Dado, rabbits and tenons question. How do you cut them?

[Marshall Harrison]

I'm curious how many of you use a dado blade with chippers to cut dados/rabbits/tennons.

Or do you normally cut the edges and then nibble away at it.

Trying to decide if its worth it to get a dado set or just take the cheap way out and nibble away.

[John TenEyck]

A dado set is about the fastest way to plow dados and rabbets, and I use mine for that purpose frequently. Truly flat bottomed dado sets are good for making finger joints, too, and I've used mine for that task as well with a shop made jig. I've cut tenons with mine, too, but typically only do that with really large tenons; for normal sized ones used in most furniture applications I use loose tenon joinery because it's faster, easier, and more precise with the equipment I have.

The dado blade is not always the best choice, however. For example, sometimes it will chip out the corner of a rabbet cut. If that corner will be visible I will usually use a handheld router and make a climb cut, which almost never gives any chip out. Crosscuts in veneer plywood is another case where a dado blade may not be the best choice. Again, I will typically use a handheld router to make those.

I suppose I could get by w/o a dado set, but I'm happy I have one and use it frequently.

John

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, dados I cut on the table saw using a dado set.

For tenons I cut them on the shaper using a reversible cutter that either cuts both sides of the tenon in one pass, or the groove using the same cutter in grooving mode, or the dado cutter.

Rebates I cut on the shaper..................Regards, Rod.

[Jim Becker]

I don't cut them in any one specific way...it depends upon the project.

[Von Bickley]

I don't cut them in any one specific way...it depends upon the project.

That works for me. Sometimes I use the dado blades, sometimes I nibble away, sometimes I use a router. Depends on the project, but I do like having a dado set.

I bought a small PC portable saw just to leave the dado blades on all the time.

[glenn bradley]

Like Jim and Von, I use a dado stack, a rabbet bit in the router table, a straight bit or a rabbet bit in the hand held router, depends on what I am doing. For larger cuts I lean toward the tablesaw and a stack if the piece I am cutting is well milled. for things like plywood the tablesaw can yield inconsistent results due to irregularities in the sheet. For these I go with a hand held router as the small router base better follows the anomalies of the plywood's surface. For solid wood stock or smaller pieces of sheet goods I again use the tablesaw for large material removal and the router table for smaller work. The decision can also be weighted as to whether the joinery will be on display of not. A dado in a piece of ply that will be hidden by a shelf can be less refined than a dado used as a decorative element.

[Lee Schierer]

I don't cut them in any one specific way...it depends upon the project.

I do the same as Jim, Although for tenons and lap joints, I use a cross cut blade for the shoulder cut and then the tenon jig to remove the waste. If I only have one or two to cut and precision isn't paramount, I may nibble one with a crosscut blade on the TS.

[Ron Citerone]

I suppose the answer is how much you are going to use it. For occasional use it may not be worth it, but is does save time in many instances. The decision for me would be based on what might you use the money on instead. I cut tenons on 4 door rails yesterday by nibbling. If it was any more I would have used a dado head for sure.

[Mike Cutler]

Marshall

Yes, a dado stack should be part of your table saw blade collection.
A flat top grind set will leave a perfect bottom. An alternating bevel grind leaves little "ears" at the corners of the bottom. I prefer the flat bottoms, they look better.
Like Rod, I cut tenons, and rabbetts, on a shaper. They can be cut with a dado stack also on the table saw. I don't see the advantage, maybe speed/time, to cutting rabbets with a dado. They're pretty ease with just a blade. Even easier with a shaper.

[Marshall Harrison]

Thanks. I've spent enough money on a table saw in the last few days so I was hoping to avoid a dado blade for a little while. I'll most likely be using the nibble method and a router for any of these types of cuts.

However, if someone wants to donate a dado stack I'm okay with that. LOL

[Jim Becker]

Thanks. I've spent enough money on a table saw in the last few days so I was hoping to avoid a dado blade for a little while. I'll most likely be using the nibble method and a router for any of these types of cuts.

However, if someone wants to donate a dado stack I'm okay with that. LOL

Marshall, I've been working without a dado stack for a number of years now and only recently did I scarf a nice, hardly-used one here in the SMC classifieds from another 'Creeker. You see, when I bought my slider, I decided to sell my very nice Forest Dado King because I "believed" I wouldn't need it. That mostly held true, but there have been a few times that having a stack would have been nice, especially because my particular sliding table saw will support one. The moral to the story is, don't rush and spend money to spend money, but be ready to take advantage of a good deal on a dado stack when you can because you will use it. Nibbling is just fine in the mean time...it just means a little more cleanup before assembly.

[Marshall Harrison]

Thanks for the advice Jim.

[Dave Cav]

You can get or make a tenon jig that will let you cut your tenons with the stock held vertically to cut the tenon cheeks, then flat with the miter gauge to cut the shoulders. You can do this with a regular blade or a dado stack. If you use a dado stack you probably won't need to cut the shoulders unless you need to clean them up. That being said, a good dado stack has a lot of uses and should be on your short list of thing to get for your new table saw. Somehow I have ended up with three dado sets, a relatively inexpensive 8" Freud for rough or utility work, a nicer full plate 8" set for fine work and a 10" Amana 1" hole set to use on the 12/14 table saw. I also have a very scary Sears wobble dado I don't use any more, and there is probably at least one steel dado set in the back of the cabinet somewhere.

Years ago I used to cut all of my tenons and lap joints on the RAS with a dado blade.

If you have a bandsaw and it's reasonably well tuned up you can cut the cheeks and shoulders with it, too.

I use a vintage old iron Millbury tenoner to cut my tenons, at least most of the time. If I'm only doing one or two I'll usually use the big band saw.

[Phillip Gregory]

I use a stack dado blade with chippers on my radial arm saw to cut dados. I use the RAS with a stack dado or my shaper with a grooving cutter to cut grooves. Which tool I use depends on the size of the groove, the size of the piece of stock, and the distance of the groove from the edge of the piece of stock. If it's narrow, I use the shaper and if it's a relatively wide piece I use the RAS. I have used my cabinet saw and a stack dado but it's much less handy than the RAS and leaves a lower-quality finish than the shaper.

Rabbets get cut on the shaper with a straight cutter as the finish quality is much better than using a dado set. You can accomplish the same thing on your jointer if it has a rabbeting ledge and that is how I would recommend somebody without a shaper do their rabbets.

Tenons get cut on the shaper with a pair of straight cutters and a set of spacers. You only have to register off one face of the stock and the tenon thickness is exact and set by the spacer, so your joinery will be better than the flip-and-cut dado method. If you are really ambitious, you can replace the spacer with a smaller diameter cutter and trim the length of your tenon at the same time you cut the cheeks.

One thing I do recommend is to get a GOOD dado set. I have a cheap BORG one for my cabinet saw and it's pretty much only good for rough carpentry half laps and such, the finish is poor. I got a 12" Freud Super Dado set for my RAS (16" DeWalt) and it is excellent...and cost about 6 times as much as the BORG 8" cheapie for the cabinet saw. It cuts about 10 times better so it's a bargain.

[Gavin Wellman]

+1 with Phillip. I use my RAS with a dado stack for tenons and some rabbets. I also use a rabbeting bit in the router table, on occasion, but I have multiple radial arm saws so i leave one set with a dado stack at all times. Just a matter of efficiency for me in not changing machine setups.