Dado Recommendations

[Brian Penning]

Anyone get those little owl head lines/grooves in the corners though?

[scott spencer]

I'm happy to hear most are happy with the 508. A fellow on Craigslist in my area offered me the 508 and a Fusion for $160, both new. I was about to post and ask the same question, so I guess I'll tell him I'll take it. Does the 608 adjustable cut flat bottoms like a stacked dado?
Jim

That's a heck of a good package deal IMHO...

[Greg Funk]

Does the 608 adjustable cut flat bottoms like a stacked dado?
Jim

Yes, the 608 is pretty much the same as the 508 except the outer blade has a large knob to adjust it's spacing. It replaces the need for shims.

Greg

[John Newell]

I will jump in here and say that I bought a Freud 208 8" and am not really very happy with it. It does not generally produce flat bottomed cuts. The pricing is attractive, but the 508 seems to be a better tool and therefore a better value.

[Lee Koepke]

Some people don't understand the "why do something two times when you can do it right once" mentality. To each his own I guess.

because something like that is so simple, it plum evades me.

I have found myself spending alot of time sneaking up on the setup, spening alot of time adding spacers .... trying to make one pass.

Once again, my contribution has paid off.....thanks guys for restating the obvious for guys like me ...

[Jim Becker]

I will jump in here and say that I bought a Freud 208 8" and am not really very happy with it. It does not generally produce flat bottomed cuts. The pricing is attractive, but the 508 seems to be a better tool and therefore a better value.

What model saw do you have John? Many times when folks report they are not getting flat bottoms with a stacked dado set it has more to do with the arbor than the stack. There have been a few arbors with this issue...

[Gary Keedwell]

because something like that is so simple, it plum evades me.

I have found myself spending alot of time sneaking up on the setup, spening alot of time adding spacers .... trying to make one pass.

Once again, my contribution has paid off.....thanks guys for restating the obvious for guys like me ...

Well Lee...over the Christmas season a ton of guys were purchasing the Wixey table saw read-out that Woodcraft had a sale on for $99 bucks. They were also throwing in a free Wixey angle gage and free shipping.
With a read-out on your table-saw...it actually elevates your saw into a precision machine. You have the capability to now move your fence a thousand of an inch at a time. Say that you make a dado and it is .010 too small. Instead of spending all the time to remove that whole stacked dado and try to find the right spacer...all you have to do is leave the stacked dado on the machine and simply move the fence .010 and send the wood through again. Your dado will be done before you can put your arbor wrench on the nut to remove the dado blades.
That being said....if you hace a production job requiring a dado of only one size, you might want to spend the time fiddlin with the shims.
Gary

[John Newell]

What model saw do you have John? Many times when folks report they are not getting flat bottoms with a stacked dado set it has more to do with the arbor than the stack. There have been a few arbors with this issue...

Hmmm, interesting! Bosch 4001. Arbor runout or undersize arbor? Other?

With a read-out on your table-saw...it actually elevates your saw into a precision machine. You have the capability to now move your fence a thousand of an inch at a time.

I have a Bosch 4001 with the digital readout which, as far as I can tell, has identical functionality. I love it. I also fell for the Wixey digital height gauge, and like that. However......there is no substitute for test cuts when doing things like setting up grooves and rabbets for a drawer!

[Charles McCracken]

Hmmm, interesting! Bosch 4001. Arbor runout or undersize arbor? Other?

The arbor being undersized (either in some areas or along the entire length) can cause uneven dado bottoms. The blades will hang instead of locating and will therefore cut at varying depths. Are the blades difficult to install (normal) or do they slide on easily (not normal)?