Fibre Board For A Zero Clearance Insert

Tim Daneliuk wrote:
> My elderly Craftsman TS needed a zero clearance insert. Because of
> the design of the TS, 1/8" fiber board seemed to fit perfectly. Is
> there any reason not use use this material in this context (as
> opposed to 1/8" wood materia)?
>
> Table sawing minds want to know ...

For my Craftsman saw I simply used 3/4 inch MDF.....took a little routing
and creative trimming to fit...1st one a bit of a pain or trial and error,
making multiples was easy. Held up fine until a water leak on the table saw,
in the basement shop warped it a bit.... maybe a little finish on it would
have been wise. Rod

On May 18, 2:41=A0am, Tim Daneliuk <[email protected]> wrote:
> My elderly Craftsman TS needed a zero clearance insert. =A0Because of the
> design of the TS, 1/8" fiber board seemed to fit perfectly. =A0Is there an=
y
> reason not use use this material in this context (as opposed to 1/8" wood
> materia)?
>
> Table sawing minds want to know ...
>
If there is room, you could glue (WeldBond/epoxy) some vertical ribs
along the bottom of the 1/8" piece parallel to the blade and close to
the blade to reduce flexing.
1/8" board like can be pulled downward creating an angle relative to
the blade which can become a problem if it happens between the blade
and the fence. You do not want to have any skew there.
Aluminium?

On May 18, 11:24=A0am, Hoosierpopi <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Aluminum?
>
> Hey there, good idea! I just happen to have a piece of that material
> about 3/16" thick. Now, which router bits do I want to choose to trim
> that out!? If I get it done, I can use an old saw blade to riase up
> and make the slot for the blade, then install the finishing blade.
>
> Aluminum scrap is wonderful stuff to use for jigs. If you are buying
> any, ask for Architectural rather than structural scrap (they sell cut-
> offs by the pound at my local outlet) as it has nice sharp, corner
> intersections and appears square. Take your fence with you and you can
> test fit =A0bits of channel =A0- I found stuff that perfectly fits my
> Craftsman fence - straddling it on three sides =A0- and works to cut on
> the ends of a board held vertically. Wear lots of eye protection when
> cutting it - $160.00 to get a sliver out of my right eyeball a couple
> years back - actually hit my forehead and the perspiration carried it
> down into my eye!

I had a similar thing happen when I had cut a lot of plexiglass strips
and the shards ended up in my hair...then via the shower water into my
eye. Fun, that.
All friggin' night in emerge and I KNOW people there. I had to wait
for an eye specialist. Then when he showed me the piece that had given
me that grief, it was virtually invisible.... in fact, it was. a fleck
smaller than fly shit.

Another method is to keep a sheet of plywood or
mdf that will cover the blade side completely with
only a blade width hole cut in the plywood. This
creates a temporary top with zero clearance.

This clamps down and makes nice zero clearnace setup.


Tim Daneliuk wrote:

> My elderly Craftsman TS needed a zero clearance insert. Because of the
> design of the TS, 1/8" fiber board seemed to fit perfectly. Is there any
> reason not use use this material in this context (as opposed to 1/8" wood
> materia)?
>
> Table sawing minds want to know ...
>

In article <b4337742-99ed-4349-ae7c-1f0c81ad050d@
2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com>, [email protected] says...
>
> Hey there, good idea! I just happen to have a piece of that material
> about 3/16" thick. Now, which router bits do I want to choose to trim
> that out!? If I get it done, I can use an old saw blade to riase up
> and make the slot for the blade, then install the finishing blade.

I'd use a metal-cutting blade in the jigsaw and some
locksmith's files to do cleanup.

-P.

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

> Aluminum?

Hey there, good idea! I just happen to have a piece of that material
about 3/16" thick. Now, which router bits do I want to choose to trim
that out!? If I get it done, I can use an old saw blade to riase up
and make the slot for the blade, then install the finishing blade.

Aluminum scrap is wonderful stuff to use for jigs. If you are buying
any, ask for Architectural rather than structural scrap (they sell cut-
offs by the pound at my local outlet) as it has nice sharp, corner
intersections and appears square. Take your fence with you and you can
test fit bits of channel - I found stuff that perfectly fits my
Craftsman fence - straddling it on three sides - and works to cut on
the ends of a board held vertically. Wear lots of eye protection when
cutting it - $160.00 to get a sliver out of my right eyeball a couple
years back - actually hit my forehead and the perspiration carried it
down into my eye!

That "flexing" is a real issue, I suppose. I regularly create inserts
out of "whatshandy," and currently am using some plastic salvaged from
a store display or a sign shop dumpster (can't recall which at the
moment).

I guess I'm not the "craftsman" you need to hear from as I regularly
settle for tolerances glue can fill and creative joints can disguise
and have yet to make a fancy-ass piece of furniture. But I have
successfully employed a variety of materials to create TS inserts and
would, in your case, heed the advice of the fellow suggesting
laminating a stiffener to the underside. Use the piece you have as a
template, and cut another 1/4" or so - (measure the widest part of the
"lip" on your TS to determine how wide) smaller all around. Line it
up, glue it up, insert and raise the blade. That should take care of
the flexing issue for you.

Mean while, when you go shopping, cruise around behind the stores and
peer into those large green dumpsters. A wealth of materials can be
found. My chicken coop nesting boxes have a floor and read wall of
easy to clean while plastic Bi-Lo signs (red on the side one can't
see) with bright red 1/4" dividers made from some plastic divider
materials from a Staples display. Those chickens will be so happy!

Robatoy wrote:
> On May 18, 2:41 am, Tim Daneliuk <[email protected]> wrote:
>> My elderly Craftsman TS needed a zero clearance insert. Because of the
>> design of the TS, 1/8" fiber board seemed to fit perfectly. Is there any
>> reason not use use this material in this context (as opposed to 1/8" wood
>> materia)?
>>
>> Table sawing minds want to know ...
>>
> If there is room, you could glue (WeldBond/epoxy) some vertical ribs
> along the bottom of the 1/8" piece parallel to the blade and close to
> the blade to reduce flexing.
> 1/8" board like can be pulled downward creating an angle relative to
> the blade which can become a problem if it happens between the blade
> and the fence. You do not want to have any skew there.
> Aluminium?
>

I like Rob's idea. I use fibreboard too Tim, but I'm finding that when I
make one, I make half a dozen because they break so easily. The vertical
ribs might make them last a bit longer.

Tanus

Yeah, what he siad. I needed a new one for my Delta Contractor II and
decided to use 1/8" fiberboard because I had it around. Of course, I had a
bunch, so I decided to make a few. Used set screws to make adjuster pads,
put the first one in and made my initial cut. All llloked good, about 3 or 4
cuts later, i noticed the insert flexing down and as I wondered to myself,
"I wonder if that is bad", the saw sucked it in, shatered it and then
ejected the pieces it didn't want at rather high speed.

Now I used 3/4" MDF and use my planer to bring it to exact thickness, use a
flush trim bit in the router table to make it fit and I am thinking of
adding a splitter from hardwood that I have seen on a few other homemade
inserts.

Good luck.

"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On May 18, 2:41 am, Tim Daneliuk <[email protected]> wrote:
> My elderly Craftsman TS needed a zero clearance insert. Because of the
> design of the TS, 1/8" fiber board seemed to fit perfectly. Is there any
> reason not use use this material in this context (as opposed to 1/8" wood
> materia)?
>
> Table sawing minds want to know ...
>
If there is room, you could glue (WeldBond/epoxy) some vertical ribs
along the bottom of the 1/8" piece parallel to the blade and close to
the blade to reduce flexing.
1/8" board like can be pulled downward creating an angle relative to
the blade which can become a problem if it happens between the blade
and the fence. You do not want to have any skew there.
Aluminium?

RE: Subject

3 pieces, 1/4" hardboard, some double back tape and I'm in business on
a Delta contractor's saw.

YMMV

Lew


PS: Make the blanks from 1'4" scrap, at least 10-15 at a time.