Replies

1. 
   Axnhammer | Sep 26, 2002 06:56pm | #1

   Lenny, are you sure you are talking about a 10" stacked dado?

   I have not seen one (that of course doesn't mean much).  Most of the stacked dadoes I have seen advertised come in either 6" or 8".  The 6" would probably handle most of your needs.  For me the difference in price was not that significant and I opted for the 8"

   Paul

2. 
   riverr1 | Sep 26, 2002 07:06pm | #2

   I'm not sure of this, but I think the 10" is for 12 and 14" machines. My saw, 10", says max. 8" dado. Might have to do with weight and arbor hole size. Just guessing here though.

   Don

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 26, 2002 07:17pm | #3

   I think you're right Don, but the main restriction is probably weight, with the arbor size just an incidental inconvenience in a sense.  Seems like Lenny would be needing to make some awfully deep dados to be needing 10" blades.  As far as quality goes, my Freud 6" set makes incredibly clean dadoes (found my old test board the other day, and was impressed in spite of myself).  I'm sure with another $150 I  could have done better.  Not sure I can see why cleanliness of cut would improve simply because of size of the blade though. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

3. 
   charlesm | Sep 26, 2002 08:27pm | #4

   Lenny,

   There are 10" dado sets available with 5/8" bore (Freud doesn't offer one) but the primary consideration is in the amount of power required to push the cutter through the material and a secondary factor is the amount of weight. Think of the sawblade or dado cutter like the load end of a lever and the arbor as the fulcrum. The farther the load is from the fulcrum the more power required to move the lever. A 10" cutter puts the load 5" out, an 8" is only 4" away and a 6" is only 3" away.

   Another secondary factor is the construction of the machine. It may be impossible to mount a 10" stacked set and the dado insert may not work. You should check the owner's manual (or contact the manufacturer) for the saw to find the maximum recommended dado size. An 8" dado will cut 1" less than the 10" (usually 2 to 2-1/4" deep) and a 6" will cut 2" less (usually 1 to 1-1/4" deep). There will be those that disagree, but for my use, I rarely need a dado deeper than 1/2" and can see little benefit from the ability to cut a 3" groove in anything.

   Charles M

   Freud, Inc.

1. 
   bill_1010 | Sep 26, 2002 09:39pm | #5

   ive heard anything 3hp and under you should use a 6" 3+hp 8"

1. 
   charlesm | Sep 26, 2002 10:06pm | #6

   I usually draw the line at 120v vs 240v. Since many contractor saws are capable of both I generally say they are the point at which you could go either way. On a 3HP saw you will not likely be able to feel a difference in feed or motor load between the 6" and 8" (unless trying to remove a lot of material), but on anything smaller the 6" definitely shines.

   Edited 9/26/2002 4:19:45 PM ET by CHARLES_MC

2. 
   forestgirl | Sep 27, 2002 09:49am | #8

   Hi Charles!  Are you going to be "around" at Knots tomorrow?  I was at Rockler looking at Freud blades the other day, and managed to get myself very confused.  I have your "General Products" catalog, and am doing some reading, but have a feeling I'm gonna need some help making a final decision!

   When I get my thoughts organized, I'll post a message to you in my old ripping-blades thread (the one you first joined).  I'm hoping to go back to Rockler on Monday and make my definitive cross-cut blade purchase :-), who knows maybe a ripper too.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   charlesm | Sep 27, 2002 03:00pm | #9

   I try to check the boards every day if I get the opportunity. If you need me on a weekday you can also Email me. The Email address in my profile is my work address for Monday through Friday. On weekends I just check the boards casually but I could attempt to be available at a particular time if you will let me know when.

   Charles M

   Freud, Inc.

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 27, 2002 07:31pm | #10

   Have to run out on an errand right now, but I'll get my question posed before I go to work this afternoon (1 or so Pacific time) -- thanks!  There's a slim possibility I could go to Rockler tomorrow, but otherwise it'll be Monday.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

4. 
   mrbird90 | Sep 27, 2002 05:11am | #7

   Lenny, The 8" when used on a contractor's table saw will not clear the insert when raised up so be careful. Also the 8" because of weight and  diameter will put a heavy load on the shaft bearings which are not designed to handle such loads for any length of time. Infrequent use would be acceptable but long production runs will significantly shorten the bearing life. I would opt for the 6". The blade tip speed will be slower but I have never seen much difference in performance and I have used both diameters on my table saw.

1. 
   Brewgonia | Oct 07, 2002 03:50pm | #11

   mel,

   Would that apply to a Jet "Contractors" saw?

1. 
   JeffKurtz | Oct 08, 2002 12:04am | #14

   Lenny,

   Using an 8" dado stack on a contractors saw could cause serious damage to the machine.  Remember that the wide kerf plus the additional weight are exerting tremendous force on the trunions, bearings and arbor.

   Also, I believe the initial post in this thread mentioned "wobble" dadoes.  Those things will damage the saw; and furthermore give a poor quality of cut.

   Jeff

2. 
   mrbird90 | Oct 08, 2002 01:51am | #15

   Lenny, As far as the loads on the bearings  that will apply to all saw, but whether the blades will clear the throat when raised I do not know if it is a problem with Jet but it is a problem with the Delta contractors saw I own.

5. 
   Worsham3 | Oct 07, 2002 07:38pm | #12

   Whilst we're on the subject of dado blades. No matter what I do, my stacked dado blade leaves ridges in the bottom of the dado. If its in a position that won't show it's not a big prob. I does weaken the glue joint I suspect, but I haven't had a failure so far. If it's gonna show I cut it down with a dado clean up cutter from MLCS. That's just added work. How can I get rid of the ridges with the first cut on the TS. Thanks Rick W.

1. 
   JeffKurtz | Oct 07, 2002 11:57pm | #13

   Rick,

   What kind of blades are you using? Shims? Sharpened correctly? A rough dado cleans out so quickly with a sharp chisel that I can't see where it would be worth the time to set up the router.

   Jeff

2. 
   charlesm | Oct 08, 2002 11:06pm | #16

   Rick,

   There are 3 possible reasons why a stacked dado doesn't cut a flat bottom. One is that the blades are not consistent in diameter. Another is that the bores are inaccurate/oversized. And the last is that the arbor is undersized. It's also posible to have a combination of any or all of these problems. Have you measured the saw arbor to determine if it is accurate?

   Charles M

   Freud, Inc.