Ridgid 3650 and dado blade?

[Dustin Cranford]

Can anyone tell me of a dado blade that works best on the Ridgid 3650. I believe and may be wrong, but the arbors are known to be short on the saw. If I am wrong feel free to correct, but I have read it is 1 1/8 arbor. Just wondering what would be best for it before I buy one and end up looking like I was in a horror movie. Any help is appreciated.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dustin,

I use a Freud stacked dado set on my TS3650.

I'll slip on some shoes and go to the shop and find out the model number if you'd like.

[Dustin Cranford]

That would be great Ken, but don't put yourself out any. I just want one and want to be safe about it in the process with good results without breaking the bank.

[Joe Scharle]

Various threads have reported a short arbor situation and that Rigid would provide a replacement. Don't know anymore about it.

[Dustin Cranford]

I have read the same Joe. I know the early models for sure, but I believe those made after 2007 were fixed, but I am not sure. I still googling to death trying to find out and how to read the date code on mine. It was used when it was bought.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I may be wrong but I don't think the Ridgid saw involved was the TS3650. I thought it was a later model

Dustin...I'm sitting here in house shoes. I slip on some tennis shoes and get the Freud model I'm using. When I put on the max amount, there is no extra thread....it comes to the outside of the retaining nut and I have the washer on too. But....that is all that's required.

I'll be back in a moment.

[glenn bradley]

You can run any stack that will allow you to FULLY engage the arbor nut. That may mean that you can't run the full stack but that does not make the dado any better or worse. I don't know that I have ever run my full stack (SD508).

The real question is the quality of the stack. A mediocre dado set is a waste of money. There are several quality sets out there and of course, some are more expensive with a reason and some are more expensive for no reason that the test results seem to prove.

If you are in a position where a poor stack is all the bank will afford, I would strongly recommend using your router. A shop made jig or straight edged guide and a few quality bits are much less $$$ than a good stack and will handle almost any requirement (some of them better).

I use a stack for some cuts but prefer a router for others as some cuts are doen better by one and some by the other. If I could only have one, it would be the router as it can do things the dado can and things the dado cannot. JMHO.

P.s. Here comes Ken with his findings, he's a good guy . . . .

[Dave Sweeney]

The arbor on the Ridgid 3650 is not any shorter than ones found on many contractor saws. What is a problem with the Ridgid, and many other saws for that matter, is using the Freud SD600 Series Dial-A-Width Dado set. Because of the extra width of the adjusting ring on this set, using the SD600 Series requires a longer arbor than is found on most saws. As far as I know, any other dado set will work just fine on the 3650 with the maximum dado width being 13/16".

EDIT: FWIW, there was an issue, years ago, with some of the arbors on the Ridgid saws but that was resolved long ago. The problem was with the way the arbors were threaded and had nothing to do with the arbor's length.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dustin,

I'm running an Freud SD208 set.

[scott spencer]

The arbor on the Ridgid 3650 is not any shorter than ones found on many contractor saws. What is a problem with the Ridgid, and many other saws for that matter, is using the Freud SD600 Series Dial-A-Width Dado set. Because of the extra width of the adjusting ring on this set, using the SD600 Series requires a longer arbor than is found on most saws. As far as I know, any other dado set will work just fine on the 3650 with the maximum dado width being 13/16".

EDIT: FWIW, there was an issue, years ago, with some of the arbors on the Ridgid saws but that was resolved long ago. The problem was with the way the arbors were threaded and had nothing to do with the arbor's length.

Dave's correct, there's never been an issue with the length of the arbor on the 3650. Most contractor saws and many hybrids have the same length arbor. Most will accept a full 13/16" stick if you remove the arbor washer, which is a common practice suggested by several manufacturers as long as the threads come all the way thru the nut. The Ridgid will accept most stacks.

The Freud Dial-a-Width requires extra length to accommodate the hub, and most contractor saws and hybrids don't have it.

The arbor issue with the 3650 was a misscut thread and has been resolved since 2005. There was also an arbor issue on the first few R4511 hybrids that involved a recall due to the possibility of the arbor breaking while using a dado set....also resolved.

[Dustin Cranford]

Thanks guys. I appreciate you looking for me Ken. I just found out on the Ridgid forum the problem is that some of the arbors do not have threads all the way down them. I haven't checked, but there is not date code for the affected saws.

Thanks again.

[Lance Feagan]

I know it is not cheap, but I ran a Forrest dado set on my TS3650 for years.

The 3650 is not a 3HP+ cabinet saw ==> Running a large stack width-wise may require making multiple passes height-wise to be safe and keep the blade speed adequate to not "catch" the material.

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
If you are in a position where a poor stack is all the bank will afford, I would strongly recommend using your router. A shop made jig or straight edged guide and a few quality bits are much less $$$ than a good stack and will handle almost any requirement (some of them better).

I use a stack for some cuts but prefer a router for others as some cuts are doen better by one and some by the other. If I could only have one, it would be the router as it can do things the dado can and things the dado cannot. JMHO.
<snip>


A lot of my dados are for sheet goods. Sheet goods can vary in thickness. I use a home made jig and short pattern cutting router bit. Use a piece of the material going in the dado to set the width of jig and run the top bearing of the pattern bit against the jig. Perfect fit every time and no shimming. Where this method doesn't work well is with cutting cross dados in narrow stock, it can be tricky to clamp the jig crossways to narrow stock. Hard to get a cleaner cut than a good router bit will provide, though.

[Joe Scharle]

A lot of my dados are for sheet goods. Sheet goods can vary in thickness. I use a home made jig and short pattern cutting router bit. Use a piece of the material going in the dado to set the width of jig and run the top bearing of the pattern bit against the jig. Perfect fit every time and no shimming. Where this method doesn't work well is with cutting cross dados in narrow stock, it can be tricky to clamp the jig crossways to narrow stock. Hard to get a cleaner cut than a good router bit will provide, though.

If you make your jig self-clamping you can rout anything that you can get under it, like this one.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/194/Dado_Jig.JPG