Shopsmith Forums

I’m going to make a zero clearance insert for my 510 and was wondering if anyone has used HDPE, or do most of you used Masonite or what? And what thickness material is best?

I use 1/2" Baltic Birch Plywood and route the under edges to fit down flush.

I have used masonite but I have not been able to find rea; quality masonite. Box stores want to call it hard board. No thanks

Some years back, I used some leftover laminate flooring for a 500 ZCI. It was the right thickness, machines easy, is strong, has very low friction, etc. I've not tried to make one for my 510, so unsure if it is the (near) right thickness for the new table style.

I have some left over aromatic cedar closet liner. It happens to be the exact thickness needed to make ZCI inserts.

I use 1/2" Baltic Birch Plywood and route the under edges to fit down flush.
Ready to be drilled and slot cut.

I have used masonite but I have not been able to find rea; quality masonite. Box stores want to call it hard board. No thanks
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Good idea Dusty, I’ll buy a 4 X 8 sheet of Baltic birch tomorrow just for that insert! Now I know why you are called Dusty. By the way, Masonite is just a brand name, so if they are not buying that brand, they must just call it “hard board”.

You probably will not find 4x8 baltic birch and you might not find it in a box store. I buy from Woodworkers Source and try to keep sizable pieces on hand. I enjoy working with it.

Ok everybody, let’s just save time and eliminate the “I use Baltic birch” replies as I do not have any an am not going to buy it.

dusty wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 12:37 pm You probably will not find 4x8 baltic birch and you might not find it in a box store. I buy from Woodworkers Source and try to keep sizable pieces on hand. I enjoy working with it.

1/2 inch Baltic birch is $117 for 4x8 sheet at Woodworkers Source!

steverboss wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 12:30 pm

dusty wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:39 pm I use 1/2" Baltic Birch Plywood and route the under edges to fit down flush.

I have used masonite but I have not been able to find rea; quality masonite. Box stores want to call it hard board. No thanks

Good idea Dusty, I’ll buy a 4 X 8 sheet of Baltic birch tomorrow just for that insert! Now I know why you are called Dusty. By the way, Masonite is just a brand name, so if they are not buying that brand, they must just call it “hard board”.

Harsh...you started this thread asking about HDPE versus Masonite. In my experience, HDPE is very expensive so I am surprised by your aversion to Baltic Birch plywood in comparison. IF cost is your primary concern, then by all means go with Masonite/hardboard or whatever you have laying around. Many of us have scrap pieces of Baltic Birch laying around from other projects so it makes sense to use those scraps for things like ZCI's. HDPE would have a much lower coefficient of friction though and would be the ultimate ZCI IMHO.

I've used Baltic Birch for ZCI's in the past, back before you had to take a second mortgage to buy a sheet. Fortunately, I still have a decent amount of it on hand, and I've been told (at my local Woodcraft store) that North American mills are currently gearing up to manufacture comparable plywood.

In the meantime, I don't see any reason that MDF wouldn't work just fine. I haven't tried it myself, but I do have a CAD model of a design that uses 1/2" thick material. I've attached a dimensioned drawing for anyone that might want to use it. Most of the dimensions would make more sense as fractional inches, but there's a couple that need to be decimal, and I haven't figured out how to mix those formats in a Fusion 360 drawing.

I've previously used a template and my overarm pin router to make these. But I now have a new CNC router, which should make it a piece of cake to batch these out. Can't wait to try it.