A thermally stable polycrystalline diamond compact is created by (i) preforming an annular thermally stable polycrystalline from a diamond plate, (ii) preforming a substrate with a projection that has an interfacial mating surface that is a negative topology of the annular thermally stable polycrystalline, (iii) and brazing the two components together. The resulting polycrystalline diamond compact can be made thermally stable because cobalt and other catalysts can be leached out of the thermally stable polycrystalline. The thermally stable polycrystalline can be attached to the substrate by brazing, which due to the topology of the thermally stable polycrystalline and the substrate with a projection will unexpectedly have sufficient blaze shear strength to be used in demanding applications.