I am in the market for a good quality dado blade set. Good quality is a concern, but unfortunately, so is price…Seems like money has been flowing out of my wallet faster than into it lately. I was thinking about freud, because I have been impressed with some of their other blades, but they have plenty of options. The saw I’ll be running it in (until I have the space and money for a cabinet saw) is a Dewalt portable TS (DW744, I think) that I got from my boss. Are any blades going to give good results in that TS? Thanks in advance.
Young, poor, and eager to learn
Replies
To determine the maximum width of the dado you can cut with your saw, measure the shaft and subtract the thickness of the arbor nut and washer. Some folks do not use a washer with their dado.
I was in the same boat until my wife bought me the DeWalt stacked dado set for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I've only tested it with some MDF and scrap plywood. Gotta say, I'm impressed. Nice flat bottoms and the set comes with a hard plastic case and metal shims. I believe the set cost a little less than $200 at Woodcraft. That's quite a bit less than some dado sets I've seen.
Have been happy with my Freud Super dado. Measure the blade arbor to make sure you can use a stack dado blade. I have a 8" blade on my jet contractors saw and have had no problems.
Troy
I have that saw. Good saw, short arbor shaft. I, actually, have the DeWalt dado set. Got it from a friend, free, just had to sharpen it. However, I used his Amana prior to that. Problem with the saw is you can only get 3/8" stack on it at a time. Having said that, the DeWalt dado set works great. I'm making a bookcase and it's cutting the plywood nicely, not alot of tearout and cuts are clean. The Amana was nice, as well, but free is hard to pass up.....
I have been happy with my Amana stacked dado set--I have the 46 tooth outer blades, and bought the 3/32" chipper to give some more variation. Cuts well, flat bottoms, doesn't show bat ears, haven't had chipout. My local saw shop, that also sells Freud and other well-known brands is very high on Amana. I prefer my Amana blades to my Freud blades.
Whatever set you get, remember that a dado hogs a lot of material, and also needs a bit more spin-up time, so don't push too hard.
The first step is to find what DeWalt says you can run. Check the manual or contact them to find the max diameter and max width the saw is capable of. Our SD206 6" dado set should be great for that saw.
Freud America, Inc.
I think the Freud would be an excellent choice. If you can afford their relatively new Dial-a-Width stacked dado (yes, a true stacked dado) that'd be the cat's meow, but if not their mid-range dado set will cut just as well!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
FG, the Dial-A-Width is not so new. If first came out in the mid to late 1990's. I think I got mine in '97 or '98. For a time they withdrew it while they retooled to cut production costs but it was back on the market in the early 2000's. That may be what you are thinking of.
That said, it's a real good dado.Howie.........
In the mid- to late-90's I wasn't paying much attention to all this stuff. Hence my thinking that it's "new." Maybe Charles has some history to share? Wonder if they changed the design at all. Do you have any tidbits on that?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Howie is correct about the history of the Dial-A-Width dado. Originally many of the process were done manually and now they are mostly automated but the design is essentially unchanged.
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
Hi Charles,
I have a 10" Freud dado set that gives a distinct ridge in the top cut. I've not measured it but it's certainly noticeable. I think one of the stack pieces is somehow out... can you offer any suggestions for eliminating the problem?
thanks
GB
Austin, TX
GB,Does it appear that one of the chippers is cutting deeper than the rest? If so, can you relocate that chipper and test to see if the deeper groover moves with the chipper? Is it the 1/16" or one of the 1/8"?
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
Amazon is selling the Dial-a-width for $199. You'll have to go all the way to almost checkout to see the actual price. But it's there and true. I bought one last week.
Hi Charles-
Had to take the time to go and actually check to see if my memory of the problem was right; I guess I noticed a representative of Freud was on the board and got all excited.
What the dado set really has is 'bat ears'. I had remembered incorrectly because I had recently cut several side by side dadoes which left a series of grooves (not ridges) down the top of the cut and that image stuck in my brain.
So the problem is not in the chippers but the outer blades. Is there any way to remedy it?
thanks
GB
GB,You could have the bevel tips of the outside saws ground off or made smaller but this would result in more splintering since the bevels would be less able to shear the fibers. Depending on the arbor length of the saw the other option would be to stack additional chippers so you wouldn't need to overlap. HTH.
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
Hi Charles,
was using the dado last night and again ran into trouble with the bat ears (extended cuts from the outermost blades) when cutting lap joints. This dado set is unsuitable for use whenever the side of the joint is exposed.
Question- can I clamp down a stone over the blade opening, turn the saw on with the blade retracted, then slowly raise it until it kisses the bottom of the stone? Try this a few times until it cuts flat? I might actually try this on a HSS blade, but I'm guessing this is a no-no with carbide. Any ideas?
thanks
GB
GB,Definitely don't try to grind them yourself. A sharpener can easily reduce the height of the bevels. Keep in mind that as the bevels are lowered the chance for splintering increases. The best solution is to add more chippers so the cut is made in one pass (if the saw is capable - check with the saw manufacturer to determine the max width).
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
yeah after typing that i realized I wasn't really keen on trying it. Will see about sending them somewhere.
As to your other suggested solution:
Even with a single pass, the face of the dado that is right up against the shoulder of the lap joint will still have a visible groove, no matter that the other extremity of the dado is beyond the end of the work... So I can not avoid at least having one groove, no matter the width. The visible joint looks poor as a result. Make sense? Seems like a major flaw in what is otherwise a nice set.
GB
GB,I understand the problem but the bevels have to be taller than the rakers to prevent chipping (they should be ~0.008" taller on a new set). As I said, as you decrease this height you reduce the effectiveness of the bevels. You need to decide before you take it to be ground if you can tolerate some of the bat ear effect or if you want the corners exactly 90°.
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
Do you know if anyone will be demonstrating your box joint set at the Denver Woodworking Show? Also will it be for sale there?
radrays,It is my understanding that Peachtree Woodworking Supply will be doing demos of the Box Joint Set at The Woodworking Shows and they should also have them available for sale. Here's their show schedule:
http://www.ptreeusa.com/shows.htm
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
Try Ridge Carbide Tool Co. I have their Dado King set, excellent cuts. Rickkk
the freud 208 dado is great, I've recently made the purchase myself and with funds being limited also i did a lot of reaserch.Its an 8" set ,each outerblde has 12 teeth and there are 5 double tooth chippers,very clean bottom s in dados with min. scoring.
As far as blades, theres only one choice...forrest woodworker II "thin-kerf", after many blades,irwin,skil,cheap home improvmentstore frued,stock delta,oldham, while the pro series freud blades are very good, save up and expect to spend around 80-100 dollars once for a nice blade and you will save money in the long run.
Why thin kerf? For thicker stock, doesn't a normal-width blade reduce deflection?
I've found a thin kerf blade takes less power to drive. If you're going through 8/4 oak on an underpowered saw, it can make a difference.
SB
I have the Forest Dado King, and have been very happy with it. I believe it was well worth the money. I've been able to achieve flawless dado's in cabinet grade plywood without tearout.
Just my .02.....
Jeff
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