Wobble vs stackable dado - howto

I have inherited (literally) some tools after a friend. Included is a stackable dado (Craftsman) and a wobble dial-a-dado (Rockwell). However, I have no instructions for their use, and therefore could someone help me with them. The wobble dado seems rather simple to use: I dial the width, and this is it. Is this as simple as that? The stackable is a bit of a problem. There are two side blades, and a set of chippers, one of which is half the width. I understand, that I need to stack the required width. This allows widths with a step size of the narrow chipper. However, the blades and the chippers are thinner around the arbor hole than on the perimeter. Between the chippers there is no problem, I can alternate their mounting position so that the edges do not contact. What about the outer blades? Indeed, they do have openings on their perimeter where I can fit the adjacent chipper edges. Is this the proper way to stack and use them? Or do I always need spacers. Could someone with above-the-average patience explain to me the use of my dados :-) Thanks, Maciej

Reply to
Maciej
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Maciej wrote: ...

Nothing else to explain except position the chippers around as evenly as possible.

There should be a set of cardboard shims w/ the stacking set as well to make up/adjust precise width. If they're not w/ the set, you can easily make anything required for a particular application.

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Reply to
dpb

Yup, stackables are generally considered to be the better quality blade. Wobbles dont cut the sides of the dado exactly square to the bottom and the bottom will have a very subtle arc.

Yup, that's how they go together.

What about the outer blades? Indeed, they do

Always use the outer blades; chippers are optional. The outer blades also have an inside and an outside. On my freud set the writing on the blade goes on the outside; YMMV. The outer blades will have scew-ground teeth; the accute edge goes on the outside.

Or do I always need spacers.

You are on the right track and asking in the correct place.

Good luck,

Steve

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Reply to
C & S

I also find wobblers harder to align with the intended cut. I have to match the widest part of the blade to the cut marks, which is not always accurate, so I resort to turning the saw on and making ever-so-slight tentative cuts until I'm on the mark.

Stackables are the same width around the circumference, I just need align the blade to the cut marks.

Reply to
Richard Evans

On stacked dado sets, almost always there is an left and right outer side set of blades. Basically only 1 side of each of the outer blades is designed to be on the chipper side of the stack.

Wobble dado blades require you to dial in the basic setting as you have observed however you will have to tweak that setting to your actual board thickness. Make test cuts and trial fits with actual material being used! Loosening the arbor nut and making that fine tune adjustment can be troublesome. Wobble dado sets will also leave the bottom of the dado with a curved/nonflat bottom.

Reply to
Leon

I find the wobble dado blades to be terrifying to use at the wider widths, especially on a radial arm saw. :-)

Reply to
Lowell Holmes

I only have the wobble blade, had it since the 80's and it doesn't have a lot of hours on it.. :-[

I find that it's good enough for my type of projects, especially at narrower settings.. As others have pointed out, wider dados tend to have a cupped bottom, but I seldom have a problem with it.. The few times when the bottom of a dado was going to show anywhere, I was doing a 3/4" dado and just did two 3/8 cuts.. YMWV

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

You're right about the stacked dado blades being the better quality, and the wobble cutters producing a concave bottom. Wrong about the sides of the cut, though - even the wobble blades give cuts with parallel sides that are square to the bottom.

John Martin

Reply to
John Martin

You're right about the stacked dado blades being the better quality, and the wobble cutters producing a concave bottom. Wrong about the sides of the cut, though - even the wobble blades give cuts with parallel sides that are square to the bottom.

John Martin

You're right about wobble dado's making cuts with parallel sides but the sides are NOT square to the bottoms. Because the bottoms are not flat the angle at which the bottoms intersect the sides is not 90 degrees.

Reply to
Leon

U¿ytkownik "Leon" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci news:gwCsk.22665$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com...

Thanks everyone for the input. I guess now it's time for some test cuts. Maciej

Reply to
Maciej

I have 2 very good friends, both woodworkers, both with fingers, or parts of, missing thanks to the wobble dado, I would make a clock out of it and hang it on the wall, and stick with the stack dado.

Just my opinion.

Reply to
JOE MOHNIKE

I believe it. I got a chuckle out of reading this thread when it started.

I got a wobbler in the late 70s, put it on my radial saw and promptly crapped in my pants when I turned it on.

Old wobbly was too big for the guard, so Sears advised the way to use their wobbler on their radial saw was to remove the guard.

I remember thinking.... "you have got to be f'ing kidding me..."

I was scared to death of that thing.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I got mine in the mid-70's to use on my ToolKraft RAS and had much the same feeling. I recall that my first project with it was a trivet with NS dados on one side and EW dados on the other.

Had it out recently to pare down the ends of some 2x4 trailer stakes for a friend (on the table saw, sans insert) and was still inclined to be mucho careful...

Reply to
Morris Dovey

My vintage '69 RAS has an extra-wide dado guard accessory. It accomodates wobble blades, stacked blades, and a molding head.

Molding head, now there's a scary attachment.

Reply to
Richard Evans

"Richard Evans" wrote

Now that brings back memories.

I picked up some blades and saw acessories at a garage sale for cheap. It was a box of stuff for a good price. I figured I would pick thorough it and throw out what I did not want.

I pulled out this molding head with some kinda big cutter in it. A friend was looking over my shoulder and made the remark that it looked like big teeth that could eat me up. I felt a chill go up my spine. I put it on the shelf and never used it for over 20 years. Then I threw it away.

I guess that image of it eating me never went away.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

I used mine quite a bit back in the 70s, though I always had a mental image of one of the blades coming loose and giving me a sucking chest wound.

Reply to
Richard Evans

I've been using one for years, first on the Shopsmith and now on a "real" TS, but never even considered putting it on the RAS.. [ shudder ]

I'm comfortable with it on the TS, but I use a "close to zero" insert and hold-downs, and keep my hands WAY out of the blade/kickback area..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

I'd love to find a used one now, with a good assortment of cutters... I'd throw away the head and use the cutters on the lathe...

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Reply to
mac davis

"mac davis" wrote

sales...

Reply to
Lee Michaels

Mac and I can mail it to you. I bought it new some twenty years ago and never used it. If I remember correctly, I only bought two or three sets of cutters, but the sets and the head are yours if you want them.

Reply to
Upscale

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