Table Saw Throat Plates with Splitter Hack
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- It's time again to make some zero clearance table saw throat plates. I planed a piece of oak to the thickness of the existing throat plates for my Powermatic 72 and 66. I shaped the pieces to fit snugly in each table saw. The Powermatic 72 has a rectangular throat plate and the Powermatic 66 has an oval shaped throat plate. I cut the slot for the blade by raising the blade up through the wood as it was being held down by the fence. I then cut the slot further to insert a small piece of wood as a fin. This fin is the same width as the slot and the blade, and acts as a riving knife. It helps to keep the wood from binding on the blade and up against the fence.
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Great idea for older saws that can't be retrofitted with a riving knife! I'm adding this to the list of projects, near the top! Thanks Frank.
After a second kickback from my vintage Delta table saw, I began a search for a solution to the back side of the blade catapulting boards at my body. Thank you for posting this one, Frank: I think I can reproduce your elegantly simple solution!
Frank, tried this at home with my zero clearance throat insert. It works really well. Thanks so much. I'm going to add one also to my zero clearance plate for angled cuts.
One of the best DIY videos I have come across! You call the fins delicate but If they prevent just one single incident at the table saw they are well worth it! Ten thumbs up!
I really could watch Frank all day. Just a all around relaxing dude to watch and who isn't jealous of this man's woodshop.
The intro was really cool and I like the idea for the riving knife because most people don't like them because the are a hassle to get on and off.
Really important video. I never knew what a riving knife was. I suppose like most American's, we tend to throw away guards or covers, and don't pay much attention to safety devices on commonly used shop tools. But I had a super bad kickback after cutting a small piece of hardwood on a 30 degree angle, with the blade angled towards the work piece (it was a horrible user error) and it sucked my entire hand into the blade, and through a divine miracle I didn't cut off any fingers or cut any tendons. But it took about 4 months to heal after getting stitches in 4 fingers. Watching these videos is really difficult because I have bad PTSD now, and haven't gone near my saw. I was always extremely careful, but I made the mistake of cutting when I was extremely sleep deprived after a 10 hour shift in construction, which led to not planning my cut. If I had known WHAT a riving knife was, I probably would have upgraded my saw a long time ago. But I honestly just assumed that they were a specialty item used in unusual circumstances, and nobody used them.
frank howarth thanks a bunch for your videos and work its inspired me so much i am a 19 year old turner and photographer i have seen a lot of videos out there but yours are some of the best keep doing what your doing
Thanks!
A very timely "light bulb" moment Frank, another very informative, and enjoyable video.
Take care
Mike
I was wondering when you were gonna start using these... good job and boo to the people who gave this a thumbs down.
I love all the shots in this video. Its is so much fun to watch. Thank you so much for your time Frank
Great timing Frank, I'm just setting up my table saw and as I have had a piece of wood kick back on me this is an awesome project. Thanks so much my friend!
Mark
i loved the angle and cinematography of the ending frank!
Nice safety feature and straighter cuts too ... Double score bonus points! Nice work (both the project and the video). Thanks for sharing.
Hi Frank, a very well done intelligent video. It's great to see the old tools still in service. I also enjoyed the animation as well.
That last cut, filmed from above, is so satisfying to watch!
I have used this cheap method to make my Delta Contractors saw a bit safer since a new saw was not in the budget. I made several inserts for different configurations but not for angled cuts. I have not damaged fins for the two years I have used them.
i have no idea what you’re talking about but i find your voice and the sounds very soothing. my heart rate is dropping as i type.
Frank,
Your cleverness and skill never ceases to impress me. Great idea, great video. Please, keep sharing with us.
Absolutely love your videos. I anxiously await each week for a new one to be published. You sir are an amazing talent.
Great idea with just finishing the cut through and gluing in the knives. I really need to move that up on my list of things to make.
That first shot where the new plate just barely fits into its place is so satisfying to see!
Good stuff, and great video as always, it's ideal when a safety solution also improves your tool's performance.
I did it even simpler--placed a brass screw into the wooden insert in line and behind the blade, then filed the profile to be about the same thickness as the blade. It has been in business for over a year now with no signs of wear. No kick backs, prevents wedging effect and wood burning. Also helps to push the board to the fence. Small size but works great even on thicker boards...
Great !
Hi ladies I would love to try your plans, but I am currently planning to tell you to fuck off thanks.
?@@TomHowbridge
@@markkoons7488 Seems to have been a reply to a comment that was deleted/removed in the 4 years between that comment, and yours.
G'day. Do you still use them if so anything you would change ?
Beautiful video, Frank.
The things look awesome.
The idea with the "fins" I think that's great.
Great video Frank, I need to get to work on my large sled and then on one of these.
Your insight is so helpful to us who are new to woodworking. Thank you for taking the time to share your skills.
That opening sequence was awesome! I hope you get involved in some movie production someday because your cinematography takes any subject to another level.
Great video Frank!
I really enjoy how you put these together in such an enjoyable format. The shot at the end over the plywood is one of the best so far!
Regards,
Bobby
Very nice. I've been wanting to make my own zero clearance inserts but wanted to wait for ideas on the "riving knife" type inserts and yours seem like a good idea. Will try it.
Great idea. Thanks for sharing! I like your stop motion filming too.
Thanks for the ideas, I need to make a splitter for my vintage Ceaftsman 113 saw (it was my fathers so I have an emotional attachment), and thus should be a doable solution. I might be able to make the insert thicker to help hold the splitter in place.
I've watched heaps of your videos and seen the wooden riving knife, but had not seen this 'making of' video before, and had wondered what the story behind was? One of the table saws I use )a 12" SOMAC which I think is imported from Thailand) came with no riving knife, and when I looked into it, there was no provision a riving knife that lifted with the blade. So I made a steel riving knife by sandwiching two thicknesses of hand saw blade silver soldered at the edges. Something that had not occurred to me before is what you said about the knife holding the work piece against the fence. My home made riving knife extends about 25mm beyond the throat plate, so is going to do that job quite nicely. You never stop learning when it comes to stuff that goes on in a workshop.
Your videos are so enjoyable to watch.
That last tracking shot is sick!! Great job, as usual
Looks like it works good I would use a light aluminum angel bracket screwed to the under side of the plate far enough away from the blade
That's a good idea.
Frank, your videos are absolutely amazing. Excellent job.
Hopefully this video will motivate me to make a few zero clearance throat plates. Thank you for the video Frank.
Excellent video. Nice production and very interesting to watch.
Great video and instructions. Can't wait to get into my shop and get to building things again.
just love your videos with those small visual effect, nice touch!
You have the greatest shop ever. Great vids.
Thanks for planting the seed for this idea... I had an after market riving knife for my old unisaw that wasn't very stable and when using my crosscut sled got pushed back down into the blade sending metal shards everywhere... lucky I didn't lose an eye (I had forgotten to wear my goggles for that cut).
I took that thing off and made a new insert with this feature and so far I love it. I did the single fin design and made mine 1/4" shy of full blade height, it looks pretty sweet too.
jon Q cool, glad it works.
Man frank howarth do I just love your videos! Great content and entertainment! Thank you for putting all of your time and energy into these quality videos!
Great work. My only thought while watching this was concern for your poor throat. I hope you feel better now. Every time you said throat, I wanted to offer you a lozenge.
Frank , Thanks for sharing, awesome stuff as always.
To keep the plates from lifting at the back I usually drill a small hole and put in a brad bent to hook under the edge of the table. You need to slide the plate in from the front instead of just dropping it straight down, but it makes sure the insert can't lift.
Thanks, I will look into that.
I put a counter sink screw into the back and side edge and adjust them to make a snug fit
You have some of the oldest Dewalt equipment I've ever seen still in use, your disc sander is amazingly large, and you manage to fit in some nice stop motion and graphics in to the videos too? Nicely done sir, subscribed
Great video (as usual). When you made the cut at 3:30, to continue the raised-blade cut, I found it surprisingly suspenseful wondering if they would match up! I also trace my metal insert onto wood and cut it with the bandsaw. It's always worked great and is a lot easier for me than using the router.
I like your fin idea. I've had a vintage table saw for years without a splitter. (the factory ones from that era were garbage) Working with wild gain is a bit scary, and I really need to do this...
I have a 70s era Craftsman, and my first homemade zero-clearance insert I added a fin like this. Changed blades and the slot and fin didn't line up any more unfortunately. Made a new ZCI, but didn't bother with the hassle of a fin. Forgot about it helping keep the wood against the fence, will definitely make that a priority next shop time I get.
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Well Peter, it's been 4 years. Have you done it yet?
Just what I need for my (new to me) Delta cabinet saw! Thanks!
First time to your channel--love this tutorial! I was looking for good DIY examples...I'll be making this today! Thanks for a great step-by-steps. I'll be subscribing. =)
Another great video. Always a pleasure. Thanks again!
Love the stop-motion!
Very nice just what i was looking for I made a homemade table saw and was just about to make some zero clearance plates but I wanted a riving knife to so i will give this a try tyvm
awesome frank it's always a pleasure to watch
Great idea. Going to try this on my old GENERAL table saw
Another great idea Frank, thanks for making the video.
Great project and video... love the little time-lapse touches! :o)
Thank you for showing this. I'll have to do the same!
You have a great shop - looks really well laid out. We just got done building our shop and are working on the layout now. We're new youtubers btw, just wanted to say hi :-)
Frank. I've made the same before, but decided to make the riving knife part a piece of metal, because the wood riv-ers (?) tended to break. I used two small screws coming in from the side of the insert, through two holes in the metal riving piece and back into the other side of the insert to hold it in place. Works good. I hope this makes sense, if not I could send a picture. Thanks again for your videos.
Nice Frank! A Very unique approach! Never would have thought to make wooden riving knives -=)
Love all your videos. Keep them up.
Brilliant idea Frank
Well done Frank! Love the video!
Awesome and so simple. Genius!
Ingenious Frank! I'll have to give this a try!!
Hi Frank, We have all gotten used to long fences which are intended for cutting sheet goods not lumber. Be safe! The riving knife is NOT intended to keep the board straight, or up against the fence. They are to prevent a stressed board from closing on the blade and kicking back. Nothing more! If the board is pushing again your fence it's telling you the fence is in the wrong place, ie. past the back edge of the blade. I made my first fin style riving knife in the early '80s and still love them. Fin should be just a hair thicker than the kerf of the blade to do its job. Btw, A safe rip fence does not extend past the back of the blade!
Cheers!
My dad has the exact same radial arm saw... he bought it new way back in the 60's, went halfers with his brother that I am named after...
LOL Seriously. I made mine out of Corian and when fitting it, tight I may add, I for forgot the finger pull too. Awesome channel bro.
Great shot at the end.
Great idea on the splitter.
Nice idea Frank thanks for the great video tip.
I have a Jet contractor saw that doesn't have a riving knife option. This is a fantastic solution!
Great Video as always Mr Howarth ,never used them until I got my last saw ,I find they work great with the metal one that came with the saw ,but I don't like all the top pieces that go with it ,I guess I feel I need to see the blade
Always excellent Frank. Thanks.
Great idea Frank
GREAT animations. Good job and good explanation. A+
Some nice tips built in to this video. Thank you
Excellent, Frank! You mentioned the fragile nature of the two spreaders. Have you considered some phenolic or poly stock for those? Much more durable whilst not putting the blade at risk.
Some nice filmograpy in this one, frank.
Thanks this saves me money........ However I have the holes cut into my table saw plate. I bought them used like that.
one draw back is not all blades are the same thickness, I use board buddies on my RAS you can buy them for the table saw too
or Jessem has rollers that pull the stock into the fence or you can take roller skate wheels and make your own.
Hey Frank, when cutting out the back side of the throat plate for the fins, did you consider not cutting all the way to the blade kerf cutout to help with alignment? I don't mean to second guess your great work, I'm just curious if it crossed your mind or you always intended to have the blade "shape" the front fin.
I had not thought of that. it does seem like fin further from the blade dose more work. Although it tends to get pinched more too.
A friend of mine used a piece of a flat spring about 3 inches long and 1/2" wide and epoxied it to the bottom/front of his home made zero clearance and dado inserts to give them a little more hold in hopes they wouldn't be flung back at him.
what an excellent idea, first time i have see this
Thanks for the excellent video, Frank. I plan on making some splitters for my old Craftsman saw. One question, do you plan on making splitters that fit your ZCI when doing angled cuts? Or is a splitter not really needed when your blade is tilted?
Mr. Howarth this is just great. Can it be done with other materials such as those white cutting boards from the kitchen? Maybe even aluminum? I'm just going for a wild guess. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Frank
Correct me if Im wrong, but a riving knife is supposed to support the wood so it doesnt catch the blade and kick back right? i dont see how these delicate pieces of wood would do anything. not trying to be a safety troll, Im just curious.
These keep the wood from getting to that point, once kickback has started these won't do much.
I love the animation with your video's
Damn, thats an impressive jointer and disc sander!
Im not sure how it could be done, or for that matter if its possible, but what about having interchangeable fins for each plate? Im just thinking if the saw depth needed to be shallow that high fin would get in the way. It would be easier (at least in my opinion) to be able to pull the fin out and replace it than to have a completely different throat plate.
I just came across your video on splitters for the table saw. Your idea is great. I have an old Ridgid TS3650 saw that does not have a splitter nor kickback pawls. I risk my life each time I use the saw and it ,frankly, scares the bejesus out of me. This is a great solution. However, I do have one question. Could some 1/8” thick aluminum be used to replace the hard wood used to act as the splitters? It seems aluminum may be more durable than wood and could be easily glued to the insert with a good epoxy. What are your thought on this?
again clever and entertaining...thanks
Very well done, Thank you!
Frank, how about epoxying some aluminum stock In place of the wood splitters? Assuming you have a method of getting aluminum that thin?
Thanks for a great idea. If you use a thin kerf blade sometimes, obviously you could make another zero clearance plate using thinner pieces of wood. It would seem to make sense using a very hard wood for those vertical pieces. Any thoughts about that?
that is one nice shop you have there
I have only made one zero clearance plate before, I made it out plywood and I did not get it exactly the same thickness. I was cutting a dado in the back of a raised panel frame and the frame got caught on the plate, I let up pressure just slightly and the next thing I knew I was in the ER. The panel caught on the plate them lifted up jump the track of the dado and shot out of my hand, but it caused my fingers to curl under and touch the top of the dado blade. It took the fingernail off my index finger and ground down the bone on my first knuckle and left three nice chunks of flesh hanging. ER doctor just pulled it all up and stitched it together loosely and sent me home, lesson learned. Make sure the insert is exactly the same thickness.
You will like use them more then not. There is feeling of safety that comes with them and I think it better cuts as well. The next thing you may want to make are kick boards to turn off the saw. To be able to turn off the saw and not move your hands is so helpful. Even when you don't have a time were you have to leave your hands on the wood, it is nice to just make your cut and hit the board with your knee or foot and not have to lean over find the button to turn it off. Great stuff as always.
It would be interesting to revisit this process with the CNC.
Hi Frank, I love your videos and I too have a shop in my backyard....not as epic as yours but creative non the less..... I live in Portland also. Keep up the cool edits and projects!