. In my case, a Ridgid 3650, this is 1/2". I use 1/2" mdf for mine. If your acrylic is not 1/2" thick - or whatever your saw requires - you will either have to install levelling screws, or laminate something to the acrylic to beef it up. If you use levelling screws on thin acrylic, I would caution against warping.


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## babaraccas (Jan 29, 2015)

Thanks for the tips. Now if only I could get my blade aligned with the miter slot. I've read about many problems with this saw and it seems I'm a victim as well. I'll be on the phone with customer service this week I guess. Hopefully I'll get to the zero clearance insert soon.


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## macatlin1 (May 5, 2010)

My Craftsman table saw had a insert that was only .090 thick and a huge opening for the blade. I priced .090 aluminum and considered making a ZCI from that until I saw some .093 Lexan in the local Home Depot. I thought "why not?" First I made a template from some scrap ply and then I made an insert on the shaper table. I located the holes in the template using a hinge countersinking tool and then transfered the holes to the ZCI. It took 5 minutes of sanding to get the insert to fit the opening and then another 5 minutes to put a chamfered edge on the insert to account for the .003 difference in thickness. I clamped a board across the insert and raised the blade fully expecting the teeth to catch and have the whole thing explode. Everything worked fine.










This image shows the new insert installed along with the old insert and the template










This image shows the new insert installed with the attaching screw and finger hole. (yes, you will need a finger hole)

At first I thought I would need to stiffen the thin plate but I haven't felt the need as deflection doesn't seem to be an issue. Since then, I have made a similar ZCI for a dado stack and also had no problems with deflection.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I have the Craftsman 21833, same saw as the Ridgid 4512 and the throat plate is very thin. I used 12 ga aluminum for mine. Would have worked well but the blade twists and turns when raising and lowering on this saw so the zero-clearance opening is not very close to zero.
May you have better luck.


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