Cutting dado's for 3/16" material

[Dave Houseal]

So I was trying to cut dado's for some 3/16" think hardboard today. Problem; my dado stack only goes down to 1/4" and my standard blade is 1/8".

I ended up making myself two shims. One that was 1" wide and one that was 1 - 1/16th wide. And made two passes on everything. This was a bit of a pain, and I actually botched one of the dado's when my shim moved a little bit on me.

Is there a better way?

[Philip Rodriquez]

If your dado doesn't have a 1/16" chipper, I would just make one pass, move the fence, and make the second pass.

Another option is to buy another dado set :D.

[Joe Scharle]

My tool choice would be a router for a dado.

[Frank Drew]

Two passes on the table saw, with a regular blade. Or use a router, as Joe suggests, but if you don't have a 3/16" bit...

[James Malcolm]

First thought would be to make better shims. Do it up right. I'm sure you going to have to do this many, many times more in the future. In differing widths too.

Second thought would be to clamp a block onto your fence rail or on top of the saw to reference first cut location. Insert shim to space fence for second cut. Build it up as a permanent tool and it will save you loads of time and frustration.

[Bill Huber]

I am with James and Joe.....

If you can use a router that is the way I would do it. I have done it on the router table, very easy.

Now the other way is on the table saw with a shim on the fence. I have done this before for some 1" dados.

[Alan Schwabacher]

I like the shim for adjusting the fence approach.

One thing that makes this simpler is to make a shim exactly your kerf thickness. Then any time you want to cut a groove to match stock, clamp the stop block to the table spaced away from the fence by the thickness of your kerf. After the first cut, readjust your fence, this time using your stock between the fence and stop block.

[Tony Bilello]

Buy a new dado set and you will get a 1/16" blade with it.

I use dado cuts on a regular basis. If you had a complete set, you might also.

Tony B

[David Hawxhurst]

my feeling is the router is the safest and fastest way, i really don't use the table saw for dadoing and such. truth be told i don't even own a dado stack/blades.

[Thomas Williams]

I am not following how having a 1/16 chipper with a dado set will help. The OP is looking to cut a groove smaller than the just using the outside cutters will allow.

[Rick Lizek]

I do that a lot by putting in a piece of brass shim stock to make a standard blade into a wobble blade. Simple and quick. A 1/16" is minor to wobble a blade and presents no danger to the blade or operator. I actually have a set of wobble washers which used to be fairly common but you won't find them available anymore.

[Joe Spear]

I don't understand how using a 1/16" shim will make a standard blade into a wobble blade. The wobble dado set I once had (RIP) had a shim that was not flat but irregular so that the blades rode on it at an angle. As the set spun, the blades took a path that moved from side to side. I also ask Thomas Wiliams's question about the 1/16" chipper and second Alan Schwabacher's suggestion about shimming the fence, especially with a flat-tooth rip blade. I also think the best bet, as has been suggested, is to use a router.

[Dave Houseal]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'm thinking the shim would have worked a lot better if I wasn't cutting my dado's on an angle...and an extreme angle at that.

I was making a vertical file for my sand paper, so my dado's were at 20 degrees making it hard to keep every thing lined up, and they repeated down the boards to hold the dividers.

I've been thinking about it and I should have made a jig that was a sled rather than just a fence, and it probably would have made it much easier to keep every thing lined up.