Hi. I started using a Freud Super Dado set for the first time to make a half-lap joint on 2x4s. I’m also a rookie. I set up my fence as a stop, took a number of trial cuts to get the right height and width of cut (11/16 x 1/2). I made the first cut using the fence and the rest by moving the piece and eye balling it. The first cur was smooth but the rest were not. Should I keep adjusting the fence? Or is there some jig that is commonly used? Or is it just practice? Could definitely use some advice. One more thing. Do dado cuts usually kick up that much more dust than is sucked up by dust collection? I sure got some.
Thanks for the help,
Marty
Replies
I'm guessing you must be using the miter bar for the cuts. If you are trying to hold the workpiece on a bare steel face, it will likely slip a little. Add a long wooden piece to the miter bar and glue some sandpaper to that. Don't back up after the cut. I think you would be better to clamp a stop on the wooden miter bar face than to use the fence as a stop, especially with 2x4's. You can also clamp a block on the fence to use as a stop gauge. Clamp the block back before the blade several inches. Set the block for the deepest cut, then just back the work up for each successive cut. For half laps in the center of a piece, use two stop blocks, one on the fence and one on the auxiliary miter bar fence. This will eliminate the possibility of the the work getting pinched between the blades and fence. The combination of the fence, 2x4 and miter bar could spell disaster for kick back.
You are generating the saw dust of many blades when you use dadoes. Because the workpiece covers the blades, most of the waste should not be blasted into the air. Be prepared to empty the dust collector or vacuum.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Thanks Hammer1. I was just using the fence. I will take your suggestion and set up an auxilliary fence. I was close to getting somekickback-you were right. I always stand to the side of the blade not directly behind it though.
Take care,
Marty
I think you might be getting shavings or dust under your board, and letting it lift a bit. Or, being 2x4s, and not quite square one cut might just not be on the identical plane as the cut before it. Those are my two best guesses.
I use the older Freud dado blades, and they have now been reground several times, but have always made me very nice cuts.
I call it dust when it floats in the air and shavings when it is heavy enough to fall to the floor or clog up the dust pipe. You should get lots of shavings, and very little true dust.
We are all rookies at something.
Thanks. You are probably right on all accounts. I got mostly shavings but some dust.
Marty
I am confused. If you are using your rip fence as a stop when cross cutting using the miter gauge is an unsafe practice. The partial cross cut with the dado blade is not quite as dangerous as through cross cuts, but you can still generate some nasty kickback if the wood twists just a little bit while it is bound against the rip fence.
you might also try making a zero clearance throat plate for just this use it will help with the dust.
Troy
Not sure what the other post said yet..
BUT,,, make a half-lap joint on 2x4s.. Surfaced? I'd bet not.. If you want nice joints the wood has to be flat and square.. At least the parts on the TS table.. Not picking on you.. REALLY.. Been ther did and forgot to do many times...
If the stock is not square anything can happen...
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