newbie question

[ryan kelley]

I can't afford a dado set right now but I do have some extra saw saw blades, so what I was thinking I would stack the blades together (4 blades) and cut my dados that way. Is this crazy? What are the risks involved.

[Tom Hintz]

I personally would never do this because the blades were not designed for that kind of use. When you start pushing the design envelope that way unexpected things can happen. When those unexpected things involve blades spinning in front of your face I think the potential for harm outweighs saving up for the right tool. We all have to deal with budget restraints even though it can be tough to do so.
Keep in mind that the teeth on a blade are wider than the blade body. You have to be absolutely sure that no two teeth are touching each other when installed even on a purpose designed stacked dado set. I expect this arrangement could be far more difficult on standard saw blades, especially if they are not identical in the number of teeth and design.
I say, use a router or something until a stacked dado set finds its way into the shop.

[Sam Layton]

Hi Ryan,

Your question is very good. However, I would just like to reinforce what Tom said. You answered your own question... If it sounds crazy, it is crazy.

Sam

[Michael Flores]

Hey Ryan, Rockler sells a dado set for pretty cheap. I think the brand is oldham. It may not last as long as a freud or forrest but the prices make up for it. Also just because your table saw might be a 10'' model you can actually use 8'' blades or 6'' blades to save money. The only difference it will make is the depth of cut wont be as deep as the blades get smaller. Just dont go bigger than what your saw is designed for cause then you would need more horse power. This is the same principle that teenagers cant understand on why their transmission goes out prematurely due to the fact that they put on 24'' rims on a car designed for 18'' rims.

[Jason Hallowell]

It's not ideal, but it can be done. The blades need to be exactly the same size, which your spare blades most likely are not. As mentioned above, it is imperative that the teeth not touch the other blade. I would also suggest using smaller blades. I've done it before with brand new matching 7 1/4" blades, and didn't feel like it was any less safe than the dado set I use now. Here is a link showing someone else doing the same- http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/workshop/dado.html

[Jason Hallowell]

Just thought I'd add that I've been very happy with my shop fox dado set, and it only cost me $65+ tax.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I saw a guy doing exactly that with Freud blades. He stacked 'em making sure the teeth were not impinging on each other and had a pretty nifty dado.

The down side of course is that you are stuck with working in whatever increments the blades come in ~ ~ ~ Plus ~ ~ ~ ~whatever shimming you can do while still keeping the blades close enough to take out the material.
Even with that limitation, you can space the blades apart from each other so that they leave little strips of wood in the groove and just take 'em out with a chisel.

So yah you can do that.

[Lee Schierer]

Stacking four blades together will only get you a 1/2" dado. WHy not buy a 1/2" router bit You should be able to pick up a decent 1/2" straight bit for about $20.

[David Keller NC]

I can't afford a dado set right now but I do have some extra saw saw blades, so what I was thinking I would stack the blades together (4 blades) and cut my dados that way. Is this crazy? What are the risks involved.

There are lot of "yes, if ..." parts to this. As other posters have said, they have to be the exact same diameter, they have to be spaced so that the teeth cannot contact each other, and what has not been mentioned is that the tooth geometry has to be correct.

In general, of course, you want the blades to have a cross-cut hook profile. And all of them have to have a cross-cut hook profile. Any other profile may get you into trouble. One other thing to realize is that the chippers in a stack dado set have only 4 or 5 teeth for a reason - sawdust clearance. THere's a definite possibility that all of those teeth stacked closely together may clog the works - burning the dado from friction, creating a kick-back situation, or in the worst case, putting enough force on the individual teeth to break them off and send them flying around the shop at a couple of hundred miles an hour.

You can do a lot of improvising with hand tools. You can do a lot of improvising with power tools. The difference is that you might not walk away from the power tool improvising.

[glenn bradley]

If money is tight, don't sacrifice safety. A router bit isn't as much as a dado set. I use free hand routing, table routing and a dado set for dados depending on what I'm doing. If I was 'reaching' for a dado solution on the cheap I would go with a router bit.