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Most of you don't have a problem buying or making a zero clearance throat plate for your saw, but it seems most cheap benchtop saws aren't designed with ZCTPs in mind. Mine came with a metal TP that has over half an inch gap around the blade. The TP is supported by several shallow irregular supports and the other side of the opening has a chaffered edge.
All the people on this site with the attitude of creating their own solutions to problems rather than spending more money for new tools got me thinking that i didn't have to suffer with no ZCTP until i upgraded my saw. For my first, i freehand routed one from a piece of plywood. It worked, but took a lot of time cutting, testing it out, cutting some more, testing it out, etc. I needed to make a new one for a while as i've used different sized blades, but i didn't want to spend that time again. I finally broke it the other day raising the blade too high when using my crosscut sled so i had no choice. Instead of investing the time to make a new one freehand, i made a set of templates
I spent a while measuring out the profile of the opening and drawing a diagram. Since there are three different depths, drew up three different templates and cut them out of 1/4" hardboard.
Now when i need a new ZCTP, i just cut the blank, load up the right bushing and bits, go through the sequence of templates, and drill a couple of holes for the screws. I use rubber washers to level it with the table.
All the people on this site with the attitude of creating their own solutions to problems rather than spending more money for new tools got me thinking that i didn't have to suffer with no ZCTP until i upgraded my saw. For my first, i freehand routed one from a piece of plywood. It worked, but took a lot of time cutting, testing it out, cutting some more, testing it out, etc. I needed to make a new one for a while as i've used different sized blades, but i didn't want to spend that time again. I finally broke it the other day raising the blade too high when using my crosscut sled so i had no choice. Instead of investing the time to make a new one freehand, i made a set of templates
I spent a while measuring out the profile of the opening and drawing a diagram. Since there are three different depths, drew up three different templates and cut them out of 1/4" hardboard.
Now when i need a new ZCTP, i just cut the blank, load up the right bushing and bits, go through the sequence of templates, and drill a couple of holes for the screws. I use rubber washers to level it with the table.
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