Dado Blade recommendations

[Mike Priest]

Howdy all,

I didnt want to hijack the thread on TS blades (some great info in there BTW), but wanted to ask about good dado blades. I need one, but as a beginner thats mostly broke I am not sure what kind to buy.

My saw says it supports 6" dado blades, so that is the only requirement.

I have seen blades that come in 1 piece and spin apart, and others that come in several pieces that must be assembled. Is one type generally better than the other?

I also understand I need a slot cover with a wider hole it it, but think I can purchase that locally for my Delta ts300 for pretty cheap.

[Mark Singer]

I like a stacked dado...Forrest or CMT...Freud...

[Michael Gabbay]

Mike - I have the Frued dado set SD506 and the DeWalt 8". I think the Frued is a very clean cutting set. The DeWalt s nice but generally needs to be shimmed. Get magnetic shims. They are a lot easier to use than the standard ones supplied with most dado sets.

I have not used a dailed dado set but I would think that the amount of time you save is minimal.

Mike

[Sam Chambers]

Mike:

You want to avoid the cheap "wobble" dado sets. They don't leave a flat bottom and they leave tons of tear out. Don't waste your time and money on those.

I have Freud 8" set, and am generally happy with it. It makes flat-bottomed dados with little, if any, tearout. My only complaint is that the outside blades cut just a shade deeper than the chippers, leaving grooves in the bottom of the cut.

Others have mentioned CMT and Forrest - both would also be excellent choices.

[John Miliunas]

Mike, IMHO the Freud SD506 will give you the best bang for your buck. No, not the cheapest, but head and shoulders above those awful wobble blade dado's. Nice, clean cuts.

[Mike Priest]

I was looking at this one on Amazon, it looks like it might do the trick.
Its 85$, as opposed to 200+ for some of the others (Yikes!)

Do these things last a long time I hope?

[Jason Ochoada]

I also have the SD 506 6" Freud set and I am very pleased with the quality of cut. I have never needed the shims. I purchased the set to use on my Ryobi saw when I first started and still use it today on my PM66. I couldn't be happier. Holly cow. I still had the tag on the case...I spent 195 bucks on that set...It must be cheaper by now huh???

Jason

[troy havard]

freud is really tuff to beat for the price

[JayStPeter]

I have three dado blades. That's because I didn't buy a good one to start, but all three now have their place.
First, I bought a cheap wobble dado. I think it was around $25 at the borg. It did the job for me for a while, but is a pain to setup and doesn't cut a flat bottom. It is also tearout prone in plywood. I now use it for cove molding cutting. It is a 7" blade.
Second, I got a cheap stacked set (also at the borg). I believe I paid around $50 for it. It does an OK job and I still sometimes use it for MDF so I don't dull my good set. But, it doesn't do well in plywood and cuts like it's dull in hardwoods.
Finally, I got a Freud SD508 set. I had a coupon and Amazon had a sale. I think I paid around $130 for it. It works great.

One of the mags (FWW I think) did a comparo on dado sets last year. I believe the Freud, Forrest, and Infinity dadonator were the top rated blades.
If you can wait, just keep an eye out. Amazon sometimes has sales on the Freud sets and Infinity sometimes has sales on the dadonator.

Jay

[Vaughn McMillan]

Cheapskate that I am, I bought the 6" Avenger set several months ago. It's worked well for me...flat bottoms and no noticable tearout...but I haven't done a whole lot of dados with it. (Mostly small stuff making box joints.) I've heard from other people who've been less than happy with the Avenger dado sets, but for me, there has been nothing to complain about. I'll probably buy a Freud set when this one stops performing well. (And my Freud Box Joint set is on its way here as I type this.)

- Vaughn

[Dev Emch]

Mike:

You want to avoid the cheap "wobble" dado sets. They don't leave a flat bottom and they leave tons of tear out. Don't waste your time and money on those.

I have Freud 8" set, and am generally happy with it. It makes flat-bottomed dados with little, if any, tearout. My only complaint is that the outside blades cut just a shade deeper than the chippers, leaving grooves in the bottom of the cut.

Others have mentioned CMT and Forrest - both would also be excellent choices.

These blades are also known as a Drunkard's Groover and I dont think they were talking about Disco dance steps. I also understand that weebles wobble but they dont fall down.

I use a primitive stack dado by forrest called the dado king in a 10 in size. But I have also used shaper groovers on the table saw. SHhhhhhhh, you never heard me say that either!

[Jim Becker]

Freud SD506 is a "most excellent" dado set and reasonably priced for a premium product. The SD206 is also fine, although it's only a two-chipper design and will not leave as clean a cut. (I use the Forrest Dado King)

[Jarrod Nelson]

I have the Frued SD308. It makes a nice clean cut - no tearout. I do have the same problem as Sam Chambers though. The outside edge of the outside blades cut a tiny bit deeper then the chippers. That's never been a problem though.

[Scott D Johnson]

My saw also only takes a 6" Dado. I bought the SD206 for less than $100 at Rockler. Great for hobbyist use. Flat bottoms. Little tearout.

[Robert Waddell]

I like Vaughn, bought the Advenger. I got the 8" model. I didn't want to spend serious money on a set because I seldom need one. I do crafts and furniture full-time, mostly out of hardwoods with very little cabinetry. I orginally was running it on an old craftsman contractors saw. It was all the saw could do to get it spinning. The results were fair. I needed to do some cleaning out of the dado with a chisel to get a good fit. Several months ago I moved up to a Unisaw and I though I should order a good dado set just to have around. I decided, just for reference to give the Advenger a spin on the Uni. Well, the quality of the cut was pretty well perfect. I will not be purchasing a new set for a while. The reason for the difference had more to do with the arbor machining than the set. The blades and chippers on the Craftsman had too much slop. I've said all of this to point out that the saw has a lot to do with the cut as well. A Dado King would have not given a great result on the Craftsman saw. I don't know what your saw is but I take it that it is a direct drive or a contractors saw from the 6" comment. So take into account that a $260 set may not give any better results than a cheap stacked set depending on the saw arbor quality. Is it hard to remove and replace a saw blade on your arbor because it fits tightly? If so buy the best set you can get. If the blades slide on and off easily you might be just as well to get a medium priced set. Just my thoughts and experiences.