Making a Zero Clearance Plate For Your Scroll Saw

thanks ! Works for me!

This is a cool idea that I'm going to try. I've used things like masonite to create a zero tolerance plate but have had issues trying to hold it in place on top of the fact that your blade hole does enlarge over time. Thanks!

Brilliant tip! The thing that annoys me about my table is that it has an insert that is possibly a millimetre or two lower than the table, and work gets hung up on it. I tried using a business card, but it wasn't too successful. I am going to give your idea a go.

I like the idea of the plastic insert. I have made a table out of 15mm MDF which is a little bit larger but the same shape as the cast iron table. I start the scrollsaw and cut a single line into the centre of the wooden table. When the wood is in the correct place I stop sawing and use double sided tape to stick the wooden table to the top of the cast iron table. This does three things: It gives me a perfectly flat zero clearance table. It is cosiderably warmer to use in a cold shed in the winter because your hands are resting on wood not cold metal. It also allows me to use a new section of the blade so when I've been cutting and the blade becomes blunt I can slide the wooden table onto the saw and all my work is raised by 15mm so I'm cutting on a new section of the saw blade.

I have a sheet of 1/8' lexan covering my whole table with a small square cut out in the middle, (to insert a zero tolerance 1/8' pc. of plywood). I cut several pieces of this ply from scrap and pre-drilled them with a "nick" on one side to represent the bottom (To Me).

With the lexan I can use car wax and polish it to help the wood "Glide" to make maneuvering the wood like an air hockey table.

I'm a newbie so I'll be trying all these tricks. 

I use a damaged 1/8 in. acrylic plastic sheet that was 8" x 10".  It was supposed to be used for the "glass" in a picture frame but the store cut it wrong and so I got it for next to nothing.  I drilled a hole that was about 5mm in the center.  When I go to use my plate I place it on the table and use 2 pieces of blue painters tape to hold it in place.  It works fine for what I need it for.

DW

 

Originally published in The Village Square - June 2010

Introduction

For those of you who like to scroll saw, you know how tedious it can be to cut around very small pieces. After years of wear (and sometimes even weeks) the hole in your scroll saw table gets scuffed and enlarged from repeated rubbing of the blade. This occurrence is not generally due to user error, but is what I would refer to as ‘the nature of the beast’. In my 13+ years of scroll sawing, it is rare that I come across a scroll saw table that doesn’t have this type of wear soon after its initial use.

 

For the most part, this does not interfere with production, but when cutting small, delicate pieces it can cause the problem of lack of support as well as losing the piece as it is cut off. In order to rectify this, many scrollers make what is referred to as a ‘zero clearance plate’ for their saw. The purpose of the zero clearance plate is to provide better support for small and delicate pieces, as well as avoid losing them in the pile of sawdust underneath.

 

There are several ways you can make this add-on for your saw. I will be focusing on what I feel to be the easiest, quickest (albeit, temporary) method of making this plate. It is a great ‘quick fix’ for those of you who don’t need or want a more permanent type or don’t want to use it all the time, and can be installed in less than five minutes.

Assembly

• First of all, make sure your scroll saw table is clean. Give it a spray with WD-40 and use some fi ne grit sandpaper to clean any adhesive or debris that may have collected on it. (Fig 1)
• After sanding, use a paper towel to clean off the WD-40. This will leave the surface slick and oily. You will now need to use Windex or another window cleaner or alcohol to remove the oily residue. You want the table as clean and grease free as possible.
• Next, take an empty two liter pop bottle and cut a rounded rectangle from the plastic. The rectangle should be about three inches square with rounded corners. (Fig 2)
• Use your drill press and a small bit (about 1/16th of an inch) to drill a small hole in the center of the plastic piece. (Fig 3)
• Go to your scroll saw and place a small blade in the blade holder. Release the top of the blade and thread the plastic piece through, curved side down.
• Reattach the blade and tighten the tension. (Fig 4)
• Square out the plastic and use 2†clear packaging tape to tape the plate into place. I use strips of at least 6†long. Place four stripes – two vertical to each side of the blade and two horizontal at the front and back of the blade. Do this carefully so you don’t get any wrinkles in the tape which would interfere with your cutting.(Figs 5 & 6)

There you have it! An easy, effective and quick zero clearance scroll saw table!

 

Conclusion

I found that this type of plate works great. After a few projects, the hole does start to get bigger and sometimes the tape will roll up slightly at the edges after a bit of use. If this occurs, I just take a sharp scraping knife and trim off the loose edges of the tape. After a while, I replace the plate, cleaning my table as stated before.

 

Even though I need to replace the plate periodically, I still use this method as opposed to a more permanent one because it is inevitable that even on wooden overlay plates which are popular, the hole will show signs of wear and get larger. Also with a wooden plate, you are raising the surface of your table the thickness of the wood and this could affect the performance of reverse-tooth blades, which I use often.

 

Many people also use this method using old credit cards or other plastic, but I found that they are a bit thicker than the pop bottle plastic and form a ridge which causes problems when feeding delicate work through. I keep a several ‘blank plates’ in my supply drawer, as I cut anywhere from four to eight of them from a discarded pop bottle at a time, which lasts a while.

 

I hope you try this method and it works well for you. If you have any questions or comments about this article, please contact me at the email address below and I will be happy to assist you.

 

If you have any questions regarding this project, please email me at sheilalandrydesigns@gmail.com. You may also see and purchase other patterns at www.sheilalandrydesigns.com and download free articles and a catalog of my designs.

 

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Thank you for that information, I'm new to scrolling so I'm looking for anything that might make it easier for me. I'm off to kroger to buy a 2 liter bottle of 7up.

I keep a deck of old playing cards handy,  When I need a zero clearance top, I cut a slot in a playing card and tape it to the saw table.  If need be a piece of tape over the cut will keep it from flopping.  I tape the card after I have inserted the blade.  Takes all of 30 seconds and can be removed when no longer needed for a project.

Sheila, thanks for the tip, when I need a zero clearance backer I use a playing card. On my previous saw, I had a plexi-glass backer that I used.

Len

Usually when I have a small piece to cut, I tear off a piece of blue painters tape and pur over the hole, then take a awl and punch a hole in the tape.  works for me   edward