dado sets: comments on delta 35-7680?

[Bill Wichser]

My Systimatic Fine dado set has been sharpened for the last time. But it's a set I've never been pleased with for any kind of crosscuts in plywood (especially oak).

From what I can gather from the literature, a replacement set can either be an A grade (Freud SD508, Infinity, Ridge, Forest Amana, Systimatic Super Fine, Dicor, Forrest) all starting at about $200, or the B grade (Freud SD208, Systimatic Fine, others?) starting around $85. The tradoffs seem to be the flat bottoms and the way they handle plywood.

I'm just wondering where this Delta blade fits into the mix. The price is on the B grade side, yet the cutters look similar to the A grades (Forrest). Can anyone comment on the performance of this blade on plywood, and in particular, crosscuts in red oak and cherry?

Thanks, Bill

[Leon]

Something to consider about the "look a likes" that cost less. While they look like the more expensive brands and may start out cutting pretty good, they probably use a less expensive carbide. The Forrest blades use a top quality carbide that holds it edge for a very long time. A cheaper set that cuts pretty good may not be so cheap if you have to have them resharpened more often.

[N Hurst]

I have the Delta 35-7670 8-Inch Stacked Dado Set that Amazon carries (there is another set by DeWalt which looks identical) and it's worked really well for me. I haven't used it much, but I used it to put 1/2" grooves in some pressure treated SYP, and they still work fine on oak. I have a 35+ year old 9" Delta contractor's saw, and even though my saw may be underpowered for the blades, it still cuts great and gives me a nice smooth bottom.

The included shims are metal, which I like, and the case is nice. It's a plastic "brief case" style case with secure wing nuts to hold the blades and chippers in place, and the shims are in little plastic pockets in the case.

-Nathan

[Martin H. Eastburn]

First investigate.

Plywood is metric and doesn't fit many dado blade sets.

I think I got one from De Walt that was filled with lots of thin stacker's and contained a many chipper blades.

I can match anything with it. Be cautious - a good buy might not fit todays wood that is coming from Chile or Canada.

Mart> >> My Systimatic Fine dado set has been sharpened for the last time. But

[Leon]

A decent dado set will come with shim kits to correct that problem. My Dado King set came with shims and I have never had a problem cutting a dado to any thickness, metric, imperial, or custom.