Shopsmith Forums

The table saw insert on my old 56 500 had a rather unhandy bow that made it high in the center. When I tried to straighten it it broke. That made the situation considerably more unhandy. Ordered a zero clearance insert blank from SS, but as mentioned earlier by someone else, the manufacturer has been turning them out 1/8th inch too short. That too is a bit unhandy. SS intends to replace it with the correct length when they come available. In the meantime, I have made a couple out of 1/4" mdf which works OK but is a tad too thick so had to be sanded down. MDF also is not all that slick so provides some resistance to stock being slid across it. Those of you that have made your own zero clearance inserts, what do you make them out of and where do you get it?
Roger

Roger, use 1/4" MDF with a Melamine surface. The Melamine will give you 0 resistance to your 0 clearance insert.
Rick

Have you tried applying a coat of Johnsons paste wax to the homemade insert. I frequently make jigs from all sorts of scrap materials. When they stick they get a coat of Johnsons wax. Works for me. Jim:D

alaskanexile wrote:The table saw insert on my old 56 500 had a rather unhandy bow that made it high in the center. When I tried to straighten it it broke. That made the situation considerably more unhandy. Ordered a zero clearance insert blank from SS, but as mentioned earlier by someone else, the manufacturer has been turning them out 1/8th inch too short. That too is a bit unhandy. SS intends to replace it with the correct length when they come available. In the meantime, I have made a couple out of 1/4" mdf which works OK but is a tad too thick so had to be sanded down. MDF also is not all that slick so provides some resistance to stock being slid across it. Those of you that have made your own zero clearance inserts, what do you make them out of and where do you get it?
Roger

Roger,
I use 1/4" baltic birch ply and I laminate it with formica. I made a template from 3/4" baltic birch of the factory insert (this must be accurate) and placed a few sharp points (nails or drywall screws) to hold the 1/4" blank in place while I routed it to the template with a trim bit. You can get a nearly perfect fit by sanding the bottom of the insert or adding a bit of shim tape depending on which it needs. I found the I rarely need much change when I am finished as the formica seems to bring the 1/4" baltic birch to the right thickness. I added a couple of pics of the template and some finished inserts.
I hope this helps.
ldh

Hi alaskanexile,
All of these ideas will work. I would use 1/4 "hardboard" with a wax coat on the smooth side:D .

I've made them out of 1/4" Melamine MDF and 1/2" Baltic Birch and prefer the Baltic Burch. I use the router table to mill around the edge to the correct thickness so it is flush with the table top.

An old PTWFE recommended 1/4" hardboard but the last time I looked for it the thickest I could find was 3/16".

james.miller wrote:......An old PTWFE recommended 1/4" hardboard but the last time I looked for it the thickest I could find was 3/16".

I just went and looked at the hardboard that I have. Bought about 3 years ago, I still have some of a 4'X8' sheet from Home Depot that is 1/4" thick. I don't have any newer then that. I will have to check next time I'm there. And I will find out where it is made;) .

james.miller wrote:An old PTWFE recommended 1/4" hardboard but the last time I looked for it the thickest I could find was 3/16".

There it is, right on page 17 of the 4th Edition.

Thanks to each of you that provided suggestions. Since I already had one made of MDF I went ahead and waxed it. Will likely try one or more of the other ideas soon. Eventually would like to find a piece of PTFE and cut one out of it. When it comes to slick that ought to do the trick.
Roger

I noticed these UMHW sheets at the rockler website. One of them is claimed to be 1/4" thick. They also claim they are very slippery.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=897

I hope this helps. Jim