Are dado blades safe?

[Susumu Mori]

It just occurred to me and I'd appreciate it if you could shed some light.

When I use a table saw, I always use a blade guard and a riving knife.
However, that is not the case for dado blades.
I can imagine kickback can happen, especially when rabetting along a long stock if it is pinched between the blade and the rip fence.
Maybe it is safe for crosscut, like making tenon. Am I correct?

But then how about making dado in sheet goods?

Should I strictly avoid using the rip fence?

Your advises would be greatly appreciated.

[Matt Day]

Yes they're safe. Keep pressure against the fence, and pressure downward to keep the depth of cut consistent.

The blade is generally covered with material that acts like a guard.

[Cody Colston]

Use push blocks and don't place your hands directly over the blade, even though it is covered by the stock. Don't EVER try a thru cut with a dado stack.

[Doug Landphair]

Yes, a dado blade is potentially hazardous. Heck, most woodworking tools can be hazardous. It's how you use the equipment that reduces the potential for injury. In regards to making a dado at the end of a piece, it would be better to use a sacrificial fence with the dado blade slightly buried. Then butt the piece against the fence and move it through the blade. That way none of your wood is pinched between the fence and the blade. If I need to make a dado in the middle of a board, I may use the miter gauge if the board is small enough. Otherwise, I'll use the fence and firmly hold down on the board as I move it through the blade.

That's not much of an explanation so you may want to take a look at youtube videos to get a better idea of how to safely make dados on a table saw. There are also numerous magazine articles and books available showing how to make dados.

[Tom M King]

Since you're not going all the way through the piece, it's not likely to release enough inner stress to put anything in a bind.

[Mel Fulks]

I like the way the question is worded. Dados are not safe in a commercial shop. Even though they are expensive and unsafe when damaged they get clanked around, set down on hard damaging surfaces, and new and old sets get co-mingled so that the first sharpening of a divided new set .....makes two almost worn out leveled sets. I've had to tediously make them into color coded boxed sets. I say tediously because after a mess has been made you have to carefully look at the piece sizes before marking them or you are just part of the problem. If you meant are your fingers safe I answer that is up to you. Certainly beginners with short attention spans should not be allowed or required to do any repetitive work with dados ;things like those hideous strip dentils. A guy I worked for let a childish worker cut a pile of those things. I told him the kid had no ability to concentrate and should be moved to something else. He refused . Few minutes later the kid gave himself life altering serious damage to a hand. Had to have it sewed to his stomach for a while and subsequently operated a number of times.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Susumu. yes when using a dado blade you need a guard, either a home made bridge guard or an overhead guard.

Keep control of the workpiece to avoid kickback by using feather boards, push blocks or a power feeder.

Regards, Rod,

[Martin Wasner]

Nothing is safe. In a woodshop, out of a woodshop.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I've seen nasty kickbacks using dado set to cut dados, especially in the middle of large gables for shelves. I believe that you will find that dado sets are illegal in most of Europe because of the safety issues with them. That said, I use one frequently. However, when running dados, I use a sled that that the rip fence cannot become a lever to launch the piece back at me.

[Cary Falk]

Nothing is safe. In a woodshop, out of a woodshop.

This whole thread reminded me of this quote from Days of Thunder
"Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what's gonna happen next: not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs."

Nothing is safe in a woodshop, just safer.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a nice scar from kick back using a dado blade. I was running some oak and caught a small knot that came loose and caused the kick back

[Tom Ewell]

When using a table saw, the primary safety concerns are kickback and mutilation caused by the blade.

Guards, pawls, pushers, riving knives, etc are a good start. For additional safety adding an after market hold down/anti-kickback device (board buddies and the like) not only add to safety but also aids with precision.

Using one of these devices allows for dado cuts (grooving the stock) to be done in relative safety without the guards, splitters, riving knives in place.

Below is what I use, don't recall the brand, RipStraight maybe
hold down tablesaw.jpg
Board buddies below, readily available near as I can tell.
board buddies.jpg
Jessem Clear cuts below, nice but expensive.
Jessem Clear Cut.jpg

All of the above hold down, direct the stock into the fence and are anti kickback.

I'm sure other options are out there, point being that these things add functionality to a table saw (and other fenced gear) along with increased safety.

[Erik Loza]

...I believe that you will find that dado sets are illegal in most of Europe because of the safety issues with them...

Yep! Blind cuts on the table saw are forbidden over there. You would do it with the shaper, instead.

Erik

[Scott Dorrer]

I have a nice scar from kick back using a dado blade. I was running some oak and caught a small knot that came loose and caused the kick back

Yup same here. Back in '84 and I was using a push block. The whole thing kicked out and my palm went all the way to the stack. I still own a dado set but avoid using it like the plague.

[john lawson]

Nothing about a table saw is safe.

All the safety equipment and techniques are to mitigate the risk.

The fact that you phrased your question the way you did indicates a need for some training, which is a good thing. There are some good videos on youtube that show things like "kickback". You need to watch those videos so you get a good understanding of the physics and how quickly things happen if you lose control of the wood or put yourself in a bad position safety wise. One of the most important and least understood things about woodworking is keeping a firm grip and complete control of the wood (as someone posted earlier this may be an illusion).