dado stack setup question

[Jerome Hanby]

Setup my SD208 according to the chart that came with the set and ended up having to take it off the saw and add some shims, a little annoying. Got me to thinking about a better way to setup the stack. My idea was to use a square piece of MDF large enough for the stack to sit flat on and be completely supported but have the edge of the blades pretty close to the edge of the MDF. Drill a stopped hole in the middle of the MDF's face and glue in a dowel. I think I should be able to stack my dado set on the dowel, put my digital calipers so that they are measuring the thickness of the MDF, hit the zero button, then measure from the bottom of the MDF to the top side of a tooth on the top blade on the stack and have a dead on measurement of the stack width. Am I overlooking something? I surfed the www a bit and saw nothing like that. The idea is so simple, I'm wondering of it's flawed somehow.

[Paul Atkins]

I think we overthink stuff all the time and the simple stuff doesn't seem right. Seems right to me!

[Tom Veatch]

The only thing I see that might be a problem is there might be a small thickness change when you tighten the arbor nut. If there are any small clearances between the blades resting on the stack that are taken out when the nut is tightened, the overall width would change. Exist? Significant?

You should be able to prove/disprove the concept pretty easily using your calipers to set up a particular thickness, making a cut, and measuring the width of the resulting dado.

Even if the cut does turn out to be a little too narrow, if the "error" is repeatable, you'll have a compensation factor. Just set the stack that much thicker than wanted and let tightening the arbor bring it back to the desired width.

[Rod Sheridan]

Purchase the shims with the slot cut in them, then use tweezers to install them.

That way you don't have to un-stack and re-stack the dado on the saw.

I also have a chart I made listing the two blades, and each of my chippers. (All measured after installation on the saw).

When I need an 18.2mm dado I select the closest combination and add the appropriate shims. I don't normally need to adjust anything, as it's that repeatable.

Regards, Rod.

[Tom Veatch]

...That way you don't have to un-stack and re-stack the dado on the saw. ...

Plus they're a durn sight easier to remove. Those that are full circles seem to always drop into the threads of the arbor and give me fits trying to get them on, and especially, off.

[Jerome Hanby]

Plus they're a durn sight easier to remove. Those that are full circles seem to always drop into the threads of the arbor and give me fits trying to get them on, and especially, off.

I heard that, what a pain. I may look into getting a set of those shims.

[Greg Coleman]

Setup my SD208 according to the chart that came with the set and ended up having to take it off the saw and add some shims, a little annoying. Got me to thinking about a better way to setup the stack. My idea was to use a square piece of MDF large enough for the stack to sit flat on and be completely supported but have the edge of the blades pretty close to the edge of the MDF. Drill a stopped hole in the middle of the MDF's face and glue in a dowel. I think I should be able to stack my dado set on the dowel, put my digital calipers so that they are measuring the thickness of the MDF, hit the zero button, then measure from the bottom of the MDF to the top side of a tooth on the top blade on the stack and have a dead on measurement of the stack width. Am I overlooking something? I surfed the www a bit and saw nothing like that. The idea is so simple, I'm wondering of it's flawed somehow.

This was featured in WOOD mag a few issues back. The MDF and the dowel were the same. The tipster then used a second piece of MDF and a scrap of the wood he was dadoing for. He stacked blades and chippers untill he matched the thickness he was after.

[Jerome Hanby]

This was featured in WOOD mag a few issues back. The MDF and the dowel were the same. The tipster then used a second piece of MDF and a scrap of the wood he was dadoing for. He stacked blades and chippers untill he matched the thickness he was after.

I'm sure I saw that, must have been percolating in my subconscious until i had a use for it.

I built the thing last night and it seems to work. I may buy up some of those cheapie digital calipers from HF next time they are on sale and use them on jigs like this.

[Frank Drew]

I've always felt that the cut itself is the only true measurement, but any given assortment of chippers and shims should give you the same cut every time, so make some sample cuts noting which assortments you used. I wrote the data on the underside of the several throat plates used for dados -- always where you want it and not going to get lost or rubbed off.