Dado stack

[cjkess1]

I am thinking of purchasing a new sears 21829. I was wondering what the body of the saw is metal or plastic. It appears to be plastic which makes me worry about vibration or twisting in the base with a full dado stack. I do a lot of mortise and tenon's using a tenon jig and dado stack. Can any body tell me if this is an issue.
Thanks
Carl

[LCHIEN]

the body is sheet steel. The saw handles a dado quite well but its only convenient to use stacked dados and not the wobble type. Also 6" works out better than an 8" for various reasons, usually a 6" dado will cut deep enough for most mortise and tenons, up to 1.5" deep. (the BT3 design cuts up to 3.5 inches deep with a regular 10" blade, deeper than most saws).

Lots of information on using dados in my FAQ, see sig line below.

[eccentrictinkerer]

I use an 8" Freud set in my 22811 (BT3000 clone). Works great.

I don't push it very hard and the results are perfect. I'd prefer a 6" set ('cuz of the relatively small motor), but I got the 8" Freud at a garage sale for $15!

I was concerned about vibration, but it's not been an issue.

I just acquired a near-new BT-3100. It'll be interesting seeing if there's much difference.

[Cochese]

The Oshlun 6" dado stack works wonderfully in my 21829. If there's excessive vibration, I haven't noticed.