Freud SD206

[MBG]

Amazon has them for $74.50 right now. (Seems reasonable)

Mike

[lrr]

I own this dado set and really like it. And that is a great price.

[Knottscott]

Good price for a 206. Amazon also has the Avenger 6" set on sale for $55 shipped, and the 8" DW7670 for $93.65 shipped. 'Tis the season!

[lrr]

Just a reminder that the BT3X00 table saws cannot use anything larger than a 6" dado. There really is no loss of functionality on a 6" dado set vs. an 8" set.

I actually use my dado set more often on my radial arm saw. I had to make a number of dadoes on some 6 foot long boards (for shelving in a cabinet) and doing that on a table saw would be a bit tricky! On the RAS, it was simple. (I've owned mine for 35+ years, so I bought the dado and molding head blade cover, which is an absolute MUST for safe use.)

[LCHIEN]

Just a reminder that the BT3X00 table saws cannot use anything larger than a 6" dado. There really is no loss of functionality on a 6" dado set vs. an 8" set.

I actually use my dado set more often on my radial arm saw. I had to make a number of dadoes on some 6 foot long boards (for shelving in a cabinet) and doing that on a table saw would be a bit tricky! On the RAS, it was simple. (I've owned mine for 35+ years, so I bought the dado and molding head blade cover, which is an absolute MUST for safe use.)

I would say more correctly, that a BT3x00 cannot use an 8" dado correctly over 5/8" but a 6" dado can be used all the way to 13/16" full stack size. The 8" stack up to 13/16" can be put on but there are a number of compromises I would not recommend. I agree that there is not a functionality difference between the 6" and 8". except really deep dados which are rare and you never see done.

[woodynoob]

Has anyone read some of the negative reviews on amazon for the Freud sd206? It seems some buyers had problems with defective or possibly counterfeit blades.

[LCHIEN]

freud stuff is usually pretty good and consistent quality in my experience.

[woodynoob]

freud stuff is usually pretty good and consistent quality in my experience.

Were you getting consistent quality from Freud purchased on Amazon?

[LCHIEN]

Were you getting consistent quality from Freud purchased on Amazon?

I own two dado sets and at least 5 10" carbide blades from or made by Freud.
The SD306 dadoes came from amazon quite a few years back (2007) SD308 in 2000.
Other blades came by way of e-bay and rockler and maybe Lowes. One came with my BT3. Not too many recently, I'll have to admit.

Amazon is very good about taking things back that you are not satisfied with. The number of reviews on the SD206 is about 57... 46 of them rate 4 or 5 stars. THat's pretty good. There's always a few people who write bad reviews and of them I suspect its possible that half had a bad experience and the other half did not know how to use the product. I usually discount the 5 worst reviews and the five best reviews.

For example, the guy who said he got a defective SD206 that "broke all the carbide tips off one outer blade", I suspect that he didn't tighten the arbor nut enough and the blade spun. On the stack dado the teeth on the chipper are interleaved with the teeth on the outer blade and it's important to not overlap them but place them with the teeth of one between the teeth of the other, and then clamp the stack tight to keep the relationships between the blades constant. If he allowed the stack to be loose then one or more blade might spin on the arbor when starting or stopping breaking all the teeth on the blade that spun because carbide is very hard but brittle.

I'd say stick with Amazon-shipped products and avoid third party Amazon sellers. Amazon still backs those sales but has less control over where they come from initially. If you have strong suspicions about Amazon, don't buy from them. It's that simple.

Here's some other sellers and prices:
(note how eBay is often overpriced!)

[woodynoob]

Good points. I am a big amazon prime buyer (and a tiny amazon fba seller), so generally trust what I get from them. However, one issue I have with them is that while they have a generous return policy, those returned items may get re-shipped out to subsequent buyers. I have no doubt that some unscrupulous buyers may substitute out defective or counterfeit products they bought elsewhere and "return" them to amazon for a full "refund". Unfortunately, the warehouse guys at Amazon cannot check the complete validity of all returns, so bad product may get resold.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you haven't had an issue...

[LCHIEN]

they ask the reason for return... I would hope they use that info for good, not evil.

Returns because they didn't fit or buyers remorse can be resold if in good condition and have all the parts and original packaging.

If the buyer said it was defective or misisng parts then they should not resell it.

THe problem is if the buyer is not honest or if the Seller is too cheap to take bad products out of circulation.