Blade guard and ZCTP

[mikeg]

Maybe I missed something, but I just usesd a ZCTP for my standard blade for the first time, in the past it was always with non-through cuts such as dados. As I got ready to make the cut, I realized I couldn't put the blade guard on. Ho do you folks handle that?

Also, I needed to make some 1/8" dados and my dado set only goes down to 1/4". I only have thin kerf blades so I was a little short there too. I wound up using one of the two dad blades. Was that dumb and dangerous?

I was cutting 1/8" hardboard in both instances for what it's worth.

thanks,
mikeg

[Tom Miller]

Maybe I missed something, but I just usesd a ZCTP for my standard blade for the first time, in the past it was always with non-through cuts such as dados. As I got ready to make the cut, I realized I couldn't put the blade guard on. Ho do you folks handle that?

You need to make a cutout in the ZCTP for the blade guard to pass through.

Also, I needed to make some 1/8" dados and my dado set only goes down to 1/4". I only have thin kerf blades so I was a little short there too. I wound up using one of the two dad blades. Was that dumb and dangerous?

Not dangerous, but these blades are not intended to be used alone. The teeth are not necessarily 1/8" by themselves, as I think they're designed to overlap.

In your case, I would have used the thin kerf blade and made two passes; the second with the fence moved over by 1/32" (thin kerf is 3/32").

Regards,
Tom