On Saturday 29 Jan 2005 4:24 pm, dave scribbled:

snip
2. What tools are required to build your own inserts? I presume that
a
planar/jointer would be required to acquire the correct depth. I'd
hate to go this route because of physical space concerns.
more snip

As I pointed out in:
http://www.google.ca/groups?q=g:thl3...ag%404ax.co m

There you go: make a bunch of your own out of wood, plywood, MDF, or
plastic (lexan or plexiglas). You could also use melamine covered
particle board and possibly other things I can't think of right now.
Rough cut it and use a router with a bearing guided flush trim bit to
get the exact size. Use the original insert as the template. Once
it's made, clamp it in place using a board or the fence and slowly
raise your dado blade into it. To adjust the height, use paper,
cardboard, masking tape, or drill and tap four little set screws.

You can make the rough cut with a bandsaw, jig saw, scroll saw, coping
saw, keyhole saw, rasp, your teeth, etc.. I would even say freehand on
the table saw, but Doug is likely to jump all over me for promoting
unsafe work practices.

To hold the template to the new insert for routing it, use double sided
(carpet) tape.

To make the zero clearance cut, raise the blade into it after clamping
it down to the table. I use the fence, but others clamp a 2X4 or other
appropriately-sized piece of wood.

If the blade (at its lowest position) is too high for the insert to sit
flush (not likely with a dado blade) so you can safely make the cut,
you have three options:

(1) Use a smaller blade to start the cut,
(2) route a slot on the underside, or
(3) as suggested by WoodButcher in a thread back in May 2003 (quoting
from his post):
Another way is to use double sided tape and position the
new insert on top of the existing one. Hold everything down
with a 2x4 clamped across the tabletop, apply power and
raise the blade. I find this easier than futzing around with
the other methods, but go with whatever works best for you.

--
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html

Recently upgraded to a Home Depot Ridgid TS3650 contractor table saw.
I'm having all kinds of problems acquiring zero clearance and
dado/molding inserts. I've been working with ridgidparts.com and have
yet been able to acquire the correct parts. You'd think this wouldn't
be such a pain, but it has.
1. Is there an alternative place to order zero clearance inserts, for
this particular saw?
2. What tools are required to build your own inserts? I presume that a
planar/jointer would be required to acquire the correct depth. I'd
hate to go this route because of physical space concerns.
3. Perhaps I could order a compatible insert, for a competing saw, if I
knew that one existed.
Thanks, Dave

2. What tools are required to build your own inserts? I presume that a
planar/jointer would be required to acquire the correct depth. I'd
hate to go this route because of physical space concerns.

All you need, really, is a router with a template bit and some good plywood,
such as 1/2" baltic birch. You can even use MDF. Forget about any
planer/jointer requirements and use sunken allen head set screws to set the
depth. Just cut a blank slightly oversize, attach to your existing insert
with double-faced carpet tape, and use the template bit to make an exact
copy. If 1/2" is too thick you can rout a rabbet on the underside.

"dave" wrote in message
oups.com...
Recently upgraded to a Home Depot Ridgid TS3650 contractor table saw.
I'm having all kinds of problems acquiring zero clearance and
dado/molding inserts. I've been working with ridgidparts.com and have
yet been able to acquire the correct parts. You'd think this wouldn't
be such a pain, but it has.
1. Is there an alternative place to order zero clearance inserts, for
this particular saw?
2. What tools are required to build your own inserts? I presume that a
planar/jointer would be required to acquire the correct depth. I'd
hate to go this route because of physical space concerns.
3. Perhaps I could order a compatible insert, for a competing saw, if I
knew that one existed.
Thanks, Dave


My dad and I both have Ridgid table saws and I ordered several inserts
before the shortage started when they changed colors. He couldn't get any
from them and I gave him one of my mine. He insisted on replacing mine and
bought me a "Premium Zero Clearance" (nice solid UHMW with levelers) at a
woodshow form these guys: http://www.ttrackusa.com/zeroclearanceinserts.htm
You want #436 for a TS3650.

I have since made about a half dozen from 1/2" birch ply. I just cut the
length and width, traced an outline of the corner radius and disc sanded the
corners down to a tight fit, and routed the lip all the way around with a
straight bit on the router table to make it sit flush with the table top.
Drilled a finger hole to get it back out. Johnson's paste wax finish. I
think it took me about 30 minutes to make $80 dollars worth on a saturday
morning.

I posted a few pictures over in alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking showing my
recent run-in with Apitong, and one of the shots shows an insert with built
in splitter.

Kevin in Bakersfield