Dado Blades For Ripping In Softwoods

[jack forsberg]

OK so I'll go with an 8", but all the 8" I've looked at have the neg hook.

which ones should I look at?

http://dimar-canada.com/pdf/dado_instructions.pdf

[Jerrimy Snook]

Check toolstoday.com for 651030-1. It is a 10" positive hook dado set with a 1" bore for $217.

[Joe Wood]

Right on Jerrimy, that's the exact blade I ordered, along with two extra 1/8" chippers :-)

thanks for the advice everyone!

[Phillip Gregory]

Folks, I need a new dado blade for my 12" T saw, thinking of going with a 10" blade. I mainly work with soft western red cedar, never ply or melamine.

do I want a negative hook when ripping?

I've looked at a few different brands, which one would you recommend??

You do not need a negative hook dado blade on a tablesaw, typically tablesaw blades designed to cut wood have a hook of +10 degrees or more. Negative hook blades are best for saws where the blade is pushed or pulled through the workpiece rather than the workpiece being pushed through the blade (sliding compound miter saws and radial arm saws) or when you are cutting manmade materials such as MDF, plastics, or metals. You can run a negative hook blade on a tablesaw to cut wood but it will be harder to feed and cut more slowly than a positive hook blade, which is why ripping blades are typically heavily hooked at +18-22 degrees.

You need to consider the possible cutting depth of a smaller blade on your saw as well. A typical belt-drive 12" tablesaw cuts 4" deep with a 12" blade, so 3" deep with a 10" blade, and 2" deep with an 8" blade. A direct drive saw will have significantly less cutting depth per inch of blade diameter. Also, saws designed to run larger diameter blades will typically have a lower arbor RPM than saws designed to run larger blades, which will cause a smaller blade to have less SFPM and cut more slowly/leave a poorer quality surface finish.

An 8 or 10" positive hook blade on your saw would be appropriate for your saw. Get a good one, a cheap one will leave you unhappy. You will spend at least $200-250 on one for a 1" arbor 12" saw, but it is money well spent. I spent $350 on a 12" diameter -12 degree hook Freud Super Dado set for my 7 1/2 hp DeWalt radial arm saw and it is worth every penny. I spent $50 on a cheap 8" carbide tipped madeinchina stack dado for my 3 hp 10" cabinet saw years ago and it was money wasted unless all you want to do is rough carpentry.