Fact or Fiction: Zero Clearance Table Saw Inserts Make Better Cuts

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For many, many years there has been a long-held belief that Zero Clearance Table Saw Throat Plates give better quality cuts on the underside of the material being cut than non-zero clearance throat plates, and I too, have been a perpetrator of this theory. Many Years ago, before carbide tipped tables became popular and we were still using steel blades, I tested this theory and  ... yes, zero clearance inserts did improve the cut. 
For some reason, lately, I wondered that with the much better quality of saw blades if this theory is still true or not so I decided to try out a few of the blades I have and see if do cut better with zero clearance or not.

Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/h7PpHpZyhKA

I started off by trying some of my crosscut blades on some very dry, fine grain fir. I Set up my table saw first with a Freud 90 tooth cross cut blade and with the zero clearance insert I had made and made my first cut .. they replace the zero clearance insert with the factory non-zero clearance insert and made the second cut ... 

Clamping Hacks Part 3 - Woodworking Tips and Tricks

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Clamps and woodworking are integral to one another. If you do woodworking, you need to use clamps ... sometimes lots of them. Unfortunately, clamps are often awkward to use, especially when you have coated your wood with wood glue and it starts drying the moment it is spread on your wood and if you don't attach the 2 pieces of wood in a timely manner, the glue will stick poorly, or not at all. And of course, that is the time for you wood clamps to start acting up ... and if you are like me,  always seem to have to be unscrewing the handles and getting them in the correct positions. Gluing could be the most stressful time of woodworking ... at least it is for me and that's why I try to do everything I can to make my clamps more user-friendly because for some reason I never seem to remember to take the time to prepare them for their clamping ahead of time.

Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/IBcU_ngqOL

Check out some these ideas to help make clamping a bit less stressful ...

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Making Table Saw Inserts / Throat Plates (Dado & Zero Clearance Inserts) HD

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Alas ... there is no standard in table saw throat plates. There are some manufacturers that are similar but it seems most all make their own versions. While there are many different throat plates or inserts as they are also called, there are also a variety of ways to make replacement ones. In trying to keep things as simple as possible, I will be showing how to make throat plates in a pretty simple way that will hopefully give others some ideas on how they might best tackle this table saw feature for their own saws.

To clear up some confusions on throat plates, shop made throat plates often have their relief cut made by the blade they will be used with making a very close tolerance between the blade and the throat plate, hence the name "zero clearance", but they can also have a wider tolerance in which case they would simply be called "inserts" or "throat plates". All the term "zero clearance" refers to is the distance between the throat plate and the blade.

Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/5XQj_AUiYmQ

The main reason to ensure you have and use table saw throat plates is a safety feature. Of course, we need access to the blades for changing them, and sometimes when cutting dado or making sider cuts with dado blades, wobble wheels etc, we need to use a throat plate with a wider space to accommodate the blade.

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Money Saving Hacks for Woodworking: Using Reclaimed Pallet Wood Part 1

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We all like to spend our money wisely when purchasing wood, and saving money buying wood means we can end up getting more wood if we spend wisely. 
One of the first kinds of woods that many people think about as being inexpensive, or free in many cases is Pallet Wood. That is wood that you can acquire from picking up free, discarded pallets, which are available pretty well everywhere worldwide.
I have extensive knowledge in acquiring pallets and breaking them down with my involvement in a business plan for commercially making and selling, inexpensive, rustic Pallet Furniture. As part of the business plan, I needed to "prove concept", which involved acquiring the wood and building some sample furniture. What you will read in this article is the information I quickly learned about working with Pallet Wood

Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/X-OZsgJ4sic

What I discovered in working with pallet wood is that just because something is free, doesn't mean it's not inexpensive to use ...  

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