SawStop Dado - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

[Ken Krawford]

After the kindly assistance yesterday from Paul, I was able to get my dado brake cartridge installed. Today I started installing the dado blades. After sliding the first one on it was apparent that the cartridge gap needed to increase. After adjusting it as far as it would go the yellow gap tool was still contacting the blade. My dado set is an 8" Freud Super Dado and after measuring one of the blades the obvious problem was that the diameter was actually 8 1/8" !!! Now I know why it has taken 8 years of SawStop ownership to use my dado set for the first time.
I really don't want to buy another dado set but don't want to risk triggering a $130 dado cartridge and ruining the blade to boot.
Has anyone found a work around for this problem?

[Jack Frederick]

Can you run it with the safety off? I’d have a chat with SS. They are very helpful but you can’t push their specs around. You might try asking Freud why their blade is out of spec.

[Ken Krawford]

I think I could run it with the safety off but I'd still have to have the cartridge installed. The gap between the dado tooth and the cartridge is just a hair over the thickness of a credit card. I guess the safest option is to wait til tomorrow and talk to SawStop but I'm pretty sure they will tell me to not use the Freud set.

[Michael Burnside]

I’m in the shop and just measured my SawStop dado. It is exactly 8”. Best to talk with SawStop to see if they think that is sufficient clearance. I suspect returning the Freud is not in the cards?

[Ken Krawford]

I’ve probably had the set for 20 yrs and can’t remember where I bought it so a return is out of the
question.

I’m in the shop and just measured my SawStop dado. It is exactly 8”. Best to talk with SawStop to see if they think that is sufficient clearance. I suspect returning the Freud is not in the cards?

[Mark Wedel]

I suppose 20 years ago, a dado set being slightly too large like that wouldn't really be a concern for anyone. But sawstop might have forced some manufacturers to actually get their dado sets back in proper spec.
Your best bet might be to by a new 8" dado set (that is really 8") and try to sell the old to at least get some money out of it - while being slightly large, would probably be fine for anyone not using a sawstop tablesaw.

[Michael Burnside]

I’ve probably had the set for 20 yrs and can’t remember where I bought it so a return is out of the
question.

Wow, well good news you’re not out too much money. Might even be able to recoup the cost by selling it.

I’d recommend picking up a new stack. I like the SawStop one but I know there are others. I don’t do a ton of dado work so I just picked up what I knew would work.

[Jim Dwight]

I don't do a lot of dados and have at least temporarily stopped trying to do them on my PCS. I think having to switch cartridges, in addition to the normal dado stack setup, is just too much. For shallow dados I use my router, often guided by my track saw track and a special base for the router. Or I make multiple passes on the table saw with the normal blade. Another contributing factor is the throat plate. If you use a Festool one they are quite expensive if you want several size openings. I got a Colliflower plate thinking I would use it for dados too but the opening is pretty tight and the inserts are very flimsy. I just don't like my PCS for dados.

[Keith Pitman]

I think the Freud Super Dado is among those on Sawstop’s “Not Recommended” list. I’d sell it and get one that fits and is in the right pattern.

[Mark Wedel]

Interestingly, I looked at what I bought, and it was a Freud Pro Dado. And in the product description, it saws it is designed for saws with braking systems, with it explicitly listing sawstop.
So it seems that even Freud has some acknowledgement of what dado sets do and do not work with saws with braking systems.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I use the Freud Box Dado set on my Sawstop. basically it's two blades that can either cut 1/4" or 3/8". If I need a wider dado, I just repeat the cuts and creep up on the width of the dado needed.

I did trigger the original Dado brake, that I bought new with the saw, circa 2014. The replacement brake was an upgraded version. No issues with that over the past 2 to 3 years.

[Michael Burnside]

I use the Freud Box Dado set on my Sawstop. basically it's two blades that can either cut 1/4" or 3/8". If I need a wider dado, I just repeat the cuts and creep up on the width of the dado needed.

This is actually a pretty smart idea. Seems people over complicate it to try and get the "exact" size. I didn't realize Freud offered something like this. I'll have to check it out.

[Patrick Varley]

I use the Freud Box Dado set on my Sawstop. basically it's two blades that can either cut 1/4" or 3/8". If I need a wider dado, I just repeat the cuts and creep up on the width of the dado needed.

I did trigger the original Dado brake, that I bought new with the saw, circa 2014. The replacement brake was an upgraded version. No issues with that over the past 2 to 3 years.

Technically the Freud box joint set is not "approved" for SawStop as it has (at least when I had it), the anti-kiclback feature. It will still work, but supposedly may not stop as fast as it should.

While I will use a dado stack occasionally, most of the time I use a Ridge 10" 1/8" box joint blade and take multiple passes as you said. Saves having to change our the cartridge. I usually only go the dado set if I have to make many (wide) dados.

I thought hard about going with a WoodPecker rip stop since it has a dado feature that I think would have made this even easier. Went with a Wixey DRO instead, which still helps with the dados, but is more useful to me in general.

[Stephen Roth]

One note on using a full chipper dado blade on the saw stop....

I was using the SawStop (Industrial Model) with a Systematic Dado blade. (8" with all cutters installed.) The aluminum miter gauge hit the blade and WHAM!, the trigger activated. I have had the trigger activate before when I forgot that there was metal involved (such as cutting aluminum foil coated foam insulation), but this activation seemed much more "kinetic." In fact, the brake got shredded and sheared off teeth from the dado blade. Not just the carbide -- the actual steel that supports the teeth was torn.

So I figured I would check the alignment of the blade to the miter gauge, and found that it was out of alignment by .011" I usually can align the saw to .001, so I realigned it with an alignment plate and got it back to .001. But when I put on a blade, I found out the alignment was still out .007, depending on how I rotated the blade. For example, +.005 and then rotated 180 degrees and out by -.002. And the reverse in another 180. So I figured I would check the runout of the arbor flange, which the factory specs list as having a .001 tolerance. Mine was now .002. That does not seem like a lot, but taking the radius of the flange out to the edge of the blade would increase it at least 3-4 times, which translates to a .007 wobble in the blade plate.

Also, the cut quality was certainly inferior to what it had been before. Previously, I could get a glass smooth cut-off with a Forrest Cross-cut blade, and after the dado trigger, I could see tooth marks. Also, the saw makes a slightly different sound. Like there is more vibration.

I called SawStop, and they say the tolerance for blade wobble is .010 and that I should not have used a dado with full cutters because the mechanism cannot deal with that much inertia (or momentum ... whichever!). (Note that they only recently recommend this practice, probably because the saw cannot quickly stop a spinning billet of 8" x 3/4" metal.)

I can't believe .010 wobble is acceptable, especially when the SawStop manual describes that you can get to .001. And .010 is bad. I can measure .010 without a dial indicator. SawStop said I must have bent the arbor as the flange run-out was over spec, but not bad. This is where I got into a debate with the rep as to whether .002 was only a thou., more than a thou., or was double a though!!!

Anyway, SawStop said I could replace the whole arbor assembly for $250. I made the change and was back to a thou for the runout of the blade at the edge of the blade. And no burn or wobble.

Lesson: Do not use a dado set with full chippers on the SawStop.

[Michael Burnside]

Technically the Freud box joint set is not "approved" for SawStop as it has (at least when I had it), the anti-kiclback feature. It will still work, but supposedly may not stop as fast as it should.

While I will use a dado stack occasionally, most of the time I use a Ridge 10" 1/8" box joint blade and take multiple passes as you said. Saves having to change our the cartridge. I usually only go the dado set if I have to make many (wide) dados.

I thought hard about going with a WoodPecker rip stop since it has a dado feature that I think would have made this even easier. Went with a Wixey DRO instead, which still helps with the dados, but is more useful to me in general.

Some what off topic, but I love the Ridge blade you mention. I use it almost exclusively whenever I cut dados/grooves/rebates. It's a quality blade. And team red Rip Stop is outstanding for repeat cuts or having multiple "recorded" stops for a complex project as well as the obvious dado. I've only use the dado feature once, but it was cool and pretty easy to setup. I have 4 total stops on my saw for added flexibility for the "recording" function I mentioned.