Bandsaw Throat Plate

[Chuck Tweedy]

Hey All, tiny little question here - The plastic throat plates (2) that came with my Grizzly saw both broke. The first one snapped in half for no reason, and the second one just got abused
For running small parts, these flimsy plastic plates are horrible. They don't back the part up, and - quite frankly - scare the crap out of me.
So, I made a new plate out of aluminium that has much less clearance from the blade and is far, Far, FAR more stable / sturdy / robust.

My question is: The original throat plates are swiss-cheesed with holes to allow dust to drop to the dust collection below. I'm reluctant to swiss-cheese my new plate because the dust collection system does not really "suck" at the back of the throat plate anyway. There is a narrow "suck director" that goes up near where the blade exits the slit, but that's really only collecting chips that are already moving in that direction anyway.
It seems those holes only allow dust to drop down over the blade guides and trunnion and make a mess.

Do any of you hole-up the plate or do you just leave it solid??

[David King]

Solid but the slot continues to the edge at the back of the blade not the front.

[Bob Hammond]

I don't think that there any advantages to perforations.

I haven't made any plates from metal. I usually make a disk-sandwich, of 1/16" model aircraft plywood that is cut to fit the ledge of the throat hole, and then back that up with another disk of thicker model aircraft plywood to fit. But the last time I needed to refurbish the plate, I didn't have time to do that, and so I bought one of the blue plastic disks that I think are made by Carter. It was a bit proud of the table surface, so it was necessary to lap it down to thickness with some PSA sandpaper stuck onto table. It works.

[Darrel Friesen]

Same as David.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Thanks for the replies.
I think I'm all set.
I'm going to clean off all the dust down there now and see if it collects more slowly with this plate.

[Jason Rodgers]

I dropped and broke the original red aluminum plate on my Delta, so I bought the blue plastic Carter discs, as Bob describes. They are plenty sturdy, but are a little thick and need to be brought down to the height of the table. And IIRC, the throat opening is opposite the original plate. I think that differs from one manufacturer to the other. I remember putting the plate in and initially being frustrated that it didn't fit. Then I realized that the little alignment nib was on the other side. I don't like the throat on the back, as material sometimes catches on that back edge.

[Michael Lewis]

I keep a piece of thin plywood near the bandsaw for cutting very thin or small parts. Position the fence where you need it and slide the plywood along the fence so it passes the throat plate, making a new kerf as you go. Often it is not necessary to clamp the plywood but if it tends to move a bit then clamp it to the saw table. This gives a surface to cut small parts on with only a kerf open to swallow your pieces.

[Barry Daniels]

I do that too.

[Mario Proulx]

Here, also. Any nearby scrap will suffice...

For dust collection, I cut a big 'ol hole on the upper right corner of the lower wheel's door and installed a 4" port. MUCH better than the dinky little 'shopvac' port that the saw(14" delta) came with.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Yep. I've done that as well. I just double-side taped the plywood to the table to keep it from moving. Just one piece near the "upstream" edge.

By the way, my new throat plate is working perfectly. I had to bevel the walls of the output side of the slot to allow me to do some angled cuts, but that all went well.
I have about a 0.070" slot that the blade goes through. Good clearance, great support under the work, and dust collection is as good as before.

BTW, the Grizzly dust collection is great. I have 2 ports that I've T'ed together. One under the throat, and one in the lower wheel-house. It gets most everything.

[Romeo Suave]

I am dealing with the throat plate right now, I suggest making a template first since the slot in my plate is off center, Rockler has them available unslotted online. Anyway that is what I did
Adios

[Chuck Tweedy]

Yes, Romeo, my blade runs about 1/16" off center relative to the circle. I measured that carefully before cutting the slot. Worked a treat (as our UK friends would say).

[Darrel Friesen]

Brilliant!

[Romeo Suave]

Well just put in the throat plate today. I set up two parallel alum flat bar on the table and clamped them down, then pushed the throat plate into the blade till it seated some what in the opening. Obviously shutting down the machine for safety.
I had to trim a little bit off the edges of the plastic throat plate, but eventually got it to drop right in and I cut up some wood for my latest build.