Anyone tried Freud's Dial-A-Dado

[Monty]

Was thinking of purchasing the Freud Dial-A-Dado but didn't want to drop the $225+ without some good reviews. Anyone happy with theirs?

Monty

[Charlie Self]

Monty asks:

Got one not long ago, but have had little time to use it. Once. It did a really nice job, and saves shimming, so can save a few seconds in many set-ups.

You do know this is not a regular dial-in the wobble dado set-up, didn't you? The dialing eliminates the need for shims, but you still stack the blades.

Charlie Self "Character is much easier kept than recovered." Thomas Paine

[Doug Miller]

Just FWIW, I completely abandoned any thought of buying the Dial-a-Dado when I saw the Ridge Carbide dado set at a show last fall for $159. The cuts are smooth as glass. I can't see how the Dial-a-Dado could possibly make better cuts, and I figured that $66 is a *lot* to pay for a small increment in convenience.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

I was going to ask about this same tool.

Do I understand correctly that you stack the blades to get close, and dial to fine tune?

If so, what is the adjustability range via the dial? For example,

+1/32 to - 1/32.

Thanks, Barry

[JGS]

[Doug Miller]

The main benefit is that adding shims (or dialing in more width) allows you to "sneak up" on the fit a few thousandths at a time while cutting test dados in a piece of scrap. Once your shelf, or whatever, fits snugly in the dado in the scrap, it's time to cut dados in the real thing. Remember that if you don't practice (make test cuts) on scrap, you're practicing on your project. What do you do if you move the sheet a hair too far?

Further, even in a home shop, I think that it would be a rare instance in which you'd make only *one* dado at a given size: multiples of two (one for each end of a shelf, e.g.) would be much more common. If you rely on "moving the sheet a hair" it's unlikely that you'll cut both dados the same size.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[Bridger]

shims or the new

through again. In

repeatability

[MJ Wallace]

Monty:

I've used this dado blade several times and it does a great job. I'm getting one as soon as my shop gets set up. Look around for the best price tho. Eagle America and Highland had the best prices in December.

MJ Wallace