Dado Stack Set Up

[LCHIEN]

...

And I'll go on the record saying that the Avenger set has been good for me so far.

Jim

does the Avenger stack add up correctly for you, e.g. two 1/8" blades + two 1/8" chippers and a 1/16th chipper will give you exactly 9/16ths?

That's the complaint I have heard about the avengers more than once.

[jziegler]

Loring,

No, it's not exact. The plates are thinner than the 1/8" carbide. But, so far, I've been really good at guessing the right shims to add to the stack to get it to work for me. I'm keeping a record of what I use so that I can easily get the same thickness again.

I think that the manual even mentions doing this, but I'm not sure.

In the future, I can post a list of the stackups that I have used if anyone is interested, although I think I only have a few sizes so far.

Jim

does the Avenger stack add up correctly for you, e.g. two 1/8" blades + two 1/8" chippers and a 1/16th chipper will give you exactly 9/16ths?

That's the complaint I have heard about the avengers more than once.

[LCHIEN]

Loring,

No, it's not exact. The plates are thinner than the 1/8" carbide. But, so far, I've been really good at guessing the right shims to add to the stack to get it to work for me. I'm keeping a record of what I use so that I can easily get the same thickness again.

I think that the manual even mentions doing this, but I'm not sure.

In the future, I can post a list of the stackups that I have used if anyone is interested, although I think I only have a few sizes so far.

Jim

OK. That seems to be a major difference with the Freud vs Avengers. I've heard multiple times that the Avengers don't add up as expected and the Freuds do. My personal experience with the Freuds is that they always add up perfectly as expected. Maybe that's what the extra cost goes for...

[gmack5]

Dado Stack Setup

Some time ago, someone on the Forum, I don't remember who, posted a method of determining how many spacers were needed to get an accurate Dado Stack for the particular pieces being mated.

The trick was to put MORE spacers than you thought were needed to make an accurate Dado, make a cut in a piece of scrap material (same material as your intended piece to be dadoed), dis-assemble your dado Stack, then insert the intended mating thicknessed material into the Dado and add Spacers from the stack in the Dado beside your workpiece untill you can't get any more in.

Leave those Spacers OUT that you got in the Dado beside your Workpiece and reassemble your Dado Stack with the Spacers that would NOT fit beside your Workpiece and you should be good to go.

Make a Second Test Cut in scrap and try the assembly again.

Everything should fit perfectly, at least mine did!

[drumpriest]

I also have the avenger set, Loring. They don't add up from the numbers on the blades, which is just fine. What I've done is make a chart that is in my dado case with all of the correct plates and spacers for my stack to get the common widths that I would use. ( 3/4, 23/32, 1/2, etc... )

I got these setups through a little trial and error and some calipers. It doesn't take long to get a setup correct, and then I don't really have to monkey with that setup again.

[LCHIEN]

I also have the avenger set, Loring. They don't add up from the numbers on the blades, which is just fine. What I've done is make a chart that is in my dado case with all of the correct plates and spacers for my stack to get the common widths that I would use. ( 3/4, 23/32, 1/2, etc... )

I got these setups through a little trial and error and some calipers. It doesn't take long to get a setup correct, and then I don't really have to monkey with that setup again.

Maybe its moot since I heard Avenger has closed its doors for business.
Those of You who know me know I'm not adverse to math.
But I think the Freud are definately more friendly/easier to use in this regard. But you guys saved 30-40 bucks over the Freud so I guess to you it was worth it.

[drumpriest]

Well, being a graphics programmer, I'm also not adverse to math. It is annoying, I think you are correct, not so user friendly for the math impared out there. I got my stack for 40$, so I'm not complaining.

[jziegler]

It certainly does appear that they have closed up at least their website.

I have no problem doing math, but certainly a set like the Freud ones would be easier. I also got the Avenger because of the price, I'm just building up my tools from virtually nothing, so saving money can be important. In this case, it was a gift that I had requested, had I asked for a pricer one, I quite possibly would not had received one.

I would be interested in seeing a comparison between the cut quality on the Avenger and the Freud, the Avenger has more teeth both on the outer blades and the chippers.

Jim

[ellis11]

The Avenger shop is selling out the 6" dado sets for 37.25 so I ordered one yesterday and will see how it works out.

The link for the dado set is: http://www.avengertoolsonline.com/ca...Dado_Sets.html