I would like to take the time to say a special thank you. As I sit here next to my little boy in the Hospital with so many unknowns, I’ve dived into doing my research for all the things I want to try when we are finally (one day) home. Your RU-vid channel has been such an escape for me through this all. Just know that the things you do have more of an impact that you’ll ever know. So keep on, keep on.
I don’t even know how to respond to this. I sincerely wish the best for you guys and hope that all is well and over with soon! Give your little boy a high five and a hug from me please!
Such a great comment! Thank you. The whole point of what I do is to pass along info to those who need it or want it. It gets a little tough to stay in it when I get "you take too long" comments, so I do appreciate it.
I did as well! Just curious how (if) you make the same kind of insert for you Radial arm saw? I'm wondering if you would get similar results. I use a 10" Craftsman Radial arm saw for most all of my cross cutting and was wanting you input on whether or not you think it could be done. Thanks again Jody, man love the way you explain thing and that your "real" (the hotrod being left in the video)! Please don't loose that "realness " to having to have a"sound studio" perfect audio feel. Love them just as they are! KEEP PUTTING THEM OUT WE'LL KEEP WATCHING THEM!
Thank you for breaking this down into the "why" and showing the differences between a slider and pure miter saw. I've seen videos about this before, but yours is very easy to understand.
It's binge week on your videos and I keep picking up small yet important details I missed the 1st time. Really enjoy the learning process with you as my teacher.
YES! I did. I've got a very old 9" Rockwell (1975 vintage) and your zero clearance 'box' will work perfect on my saw. As I've said so many times after watching your videos... WHY didn't I think of that?!
Thank you. This explains why my co workers keep setting up the saw the way they do. They are using an 8 foot run of 90 degree but jointed ply wood to attempt a zero clearance. Also English is their second self learned language. Now that I know what they are trying for i can set them up properly
Well worth the time. Perception is critical to good work. As much as teaching about zero clearance, this video exemplifies how to understand what is happening during machining processes.
Thank you for posting this. I tried to explain to the creator of the video you referenced about the difference between the blade entering the stock on a slider vs. a chop saw but he wasn't getting it. On a chop saw the front half of the blade enters the stock from the top and the rear half enters from the bottom just as you very well demonstrated. A zero clearance insert is important enough on a chop saw that my old Delta came with one from the factory.
Excellent video. Clear, simple and obvious… I’m a relatively ‘new’ woodworker but did put zero clearance inserts on my table saw and mitre saw, makes a big difference. Also maybe it’s because I’m new however, the zero clearance shows you when you line up your wood, exactly where the cut will be, simple to cut along any pencil line. Great video, inspired.
Hi Jody, Ignore the take to long comments. Most of us are very greatful that you explain things in a clear and concise manor. I watch all of your videos and are greatful you take the time to share your knowledge with us . I personally am very greatful. Thank you for this video and all the others. I going to put the 0 clearance inserts on today as now I know why I'm getting blow out. Thanks again. Jim. I will wait patiently for your next video. God bless.
Thanks for this. I saw the video you refer to and had the exact same thought about a sliding saw versus a true "chop" saw. I know that I get tear out on my chop saw without a zero clearance. Also, a few layers of blue tape on a factory insert work surprisingly well for preventing tear out on the bottom. And if you don't have a back fence just wrap some blue tape over the back of the cut. The number of uses for that stuff is incredible!
Curious on this, until I can change inserts. You're saying cover the slot on the insert with a few layers so as to reduce the clearance a little once you cut the "new" slot?
The first time I stuck a "well known" red blade into my miter (and Table) saw, I was blown away by how much better it was! So much so that I never got around to making a zero clearance insert. But I'll make some now. If for no other reason than it's safer! Thanks, enjoyed the video. And yes, I saw the same video you were referencing and the way you addressed it was classy.
I’m not a contractor, so I don’t use my miter saw but a couple times a week. However, like you, I kept using my Ridgid original general purpose blade for a long time, never changing. After about 10 years, I sent it and a couple other blades to Ridge Carbide in New Jersey for sharpening. What a difference! Better than new! So long as there’s still carbide teeth, I can send any blade out to be resharpened rather than buy new. The savings easily add up.
Thanks Jody for taking the time to make this video and explain the finer points of a good blade and the zero clearance inserts. I am finishing up on a whole house remodeling project and this afternoon I started the base molding install. I had to cut a piece 2 inches long with 43 degree miter on edge and 40 on another yea goofy wall. I installed a 3 inch tall by 1/2 Baltic birch ply fence to the existing fence, After cutting the first miter I repositioned the two inch stock and taped it to the fence then using a stick to hold the stock firmly along the tape I was able to safety cut the other miter. And without the zero clearance insert and fence it could have been ugly. 😁🛫
When I replaced my stock DeWalt blade with a Diablo, I was amazed at how much quieter it was. Night and day. (cut better too.) When I put a Diablo on my tablesaw, my "premium" blade got relegated to the back of the shop. I literally never used it again. Best blade tip I ever got was from Stumpy Nubs: Use a ripping blade on your tablesaw. The difference between it and a combination blade is amazing, and it still crosscuts well.
YES! I finally got a new table saw (should be assembling within the next couple of days) and ordered a bunch of different blades for it. Dedicated rip blade was at the top of my list. It's easy to get lost in the world of cutting tools.
Sir, I sincerely appreciate your videos, and you taking your time and effort to make them. You are very in depth, explaining things to make sense. I've definitely subscribed to your channel and again, thank you!
Loving your channel. I’m probably a decade beyond this point, but I can tell all the noobs this guy is speaking truth. I wish I had this when I was getting started. Grade “A” apprentice advice. Good carpenters teach apprentices the whole concept. He’s teaching the scientific method in the shop. You can take this exact scientific method and apply it to everything you do in the shop from here on out.
Thanks so much Jodi; Actually I have and use a lot the same exact chop saw/ mitre saw that you have here and had not even thought of this and just purchased another 80 tooth blade because of tear out! Your videos are extremely articulate and I just wanted to say thank you so much for this very much needed instructional video! I'm on it!! 👍
Great advice for alot of woodworks. Might also be worth mentioning that alot of saws have an adjustment for depth of cut so if a backer is added,just reduce the cut depth. On sliding saws this can be useful for dados and rabbits. Love your channel,cheers.
When I first got the notice I'm like, " how is he going to talk about zero clearance for 20 minutes. I have been educated! New blade and zero clearance time! Another excellent video! Well done! ...again.
Fantastic work, Jodie! (I don't know if I'm writing your name correctly, so please correct me if I'm wrong.) I saw that video as well, but here there's another thing you're doing right: you make the cut, stop the blade and then pull it back. Otherwise you could get even more problems, including the top part! I don't remember if the other guy did it as well, but I noticed it this time. 😊 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Great vid and useful, practical information. I thought you were very concise with your descriptions, no need to apologize for the long vid, IMHO. Every second was necessary for the lesson.
I always truly appreciate your videos and how you break things down to their simplest form. Zero clearance inserts have been on my "to do" list but always seem to get bumped, time to put them at the top.
Good attention to detail - had a compound mitre and noticed deflection on my cuts was due to a Horizontal Handle and body motion tends to pull the saw inward on down stroke. Tested a few brands at the hardware and it was common to most. Vertical handle orientation will be on my next purchase. Also recall someone reviewing there cuts 1 or 2 yrs ago and finding the bushings used were plastic even on a well known brand, so they went about making there own replacements.
Just got a model very similar to yours. I will be building zero clearance inserts for back fence and throat. I plan to do bevels and miters on my saw, with fine tooth blade
That was a brilliant video, I had kickback on my 12 inch sliding mitre saw and it actually bent the fence and smashed the drop down guard. I crapped myself, scary tool
Great Demo! I wonder if making the Backstop in two pieces could be a problem. So far its worked for me, I geuss it works for you as well. My saw is a Makita & I love it!
I'd say I'm between an 'expert' and a beginner when it comes to power tools and carpentry. I went to a CTC high school did a 2 year Carpentry program there, then to a trade school college and did a 2 year program for carpentry there and then worked in the Union for about a year and now I've been doing hardwood flooring / install / sand / finish for like 6 months now. But I've built furniture, like a nice crib, 2 desks, a china hutch thing and stuff. I've honestly never really thought about zero clearance inserts for a miter saw before. Usually I just sand or router the exposed edges I do, so a little tear out isn't terrible. Now, a zero clearance insert on a table saw might be an interesting idea. Although I guess, if you ever raised it up too high and then lowered it back down, now on either side of the blade there's a cut line in your insert that's technically gonna allow for tear out still? Maybe not though I don't know. But yeah, with a table saw I was always told finish side down because most of the tear out is from the blade popping up on the top. So that's your new mission, can you make a zero clearance insert for a table saw? Might just be a one time use once you change the angle of the blade or raise it up or down. But for scientific purposes I think it'd be fun for you to test this theory.
Yes on a table saw the tear out should be on the top side because that is where the teeth exit the material. Zero clearance inserts are a must-have on the table saw especially for thin rips. My new saw comes with one but most saws don't, it seems like. As long as you are using blades with the same kerf, you should be able to get away with using the same insert with different blades. Raising the blade up or down won't effect anything, but using a thicker kerf blade in an insert and then using a thinner kerf blade will because you've widened the gap with the thicker kerf blade. Also changing angles will alter things as well. So what some people will do is have a zero clearance insert for 90 degree cuts and a separate on for 45 degree cuts.
Another thing I have used on at least my table saw but I saw John Hiese (sp?) do is use blue painter's tape and put you several layers on and the cut thru it slowly as a zero clearance insert. Just a FYI. Thanks again!
Great video, very well thought out and presented. I greatly appreciate your attention to detail while maintaining a good pace to the presentation. It convinced me to make a zero clearance fence and an insert for my miter saw. Maybe this is too picky, but the Dewalt blade shown on the saw looks new, the painted area above the teeth looks too perfect for a 5 yr old blade. Also the blade surface looks new. How do you keep the blade so clean?
Nicely done. Your explanation was detailed and you avoided assumptions. Do you believe zero clearance is worthwhile for sliding miter saws? Obviously some sort of insert is needed to keep thin material from falling into the slot but shouldn't it help reduce tearout for them as well?
Thank you. In short, yes I do think it is advantageous to have a zero clearance for a slider, if anything just to keep pieces from falling in. As for tear out, this is where we have to look at details again. Not all saws are created equal. The mechanical action of a slider, in most situations, is the same as a handheld circular saw, and the same as a table saw, but upside down. Where that changes is is when the blade is at its most outreached position. At that point it works exactly like a traditional miter because it can only do one thing and that's to cut down into the material. So if you are trying to cut material that is full width you will end up with tear out in the front, just like we did in this video. The other thing to consider is how deep below the table the blade actually goes when it makes the cut. if it's fairly shallow, like mine, the teeth enter and exit in more of a scraping motion, which is why I end up with some amount of tear out on mine. Just like a reduction of tear out can be had on the table saw by raising the blade higher and having the teeth come down at a higher angle. I don't know if this makes sense and it's definitely a long answer, sorry. To be honest this where blade geometry comes into play with different hook angles and whatnot too.
Great demonstration/explanation of where and why tearout happens and how to minimise it. Never used a cutoff saw before but i think the slider model's worst tearout section will be similar to what it is on your wide plank's worst area in the demo because the angles of entry and exit are still the same just a longer cut section because of the wider plank you could cut with the slider... or perhaps less if you slide then plunge down, ?unplunge?, slide and plunge again to eventually cover the width via multiple slide-plunge-unplunge operations rather than one plunge and slide through??? ...or am i totally wrong
High Jodi, nicely done and you just got a new subscriber 👏👏😉 I don’t know why 17 people have disliked this as you have good clear demo’s to back up what you are saying. But, I suppose it’s like they say . . . . Opinions are like arse holes. . . Everybody has one! 😉😆😆😆
One thing I have gleaned from cutting thousands of pieces of wood... sometimes you get a piece that doesn't tear out the way the others do... it's far cleaner than the rest... and it is confusing. The wood is not that much different, but for some reason it didn't tear as much. This doesn't make any sense until you realize the direction of the grain is the reason. If the curve of the rings is turned a certain way, there is much less tear out. structurally, the grain will hold far better turned to buttress against the direction of the saw teeth. It is not possible to turn the wood grain to perfectly do this every time... and that is often frustrating. But it is a good exercise to take a scrap 2x4 and cut it multiple times just to see how the grain effects the tear out.
Nice job on the blowout and how the teeth enter and exit the wood. Couldn’t help noticing the vintage DeWalt RAS arm in the video. Maybe you could show us a little demo with that. I see tons of vids on the table saw and miter saw but there’s far less vids on the RAS.
Chop saws tear out from the back side of the blade for the direction its turning. To minimize tear out using a sliding chop saw, one needs to cut as they pull out, cutting a very shallow amount out over the topside, then drop into the wood, and push back thru the entire length of the cut. The blade will spin into the wood and lift, cutting the wood the the rear of the blade up against the wood preventing tear out, (bottom side) and the top of the wood has already been cut from the pull forward and thus will not have grain that can be torn out. In this case, there is no reason for zero clearance for tear out, however, the reason I have zero clearance is for the second reason you mention, little pieces being lost into the curf and getting chewed up by the blade, its a major issue and unsafe.
thanks so much for the detailed explanation. I have a sliding miter saw and never realized it cut differently from the fixed saw. So I know I'm understanding correctly, say I have a 4" wide piece of laminate flooring to crosscut. Because I am not using the slider function, I would keep the finished side up on the saw table? If the piece is wider and I need to use the slider, would I then put the finished side down on the table? Thank you for your time. I'm an old woman so be patient with me :-)
I like your no nonsense approach in your videos and that you do not seem to talk down to your viewers. Is your old blade worth sharpening or are planning to use it as a frisbee with someone your not fond of?
Oh definitely playing frisbee. It doesn't seem like there is enough carbide on that blade to resharpen. It's kind of amazing the material difference between the stock blade and the premium blade. The new blade is full kerf, so of course there is more tooth, but just the overall thickness of the new teeth. Pretty cool. And thank you for the kind words.
Great question. I personally think it does. Tear out usually happens to a certain degree regardless though, in my experience. There have been times when I’ve gone really slow through a cut and it has been beneficial but the problem then becomes overheating the blade, which causes it’s own set of issues like burning the material that your cutting. Cutting too fast will definitely be more destructive overall to the material and the tool.
What happens at 14:07? Does the offcut fly off? I'm new to using a miter saw (I've used a table saw a bunch) and want to make sure I'm doing it safely. I realize this is without the insert so all bets are off, but still trying to understand how the saw behaves. Thanks for an excellent video (I'm not at a point where I care about changing the blade, but it was still interesting - I may have missed something since I went past the bit about blade changes).
I'd be interested to see the quality of the cut with the new blade and the old zero clearance fence / insert and then new blade with a freshly cut zero clearance fence / insert.
Great stuff, I am in process of choosing a miter saw, let me rephrase that, I'm deciding which saw to keep, I have done so much research 10 vs 12 slide vs non slide 12 slide 10 slide Metabo, Ridgid, Ryobi, Dewalt I've returned a Ridgid 10 non slide, it smelled like something was burning, the Ryobi 10 slide I did not have a lot of rear clearence, I have the Dewalt DWS715 now 12 non slide, but Amazon has the Metabo 12 slide which Lowes will match for 329, the Dewalt was 219, I really don't know if I need it plus it is like 70 pounds and I do have a table saw so for just another 4 inch cross cut added it may not be worth it, it's just a good deal, I probably will keep the Dewalt all the reviews are good, thanks
Would you recommend that Dewalt DWS316(at least that's what it looks like) over the 779 or 780? Trying to decide if I need the slider. You can get a 316 now for $350 and the 779 is on Amazon for $369. Thanks!
Great and informative video! I'm just getting started and know that I need to get a miter saw but having trouble deciding on type. Which would you pick over a 10" sliding miter saw vs a 12" fixed like you have in the video? My current future builds will be from normal dimensional lumber (2x4s, 4x4s, 1x boards up to 12") plus different kinds of trim. I do have a somewhat limited space in a 2 car garage with one car always parked in the garage (in case that makes a difference). Thanks again!
I watched that video and all I could think was tear out isn't the only reason for a zero clearance. I want one to keep thin cuts from falling in the slot
