Do You Own a Dado Blade?

[twistsol]

I have a Freud 8" dado and since I bought the MicroFence for my router a few years ago, I don't think I've used the dado blade once.

[Crash2510]

I have the freud 6" set for the bt and while it is not my most common blade on the saw it has its specific uses and when you need it you need it IMHO i like it better than the router for dadoes especially when their is a lot of them

[rberrybabylon]

8" or 6"?

Have an 8" Freud. Like others, I use both the router and dado set, depending on the job. After thinking about it, I probably should have bought the 6" set rather than the 8". Price is better and I haven't needed the extra depth of the 8" set.

[gsmittle]

I use an 8" Avenger set, bought by mistake when I really should have bought the 6" set. Haven't had any problems running it in my BT, though, which is the main thing. I use it all the time. My only real beef is the little "ears" at the corner of the dado being just a hair deeper than the dado bottom.

On a side note, I seem to have a talent for buying stuff from companies just before they go out of business. Avenger disappeared within a week of my buying the dado set. Go figure.

g.

[chopnhack]

No, but I think one of these years after I set up shop, I will require one.

[Ed62]

Yeah, I have a cheapie. I've used it as well as the router table.

Ed

[SARGE..g-47]

Sold mine and will not replace... I use a router T square jig for dadoes which is more accurate and much safer. I don't care for the gang cutters between the outer blades which have too few teeth to start with. I do use a Freud Box Cutter set to do rabbets on long grain but both blades that make up the set have over 40 very sharp carbide teeth and with flat top grind leave a bottom that requires no cleaning.

[eezlock]

do you own a dado blade?

Yes, actually I have three. One is a stacked dado blade( I like it best of all) and it is a HF blade and does a nice clean cut. The other two are wobble type don't like the cut they make near as well. I bought one years ago
at a flea market for $20.00 a Rockwell brand ...the other I don't remember
the brand ( it was a freebie)!

The stacked dado blade stays on my back up saw most of the time, so I don't have to switch back and forth between blades as much. eezlock

[dbhost]

Update on mine since this thread was brought back up. I have been working with the Dado stack a LOT since this thread was opened up. That cheapo Skil Dado set seems to for some reason I can't figure out, require I use the paper shims between the cutters to produce a smooth bottom. I used it on the step stool project, as well as a book case built in I cut the dadoes in plywood for a friend of mine, the bottoms are nice and clean this way...

[LCHIEN]

flat bottom dados

there are several reasons for bottoms not being flat in dados.
Wobble dados especially those with one blade (and there are some like Crftsmans excaliburs that have 2 or three blades) make a curved bottom where the radius of the curve is due to the radius of the blade as it sweeps side to side centered at the arbor. In practice, this can be calculated, for a 1/4" wide dado with an 8" blade the bottom will be about only .002" depper in the center than the outside, for a 1/2" wide dado, .007" deeper in the center than the outside; for a 3/4" dado, the center will be .017" deeper than the outer sides.

With stack dadoes, there are two kinds of non-flat bottoms. One where the bottom is uneven across the bottom and two, where there are deeper grooves at the two corners.

The uneven bottom is caused by some of the chipper blades being larger or smaller, or by the blade being offcenter slightly, due to miscentered hole or more likely, a hole larger than the arbor and a bit loose. Both of these would be sloppy manufacturing. These errors would be on the order of .005" to .010" which you can see and will be pronoounced in a narrow slot. The BT3 has a specific problem with 8" blades needing to be offset to the left and with stacks over 1/2" the leftmost blade rides on the arbor threads which have a smaller diameter and makes this blade cut deeper.

On the uneven bottoms with the grooves in the corners, this is usually caused by outer blades being larger than the chippers (inner blades). Most often you'll see the grooves not being flat but angled. This is because some dadoes use Beveled teeth, like found in ATB blades except they all have the points on one side only, the outer side. THis is done on purpose and helps cut very clean edges as the pointed tips preslice the wood and laminates preventing splintering before the main bulk of the wood is
removed.

There are dadoes with FTG outer blades, these will cut flat all the way to the edges when sized properly with the shippers and having proper sized arbor holes.

I think the SD306 I have from Freud has the top bevel cutters, I have a set of Sears labeled, VA-made non-carbide dado that has FTG tips. I don't know about the very popular Freud SD206.

[rberrybabylon]

Have an 8" set but would prefer 6" set.

I have the $95 eight inch set from Freud. It's nice but I could just as easily get along with the six inch set, with a lower purchase price. The eight inch set just has enough clearance on my BT3000. I think I purchased the larger set on the basis of "if it's bigger, it must be better". Even at 71, I've got a whole lot to learn.

[Sawatzky]

I just got a Freud 6 inch for Christmas and I am reall looking forward to using it for cabinets. While I do use the router for some dado's I like the dust collection on the table saw. I forsee quite a bit of use with the dado set,

[vaking]

Router is quicker to setup but dado cuts faster.
I had Craftsman 8" wobble dado for awhile and used it whenever I needed lots of dado cuts made. I recently got a 6" stacked and have not had a chance to use it yet. When I need only a short cut only - router is easier.

[Knottscott]

I use an 8" Avenger set, bought by mistake when I really should have bought the 6" set. Haven't had any problems running it in my BT, though, which is the main thing. I use it all the time. My only real beef is the little "ears" at the corner of the dado being just a hair deeper than the dado bottom.

On a side note, I seem to have a talent for buying stuff from companies just before they go out of business. Avenger disappeared within a week of my buying the dado set. Go figure.

g.

AFAIK, Avenger has resurfaced as the Oshlun brand, which is currently being sold by Holbren, Amazon, Price Cutter and others. I have a 40T Oshlun blade from Holbren that's surprisingly well made and cuts nicely for a $25 blade. The Oshlun 8" dado set looks very similar to my Systimatic 42T/6T Superfine dado set, which is excellent.

I picked up a Dadonator when I started my cabijnets project and am glad I did. ... I went the extra for the Dadonator not becuase I like the name, but for the flat bottom it cuts. I also used it for the groves/dados in the rails stiles, etc to hold the plywood in place. I am very glad I got it. I have cut cherry and maple like it was butter. ...

Karl

Karl - My current dado set is the Dadonator, and think it's an outstanding set. It has 24T cutters in an ATB/R configuration that slices well, but minimizes the "bat ears" with the use of a flat raker. The 6 tooth chippers leave a very clean bottom. It's my 5th dado set and it's hard to imagine getting better performance.

[olsenla]

I have a Freud dado set. I have had it a number of years, but always have been able to get better results with the router, so it never gets used.

Larry