Re. the other thread on throat plates. I've not made much use of zero clearance on my (Hammer slider) saw, but want to gear up to do so. There's quite a bit of work in setting up to make one for this saw (Felder sell them too), and for many cuts a piece of sheet material clamped down on the slider may do the job too.

The biggest issue I seem to see is that (a) throat plates and sleds are primarily only applicable once cut for vertical/a single angle, and (b) may wear fairly quickly.

What sorts of strategies do you guys use in respect of the above and other issues with zero clearance on a saw?

Is it just a case of resigning myself to making a large stack of the things, and treating them as a throw away/minimal use item?

ian