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Thread: need help gettign the right dado blade for 1/4" and 1/8" dado's

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    portland oregon
    Posts
    1,286

    need help gettign the right dado blade for 1/4" and 1/8" dado's

    15 years woodworking and I never had a dado blade. I am bidding on a job that I did on my cnc router last time. but it is so much I would save time doing it on the tablesaw. I need flat bottomed 1/8" and 1/4" dado's. I need to adjust the 1/4" so I can get say .26 or .27 with it.
    Steve knight
    cnc routing

  2. Freud dial-a-width dado stack

    Steve,

    I'm a big fan of this one:

    http://www.amazon.com/Freud-SD608-8-...ref=pd_cp_hi_1

    It's been great to me, ridiculously easy to use and adjust, (without having to screw with those damned shims).

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Victor, Idaho
    Posts
    720
    Hi Steve,
    I have two dado sets. A $60 cheap home depot set, and the $300 forrest set.

    When doing dados with the grain in solid wood, hands down the $60 set is superior. Less teeth is better for "ripping" with the grain I suppose. Shims will get you what you want above 1/4". The forest set is better for any other operation in any other material.

    For 1/8", I'd suggest a combo blade thin kerf. Two passes to get exactly the width you want.

    -Steve

  4. #4
    Forrest has a 1/8" WWII with the teeth ground flat for box joints and dadoes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    portland oregon
    Posts
    1,286
    I will be cutting baltic birch with it. the 1/8" is with the grain the 1/4" is across but I will have a backer.
    no way do I want to make two passes just for the dados with the 1/8" we are talking 3300 passes. so I sure don't want to double that.
    I can cut these faster then my cnc router and it can be doing something while I make these boxes and I will get paid double.
    Steve knight
    cnc routing

  6. #6
    Steve, The Freud SBOX8 will make a nice flat bottom dado. If you need it .27 or .28, just use a shim like a stacked dado.

    As for the 1/8" dado, just use a full kerf FTG saw blade. Check the specs to make sure the kerf is .125 and it's a FTG (flat top grind). One pass will do it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    LA & SC neither one is Cali
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    9,447
    For the .125 I would suggest a Forrest full kerf WWII with #1 (flat) grind probably the 48T, basically the highest tooth count they have in #1 grind.

    For the 1/4" I would get the Forrest Finger Joint set and as mentioned shim it for the extra thou or two.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Dawson Creek, BC
    Posts
    1,033
    Steve, if this a common task you might want something like a jointing blade. They come in standard widths and given your volume I bet you would like the changeover speed. Leitz, Garniga, and many other blade manuf. make these.

    Brad

  9. #9
    We use an el-cheapo Kempston FTG 24T rip blade for 1/8" flat bottom grooves. Works great, price is right.

    You want, I can measure the width of a cut or you tomorrow, but if it's not .125", it's +/-.002".

    kg
    Last edited by Kevin Groenke; 10-19-2010 at 11:10 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Shorewood, WI
    Posts
    897
    For the 1/8" kerf, I think you want FTG to make sure the bottom is flat. For baltic birch, you'd need a lot of teeth, so the FTG ground WWII blade is the available one you want. If you don't need the bottoms perfect, a combo blade might do.

    I'm pretty sure a sharpener could adjust the kerf to what you want, and even change a grind to FTG from something else. So regrinding a some dull blade you already have could be an option.

    Rather than adjust a 1/8" blade, you could simply get several blades that cut slightly different kerfs. Cut, measure, and label, and you are set.

    For 1/4" and above, the box joint blades from Freud or Forrest should work, with a dado shim to make it wider. If you need a little less than 1/4", a resharpened box joint blade might be a reasonable bet.

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