I did SO Google Dado blades!

[Robatoy]

One particular project is going to require a lot of dados. I looked around the 'net and local stores and some catalogues. Most of the google info is stale.

In this application, a router wouldn't be practical, so I need a new set.

In simple terms, I would like it if you gentlemen gave me a few pointer where to look for definitive information about these things:

1) Simply the best, regardless of price. I can see that it gets real silly real quick.

2) Good performer for a decent price. (Had a Freud pack many moons ago, the chippers were nasty.)

3) A great cheapie. (There is a brand called Mibro?)

4) What to stay away from (aside from the wobblers).

I want a set to last me for some time, because I suspect that if I had a decent set, I'd use it more.

I value your opinions for which I thank you in advance.

Rob

[Joe Bemier]

Well, I cannot say I'm much of an expert on dado's. I've used Freud for years but earlier this year I picked up an adjustable, shime free model from Amana Tool. I've used many of their Shaper Cutters and the Rep gave me a nice discount on the Dado. IMO, you cannot go wrong with Freud, but at the same time, I like this Amana unit very much. ...fast and accurate.

[Leon]

I personally use the Forrest Dado King and it cuts perfectly. Flat bottoms and sides and no tear out.

That said, if you are going to do the same size over and over that is what I would recomend as Forrest products stay sharp for a very long time.

Freud however has a set that has an adjustable outer cutter. This does not wobble as you still stack the set but the dial on the outer cutter moves the teeth in and out a small bit at a time. Very accurate and easily repeatable settings can be made with this click detent set and NO SHIMS. Swingman has this set and we used it when we built 2 sets of kitchen cabinets this past Spring. How long the set stays sharp compared to the Forrest is yet to be determined.

As happy as I am with the Forrest, I would go with the Dial Freud set if I were to replace the set today. If I were making tons of the same sized dado's I would go again with the Forrest.

[Lew Hodgett]

Robatoy wrote: > One particular project is going to require a lot of dados. I looked > around the 'net and local stores and some catalogues. Most of the > google info is stale.

I have had a Freud for 10 years, it works for me.

Just bought a couple of router bits from Infinity Tool to check them out.

Haven't used them yet.

They have an 8" stacked dado.

Might be worth a look.

Think there is some Italian cutting tool expertise involved with Infinity.

Lew

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I have a Ridge Carbide set and it is excellent. If was was buying today, I'd look at Ridge Carbide, Infinity Tools, Forrest, maybe Freud.

[Doug Miller]

Reasonable people have disagreed about that here in the past. :-) I chose the Ridge Carbide "North Woods" dado set over the Forrest Dado King on the basis of quality of cut, after seeing both of them demonstrated at the Woodworking Show.

Ridge Carbide. Slightly better cut quality than the Forrest, at 60% of the price.

Is there such a thing?

Anything that says "Craftsman" on it.

Probably any of the major brands should be plenty durable.

[boorite]

You can use any old dado stack or even multiple passes on the combo blade if you clean up all your cuts with a router and one of those bearing-guided dado cleanout bits. So if it were me I'd get a lousy $45 Vermont American or Crapsman stack and stick a $20 cleanout bit in my $50 Ryobi router and get perfect dados with no jigs. But that's just me. Most woodworkers wouldn't let their dogs use a Vermont American product.

[Mark & Juanita]

... snip

Mine's about 10 years old now and I'm still pleased: CMT

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[CW]

[CW]

[Steve W]

Things change. A fairly extensive review this year put Freud and Forrest at the top of the heap. I can't remember the precise details, but their cutting performance was very close and excellent for both.

I bought the Freud 8" dial setup shortly after the review.

-Steve

[Woodie]

Infinity Dadonator 8" set. Excellent cut quality and good value for money Review >

[boorite]

It's hardly anything to go over the dado with a bearing-guided bit, which I would almost certainly do anyway. Maybe not if I had a Forrest, but I don't know because I've never used one. For some of us, a $200 price difference is more than a few bucks. And it seems to me that lots of pros prefer cutting dados with both TS and router. They say it's the easiest way to get them really perfect.

But it's true that Freud and DeWalt make OK stacks for around $100, which really is just a few bucks more than the steel el cheapo sets.

[Wayne K]

Freud dial a dado hands down. Great cut, and easy to dial in very nice fitting dados. I can set mine up on the first try using a digital slide mic on my stock. .004 per clik. Excelent investment.

[Upscale]

And how do you handle the slightly convex curve left at the bottom of the dado which is common with dial dados?

[LRod]

I don't have one, I haven't used one, I've never even looked at one, so you might regard my answer as potentially suspect. However, my understanding is that unlike a "wobble" dado (produces some degree of convexity regardless of how many blades they wobble with) the Freud uses more of an eccentric (not the right word, but perhaps it'll conjure a vision that will suffice) washer arrangement. The outer blades stay parallel, and of course chippers overlap, just as in conventional dados, and they use the "dial-it" feature to vary the thickness of some washers. It's not a 1/4" - 15/16" omnibus dado, as I understand it--more like a fine tuning feature.

The net result should be bottoms just as flat as a fify year old barrel racer (maybe that'll conjure a vision).

They are pricy. I've also been led to believe that they are too thick to work on some saws--I don't remember which, but Crapsman comes to mind. Same reason as you usually can't use your outside washer in a full thickness setup of a conventional dado--too much hub.

Get one of the guys that actually has one to verify, amplify, or contradict whatever I said.

[Upscale]

My error then. I assumed that your dial-a-dado was essentially a wobble dado and subject to the convex bottoms left by wobble dados.

[lwasserm]

OOH! OOH! CAN I ANSWER? :)

This one doesn't work like that.

[Rick M]

"Robatoy" wrote

Good day Rob,

I don't see Morris chiming in yet, so I'll grab this one!

I just spent some time in the shop making the parts for a clamshell bookcase (it folds up to secure all the books) for a preschool. I used my Freud dado set with the shims. While this is a much better dado set than the Craftsman "wobble" blade, it still takes far too much time as compared to the ShopBot.

Unless you are doing tons of IDENTICAL cuts, the shopbot is going to win. Accurate, infinite width adjustment, stopped dados, stepped dados ... you name it. Morris' registration rails and clamps make it much easier to cut dados on already prepared blanks, and if all the dados are on one side, you can cut your dados and then cut your parts out with the same bit in the router.

Make no mistake ... I really enjoy the ShopBot. I thought this project was going to be a very quick one; I apparently have forgotten how to judge completion times.

*****

I know the ShopBot will leave a rather large hole in your wallet ... the one I have paid for itself on the first job. If you haven't found anyone in your area that owns one, check on the ShopBot forum

and get in touch with someone that is willing to show you how things work. My door (near Winston-Salem, NC) is open to such visits, though it IS a bit of a commute for you.

Regards,

Rick

[Swingman]

Nonsense ... a "pro" would use good equipment and would be the last to waste the time.