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I use my router, or router table. Should use the table saw, but I just takes longer to set up.
With me, it depends on what material you are cutting. I tried cutting 12" long dado's on melamine particle board for shelving units in a pantry, and after only two cuts, I could feel the router bit (Woodline shear bit) getting dull. That stuff is really abrasive.
Cutting the same shelves in real wood, I would not hesitate to use a router, but with dozens on cuts to make on that melamine particle board, I finished the job with my old Craftsman RAS, that I bought years ago just for shelving dado's. I used an old dado set to do it also, to save my good one.
Longer dado's get done on the TS for me normally.
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
I have a great 4 wing carbide dado set that cuts almost perfect dado's but have found that in most case the router is faster, has a better cut quality and is more accurate. What makes it easy is I have a rail guided micro adjusting router jig - I start with a undersized bit and sneak up on the perfect fit with a few final passes. Even with a few finish passes per cut it is less time than a number of test cuts with a dado set. In addition things like a tapered sliding dovetail are a piece of cake.
I don't own a dado blade right now. The only time I will use my table saw is when cutting a 1/4" or less width dado making 2 passes with a full-kerf blade, like the dadoes in drawer sides for drawer bottoms. However, if I need to do a stopped dado that narrow I will do it on my router table. I get a much more crisp dado; completely flat bottom and I find I can get the depth more easily to the exact depth I need with a router (mostly on my router table).
I've never understood why people who have a router table and a table saw use the table saw for dados. Maybe it's something I'd have to do once or twice to understand. I always use my router table. It's way fast to set up and no screwing around with dado stacks. Again, I've never used one but I see tip after tip and product after product promising to make dado stack setup fast and accurate. I live by this rule that any time there are endless tips about the same thing then that thing has a fundamental problem that hasn't been solved.
They also make under-size router bits specifically for plywood. I have a Freud set and it's dead on. At most I might have to make one tiny adjustment of my fence and take a second pass if the plywood is a little thicker than usual but one pass works more often than not.
I bought my first router plane to fix exactly the problem Mike is describing for TS-made dados. It isn't perfect but it helps a lot.
OP: You should use whichever tool you are more comfortable with. That's usually a little safer, as long as you don't get complacent. Personally, I use the TS (and router plane) if I have several dados to do. If I only have a few, I cut them by hand.
Aside: I once saw Paul Sellers use a backsaw and a chisel to cut a dado - it looked like he'd used a tailed router, they were so consistent and perfect.
I spent some time thinking about this, and, I have a strong preference for using my table saw. For me this is simply more reliable and easier to control. That said, if you have a method with which you are comfortable, I would just use that. You get good results with a router, use the router.
The last one I cut, I did do on the router table because I wanted a stopped cut.
we've got several cabinet makers in the area and i asked one owner that very question.
his response was that he uses a wobble dado blade on his TS. he said it worked great for
what they do.
I would use my radial arm saw and a good stack dado to cut those through dados. You get the advantage of being able to see the work as you would with a router and don't have to try to wrestle a large board on top of a cabinet saw. You also have the ability to fine tune dado width that would be more difficult to do with a router. The only downside is that you need a pretty expensive dado stack to fit the 1" arbor on a long arm saw that has enough crosscut length to be useful. I have a 12" Freud Super Dado on a medium arm DeWalt GE that can make a dado about 27" long.