I have been truly spoiled for a long time. We had a real pro shop and had the best of everything. I am now starting a little shop in my garage and now, money is tight. Having lost the Forrest Dado deal at Amazon, I am looking for a dado. I will probably use it for solid and hardwood ply. What do you guys suggest for a lower cost dado. max
max wrote in news:BDC6B6F9.34E7E% snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net:
The various sets in the Freud range have served well. I bought the low-end SD208, when I first started, $89 or so at the Borg, and have had no reason to upgrade. My neighbor has the SD508(?) Dial-a-dado, which he has offered to loan, but it hasn't been worth the walk across the street.
Patriarch
I've been using the dado set from Ridge Carbide for some time now, and I'm completely satisfied with it. The cut quality is slightly better than the Forrest Dado King, and it's about 2/3 of the price.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
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That's the one I would buy so far...
Hi Max,
In a recent comparison (Wood magazine I think) the Freud SD508 and Forrest SD were virtually tied, except in that the Forrest carbide was a little harder & would be a good choice for production work where it would not have to be sharpened as often.
Based on this (and being a hobbyist) I bought the Freud (Amazon for about $160 on sale/coupons) and it has been excellent - way better than the adjustable Sears dado that I used for almost 10 years.
Lou
Wood Magazine, June 2002, had a special issue reviewing dado sets. The SD208 received TOP VALUE honors. That is the one that I purchased and I have been reasonabnly happy with it. I, too, would have preferred the Forrest dadoking for $150 of course.
Lars
Want to save money, use a nice sharp flush cut router bit with the guide bearing on top. I have designed a jig that is self squaring and cuts dados to fit the board that will go into it perfectly with no measuring for the width of the dado.
Please pardon my ignorance. I have been following this thread because I made a mistake a couple of years ago and bought a (cheap) Vermont American 6" dado set. It is OK when doing dados for shelves in cabinets but I have been working on a box joint setup cutting through birch plywood and I get tearout even with a backer board. It looks like Freud makes a winner but I'm trying to understand why one would get an 8" dado set rather than 6". Is it only the depth of the dado that is the difference? In my experience so far, I haven't run across an application where I need any more depth. There isn't much price difference so I would guess that depth is the only difference but would like to hear back on this.
I bought a frued dado set when I first needed to cut a dado and was never pleased with it. I'd get tear out on plywood plus I'd get unparrellel cuts on hardwood. This last June, Tool Crib had a Fathers Day sale where you'd get $50 off any purchase on an item if it normally sold for over $200. I bought the Forrest Dado King for $229, normally $279. After using the Dado King I wonder now why I spent all that money on the frued blade and it doesn't perform like the Dado King. I understand that the Dado King is made with C-4 carbide and has a -5 degree hook in the blade.
-- Woody
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Purdy much. If both go wide enough, as well as deep enough for you, then I'd save the cash and swing the 6" cutter.
So I bought Jesada's dado several years ago, for $150 and like it very much. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably give Infinity's Dadonator ($179) a shot.
Don't forget future sleds when considering depth.
Use a sled once for dados, do it always. It's really easy to use stops in the sled for matching ends, center dividers, etc...
Barry
I have the SD208 and it is a good value dado and best for plywood. The 508 & 608 adjustable are upgrades and nearly the same except for the 608's adjustable dial. For hardwood, I would recommend the SD308 "safety" dado. It cuts hardwood dados without blowing out the exit side of the dado. Almost all of the recommended low and midrange dados are negative hook teeth anymore. Fine and targeted for plywood, but the positive hook SD 308 is faster and smoother for hardwoods.
Good catch. My sleds are 1/2" BB so, add 1/2" to the required height, I suppoze. Personally, I haven't build a dado sled yet.
Do you have any pictures of your sled(s) that you can post on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking?
Dick
Even with a 3/4" kerf, the sled is still perfectly usable for normal crosscutting. The regular saw kerf tends to be taller in the fence nearest the operator, so you can still use a slot to line up the work. One side of the kerf won't change, no matter how wide the slot ends up. Which side will depend on if you have a right or left tilt saw.
Not shown in any of the photos is an example of adding a block clamped in place as a stop. Think of the pictured hold down block, but placed against the end of the board.
Barry
Got it. Thanks.
Dick
I was looking at your website a bit - I really like the idea of the mousepad on the bottom of your thin strip ripper.
Dick
It works great.
I didn't invent any of that stuff. I'm only trying to help some folks save a buck or two.
Barry
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