Dado Set buying recommendation?

[LCHIEN]

you're overthinking it.
Like the Oshlun, The freud also produced slight scoreing along the outer edges, this is a result of the blades having an ATB-like beveled teeth (look this up in a discussion of table saw blade selection). Except that they're not alternating, the left balde has left leaning bevel and the right blade a right leaning bevel. THis helps cut the edge cleanly and prevents any tearout. This leaves a very slightly deeper cut (maybe .005"?) at the very edges of the bottom. In practice its not a problem, unless you have an application that requires an absolutely flat bottom.

I can assure you the Feud makes very high quality cuts - the stack is quite stiff.

Making multiple passes for dadoes wider than 3/4" is quite common for half-laps of any kind, including corner.

You'll probably do OK with either blade, the Freud is a name brand and its my opinion that the quality of freud blades is pretty consistently high. Oshlun is less well known. A nice storage case is a plus since you have a lot of parts. Blades tend to tear up cardboard boxes with all their sharp edges in my experience. Just do it, if money is an absolute concern go with the Oshlun.

[Cochese]

I was finally ready to shell out the money for a dado set. A rarity for me, I had actually convinced myself to upgrade from the original Oshlun 6" buying plan to the other suggested Delta set. Am I correct that Delta does not sell a set like that in a 6" series? I could not find anything (other than what seemed to be an economy set that looked nothing like the 7670 case or chipper blades).

It looks like dbhost has the Oshlun 6" and LCHIEN has the Freud 6". Both sets have great reviews on Amazon and have the support of these two respected members. A few things I've read here and on the reviews & descriptions as I'm trying to figure out where I should lay my money down..

Oshlun has full body chippers. Less wobble perhaps = cleaner cuts.
Freud does not have full body chippers. Less weight perhaps = more power.
Oshlun has a poor cardboard case.
Freud has a decent plastic case.
Oshlun states "Produces small score marks on the outer edges to help eliminate tear out and splintering." (not sure if that is a concern)
Freud is $20 more expensive.

Am I over-thinking this? Is there any real difference that I should be concerned with between the two sets or are they fairly comparable? I don't mind paying $20 more if Freud is a better set. That said the Oshlun set has a ton more reviews. Can you tell I need to feel comfy with the decision when spending any type of money!

One last thing please. I want to actually make corner laps. It occurred to me that these joint cuts would be at least twice wider than the sets accommodate at their widest settings with all of the shims (7/8" Freud or 29/32" Oshlun). Would making 2 or 3 adjacent passes to create a 2-1/2" joint be a concern with dado sets....or is this also a fairly regular function of the sets?

I have the Oshlun. While it does come in a cardboard box, it's a very well packed box filled with hard Styrofoam that protects both the blades and the box. I kept it in there for over a year, and threw the box away without any wear and tear from the blades themselves.

I mounted the blades in a blade holder with my similar sized circular saw blades. The Oshlun gives ridiculously good bottoms, especially at the cheaper price you are paying. I use mine like any average weekend guy would, and haven't needed to clean or sharpen them since I bought them. I should rectify that soon, but it hasn't been a necessity.

All of my other blades are Freud Diablos, so I imagine the Freud would be my second choice.

[Knottscott]

I think those two are probably pretty close in end performance....most owners are happy with both. The Freud does have anti-kickback fingers, the Oshlun is a bit less. In case it helps your decision, the Freud is made in Italy, the Oshlun in China.

You're correct that the Delta set is not available in 6".

[LCHIEN]

the only other thing about Freud vs Oshlun...
In my experience the freuds always stack up right on the money, i.e. two blades (1/8") plus a two 1/8" chippers plus a 1/16th chipper would be right at 9/16th like it should be.

The Oshlun is the former Avenger line, and years ago the owners complained a few times that their stackups were not exact (because the shippers were undersized). I haven't heard this for a long time and maybe its not true anymore... Maybe Dave (dbhost) can confirm that they stackup true...

Its certainly a convenience not to have to measure when you make a stack (altho its always a good idea to double check) - having plate and chippers a bit offsize means you're going to have to make recursive adjustments, or keep tables to get the exact width desired on first try.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...t=avenger+dado
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...t=avenger+dado
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...t=avenger+dado

[durango dude]

I know that a stacked dado will get more head nods than a wobbler.

I had an inexpensive wobbler that I found in a yard sale, then got rid of it when I picked up a stacked set in another yard sale.

I'm thinking whoever used the stacked set - must have used it a lot --- I swear the thickness is off by 1/32" --- and suspect it's due to heavy use.

I miss my wobbler!

In general, it cut what it was set to cut - and it was a little easier to set up.

[LCHIEN]

I know that a stacked dado will get more head nods than a wobbler.

I had an inexpensive wobbler that I found in a yard sale, then got rid of it when I picked up a stacked set in another yard sale.

I'm thinking whoever used the stacked set - must have used it a lot --- I swear the thickness is off by 1/32" --- and suspect it's due to heavy use.

I miss my wobbler!

In general, it cut what it was set to cut - and it was a little easier to set up.

wear on saw blades does not usually reduce the kerf width.

Wear usually dulls the edges of the teeth - sharp corners into rounded corners and the blade tears at the wood fibers and rips them instead of cutting through them. THe result is non clean edges with lots of fibrous tearout and fuzz and rougher bottoms and sides.

What brand was it?

[durango dude]

I think it's vermont american (about 20 yrs old)

I can't really read it --- but the letters (faded) are green.

Most of the letters have worn ---- the dado set is around 25 yrs old.

When I put the two outer blades together, I get a cut that's less than 0.25".

With the thin chipper - I'm over 0.25"

What I liked about the wobbler --- is that you set it and cut it --- and everything works out.

My dado cuts were a little smoother with the wobbler, too (which doesn't make sense to me).

[LCHIEN]

does it have carbide tips???
Most of those older VA 6" dado kits were just HSS, not carbide tipped. They were about $18-23 when new.

[cabinetman]

I have a few sets that just don't get used much anymore. As an alternative to a stack set, I do most dadoes and rabbets with a router. I find it's faster and produces cleaner machining than a stack set. This is just a suggestion for you to think about.

.

[wd4lc]

Thanks everyone. I've always found it a good bet to go with Loring's advice. I went with the Freud 6" set. I have nothing to compare it to but I tried it out without a throatplate and the set seemed to do it's job well. I can definitely see why the case would come in handy. Just a note. The blade style and blade color are not what you see in photos posted at online shops. I'm assuming they are showing the 8" set in the 6" listings. Not a huge deal but just wanted to let others know who may come across this thread. I'm really excited about using this set after making that practice corner lap cut joint.

Has anyone made their own throatplates out of wood? I see an article here using plexi but I was hoping to use some sort of scrap wood instead.

I actually made a zero clearance plate the other day out of hardboard (harboard piece just substituted where the OEM plate was). Hardboard was the thinest board I had on hand. The hardboard was so very slightly higher than the table when installed. More importantly is that the hardboard was not as sturdy as I thought it would be. It was flexible in the center and would bow down if you applied pressure.

In the above article, the author mentions 3 OEM screws. Obviously the existing throatplate uses one screw to keep it in place on the front lip. Did two other screws also come with the table saw? I see where they would go at the back end of the plate.

[pelligrini]

The OEM ZCTPs came with 4 screws. I believe the dado plate came with 4 as well.

A recent thread on the screws and plates: http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=55108

I prefer using thicker materials that won't flex, like the 3/4" maple flooring cutoffs I used on my last batch. I'll run my dado stack without a throat plate when doing box joints and sometimes half laps.

I thought Lee used to have plans for a ZCTP on the old sharkguard site? There's some photos of some there on the new site: http://www.thesharkguard.com/zctp.php

[LCHIEN]

usual throatplates use a thicker material that is milled thin around the edges (A dado works good for that :-) )
The thickness is limited by (in the case of 10" blades) the chance that the bottom of the plate will contact the blade tip before starting which usually results in broken belts :-(
In the case of a 6" dado that's not usually a worry. But I wouldn't go over 3/8" anyway.

there's three-screw throatplats and 4-screw throatplates for the BT3s, the original steel one has three and the Ryobi cut it yourself ones have 4.

If you have some material of the right edge thickness I would think laminating a smaller piece or two to a larger piece would work OK if well glued, just to make the inside stiffer.

[wd4lc]

Have you ever had one of those moments in your shop or garage for which you wish you could have back? One dumb mistake can cost hours!

I used 10-24 bolts on the dado plate that I built. The difference is that the bolts that I had on hand are 3" long! No problem. I'm just using these temporarily to make sure that the plate's bolt holes line up with the bolt holes on the table saw. Also to make sure that it fastens down correctly and flush. After expanding a hole and watching my piece of crap countersink bit absolutely demolish any hopes of my wishes for an aesthetically pleasing dado tp, everything does seem to fit nicely. I check underneath to make sure that those 3" long bolts do not come close to the blade as I'll need to start the table saw up to create the blade hole area in the throatplate itself. Good, the blade is well far away from the bolts.

With the dado tp bolted down it's time to power up the saw and slowly rise the dado set to create the open blade area. After slowly raising the blade with much anxiety (will there be a blowout!), suddenly the blade will not cut any further. It cut into the wood but apparently this blade cannot handle the rest of the way. Strange. Well, maybe people don't do this with the dado blade, just the regular blade. I remove the throat plate to inspect the beginnings of the cut. Then, I move the blade all the way up. That works fine. So I route (tediously and time consuming hand routing with clamps) a small pocket line to help ease the dado blade to work it's way up. Reinsert the throat plate (taking awhile since these are 3" bolts). This blade still will not cut through the wood. Let's route it some more (even broke out the jig saw). Back and forth with this at least 3 times killing plenty of time in the process and blowing the few gaskets that are left in my head. Finally I end up routing the ugliest of ugly blade hole areas within this throatplate. All of my tools got an earful. Time is wasted, dreams were broken and I have a headache this big with excedrin written all over it.

Oops. And then I see it. The end of one of the 3" bolts was hitting near the riving knife area and preventing the blade assembly from moving up! I'm an idiot. The End!

[chopnhack]

Wow, that sucks... especially since brand name Excedrin is still on backorder

Live and learn, experience is an exacting teacher :-)

[wd4lc]

A questions concerning the saw. When I was trying to raise the blade, the saw sounded like it was bogging down. Any idea why that would happen and is there a reason that I could have damaged the saw by forcing the blade up that was obstructed?

If the whole blade thing was obstructed from moving up I would think that it would have nothing to do with the motor. My only thought is that it being obstructed at the back end would skew the whole blade assembly and somehow stress the motor? It still doesn't make sense to me.