Zero Clearance Insert

tnerb · Post by **tnerb** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:21 pm

Hi All,

I broke the plastic zero clearance insert on my 510 today. I was thinking about making my own.

Has anyone made their own and, if so, what thickness and kind of wood did you use?

Brent

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:52 am

tnerb wrote:Hi All,

I broke the plastic zero clearance insert on my 510 today. I was thinking about making my own.

Has anyone made their own and, if so, what thickness and kind of wood did you use?

Brent

Hi Brent!

ZCI's in my shop need replacing periodically. The more you use them, the less they are zero clearance.

Sometimes, when you have a sheet of suitable material, it is handy to make a quantity of them so you do knot need to make them one-at-a-time. As for material, just about anything will work; you just have to cut them to fit (including the thickness to fit in the table).

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:56 am

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=5117

See if this helps,

Ed

jdramsey · Post by **jdramsey** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:07 pm

I found some hardboard sheets at Home Depot that happen to be just the right thickness. I laid the table inserts on top and traced out the shapes and hole positions. A few rip cuts to width, cut the curves with the band saw, a little clean up with the sanding disk, drill and counter sink the holes. Works for me.

tnerb · Post by **tnerb** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:45 pm

I bought some 1/4" MDF at HD tonite. Will try making some. I was thinking about double sided tape to stick the MDF to a saw insert and using a pattern bit to rout the shape.

Thanks to all who advised me on this matter.

Brent

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:57 pm

Brent

I made mine out of 1/4 inch phenolic. It's dead flat, and doesn't change with humidity. Using double-sided turning tape (carpet tape) attach the old one to the slightly oversized blank. Run it through the router table with a flush cut bit adjusted high enough so that the bearing will ride on the template and the flutes will not hit the template.

I bought a sheet of 1/4" x12 x12 phenolic from amazon for something like $13.00

tnerb · Post by **tnerb** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:25 pm

I made 3 today out of 1/4" MDF from HD that really wasn't 1/4" so it sat low in the table. Ended up shimming the edges with pre glued veneer edging. It's fairly even all around now. Sprayed in with some red paint I had hanging around the shop. Almost looks like the real thing.......

Tomorrow, I'll install it and make the saw slot.

Brent

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:05 am

tnerb wrote:I made 3 today out of 1/4" MDF from HD that really wasn't 1/4" so it sat low in the table. Ended up shimming the edges with pre glued veneer edging. It's fairly even all around now. Sprayed in with some red paint I had hanging around the shop. Almost looks like the real thing.......

Tomorrow, I'll install it and make the saw slot.

Brent

Once done, you will have the real thing and it is home made in your own wood working shop. I think that is neat.

You do want to ascertain that the insert rides level with the table surface.

tnerb · Post by **tnerb** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:19 pm

Well, today was kinda cold and very rainy. Since I like to work out on the pad in front of the shop, I'll try tomorrow to cut the slot.

I did manage to start glue up on one of my projects tho, so it wasn't a total wasted day.

Brent

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:43 pm

tnerb wrote:Well, today was kinda cold and very rainy. Since I like to work out on the pad in front of the shop, I'll try tomorrow to cut the slot.

I did manage to start glue up on one of my projects tho, so it wasn't a total wasted day.

Brent

My perception of NM does not include either cold or rainy!;)