Leecraft BH-1 Zero Clearance Table Saw Insert for 4000 and 4100 Table Saw (Colors may Vary)

This model has the cut-out for the riving knife. The installation was much easier than the procedure I read in reviews for the BH-2 model, which involved cutting a slot on a router table or using a Roto-Zip.The instructions were excellent. The riving knife has to be lowered all the way, but does not have to be removed. This is because the blade must cut the zero-clearance slot and intersect the factory cut-out. Once this cut has been made, the riving knife will easily clear when it is set in one of the two higher positions (assuming it has been adjusted according to the saw's manual.)It is very important to adjust the insert to make it flush and remove side play before making the cut. This will create the slot in the exact position it will be in during use.I use my 4100 for occasional woodworking in my garage, and I put the factory insert back on the saw before I collapse the saw and roll it into a corner. The zero-clearance insert will not stay in place when the saw table is rotated 90 degrees.

The insert arrived with no problems. My first impression (and last impression) is this insert is well made (thanks Lee Craft). I have never used a zero clearance insert prior to this … shame on me! Installation was relatively easy AFTER reading the instructions. Expect a slight burning plastic smell as the blade comes through the thin section of the insert into the lock down board. Note: I do not use a splitter on my old Bosch 4000 model saw so have no comment on this part of the installation.I immediately tried this with my thin kerf Diablo blade on a piece of 3/4" birch plywood. Wow, no tear out! I was not accustomed to this and made 3 more cuts with the same results.Of possible note, the original Bosch insert has a spring clip at the front versus a screw on this insert. The spring clip does eliminate one adjustment. That is the only possible improvement I can think of. However, at this time the screw adjustment seems to work in holding down the plate.Highly recommend this insert. However, I do feel a few photos, in the instructions, would help the FIRST TIME user; thus my reason for 4 stars.

I installed this on the Bosch 4000 model. The main question in my mind before I ordered was how would it work with the Riving Knife. I typically use the Riving Knife for about 75% of my work. I saw that the ZC insert had a slot, so assumed it would work just the same as the factory insert did with the Riving Knife. When I opened the package, I found a “Special Instrctions” sheet for use with factory splitter (picture #1). It sure would have been nice if the seller could have included this info in the product description, as it would have answered all of my questions regarding Riving Knife usage. I did find that I was able to use this insert WITH the Riving Knife and WITHOUT “extending the existing RK slot… out the end of the insert” as noted in step 2. You can drop the Riving Knife into the existing slot (from the top) and can screw it down by reaching in through the opening on the back of the saw next to the dust port (picture #3). It’s a little tricky, but you can can do it. Picture #4 is shot from below the saw looking up, and right in the center of the picture, it shows the Allen wrench hanging from the screw that holds the Riving Knife in place. One last comment is that I do not agree with other reviewers about this insert decreasing the amount of dust kicked up from the top of the table. I would say it actually increases the amount of dust. I always use a high powered shop vac with this saw and it seems like the vac now cannot suck the sawdust from the botton, since there is no room around the blade. With the factory insert, there is room for air flow around the blade and the vac can do a better job of pulling dust down. If you don’t use a vac with your saw, then yes, this insert may decrease the amount of dust thrown up from the top. Would also be nice if there were some type of clip at the front (like the factory insert has) to hold it more securely in place. When you press down on the front or back, it is a see-saw. Overall, a well made product, but I can only give four stars, mainly due to the fact that the “Special Instructions” could have easily been added to the Amazon product description and were not.

I have this on my 4100, it works great with the riving knife and is very easy to install. I occasionally make cuts other than 90 degrees so I also bought the zero clearance insert without the riving knife slot and cut a 45-90 degree zero clearance slot in that for that purpose.This insert is very easy to get level with the table top, and I have had zero issues in the year I have been using it. I sometimes cut very small shavings off my boards, and have had no issues with them falling into the table.BONUS! I used the standard wide gap insert that came with my table for a few months and I noticed once I switched to this zero clearance insert, that less sawdust comes out of the top of the table and more actually goes out the dust extraction shoot in the back. Before I used this I had lots of dust coming at me from the blade and this seems to have cut down on that.

This worked out very well. It's a little fiddly to install since they want you to completely remove the riving knife to make the zero insert cut, but the knife isn't made to be removed and so that is hard to do. Instead, I made an initial cut through scrap wood as instructed, but then (after deciding I didn’t want to completely remove the knife) I just clamped down two pieces of wood, one on either side of the blade. That allowed the knife to remain in place while still cutting the zero clearance slot. After that bit of juggling, the product works perfectly; I'm getting great cuts in maple-veneer plywood. Be sure you follow the instructions, noting that after leveling, you also must adjust a side and end screw to get a secure fit. It's easy, but it would be easy to miss that step if you're one of those people who don’t like to read instructions in detail. After that, you're good to go. The product itself is solid and looks like it will hold up well.