Craftsman and Zero-clearance insert

[Dan Oelke]

So I need to make a zero-clearance insert for my table saw. It happens to be a Craftsman, (hey - no comments from the peanut gallery). When I looked at doing that today I noticed that it has only about .220 inches of height between the lip and the top of the table. Less than 1/4" seems like an awfully thin amount of material for an insert made of something other than steel.

So - who else out there has made an insert for a Craftsman and how have you handled it?

[Mark Rios]

From what I understand, your Craftsman and my Emerson made Ridgid take the same ZCI's. I made one from some 50 year old redwood I got from a remodel. I planed it to the exact thickness. I drilled and tapped a second screw hole on the back end of the ZCI opening to hold it in place. It works great but it was alot of work (for my first one). When I recently bought a ZCI that was on sale for $12 or $13 I saw how they should be made. It can be made thicker with a rabbet around the edge to fit down flush.

[Cody Colston]

I use some leftover laminate flooring to make ZCI's for my Craftsman TS. I route a rabbet around the bottom edge to make it flush with the tabletop, drill a screw hole for the front holddown and CA glue a thin Maple strip to the underside of the back. Works great.

[Lee Schierer]

I used to use luan plywood from the home centers. It is the perfect thickness. I would cut the insert to size and then glue a 3/4" square piece of stock 8-10" long on the back side near the blade for added support. Use the screw for a hold down. The Luan will flex once you cut through it without the support stick. I never needed a rear support or clip once I had cut through the insert the first time. I use a push stick to hold down the back end for the first cut.

A friend here at work made me an aluminum insert with replaceable wood inserts that works much better. I still use the luan ones for zero clearance dado inserts and also for bevel cut zero clearnace inserts.