Buying a new dado

[Steve Horvath]

I am looking to buy a dado in the next couple any one with thoughts on which brand. I know forest is suppose to be the best, but I can't go that much money. I looked at the oshlum videos and it seems to be a nice in between set money wise. What is the difference between the depth of cut from a six" to and eight", not a lot of difference in price but with gas going the way it is every penny counts.

[Paul Ryan]

Not exactly sure the depth of cut difference between a 6 or 8". I have a 8" now just because that is all that will work on a sawstop. The 6" I had for years before that did everything I ever needed. I depend what kind of saw you have too. If it is a direct drive saw stay with a 6". I bought the oshlund and have been very happy with it. Cleaner cuts that the freud 6" I had before it.

[Rod Sheridan]

I am looking to buy a dado in the next couple any one with thoughts on which brand. I know forest is suppose to be the best, but I can't go that much money. I looked at the oshlum videos and it seems to be a nice in between set money wise. What is the difference between the depth of cut from a six" to and eight", not a lot of difference in price but with gas going the way it is every penny counts.

The difference in depth of cut will be one inch.

That said I have a 6 inch dado on my saw (FS Tools)..............Regards, Rod.

[Lee Ludden]

I have both the Forrest and Freud dado sets. The Freud is the SD-208 (bottom of the line) and the Forrest is clearly superior. I have been quite pleased with it. Freud has a higher end (SD-508) that I haven't tried. You will want to have a 3/32 chipper with either set so you can more easily make those undersized plywood dados.

[Dave Aronson]

I have the 6" Freud and it produces decent results. I've use the Freud super dado and it is very nice.

[Jeff Monson]

6" Forrest for me, does an awesome job, I had a 8" Freud super dado before the Forrest, no difference in the 2 IMO. I liked the case that the Freud came with, made storing it very nice. I like the magnetic shims with the Forrest. The only reason I switched was because I switched saws (different arbor size).

[scott spencer]

The DeWalt/Delta 7670 set is tough to beat in the $100 range....it gives a taste of the performance from the higher end sets for the cost of most decent entry level sets, plus has a great carrying case, and excellent shim stock. It was cleaner cutting than my entry level Freud 208 (which was pretty good), and darn near as good as my $300 Systimatic set.

The Infinity Dadonator is outstanding, and would be my highest recommendation for absolute performance....price isn't too bad considering what you get...the 6" set runs ~ $150, the 8" ~ $180. It's really an amazing set.

[Kev Godwin]

This will probably shock several people but a good low-cost dado set is Grizzly's model H7777. I bought it primarily for building outdoor furniture since I didn't want to use my Freud set for that use. After at least 6 hours of actual run-time, the set still cuts nearly, but not quite as well as my 8 inch Freud.

Here's the rub. I don't see it in the 2011 catalog. It was in the 2010 cat for $69.95. I bought mine in 2008 for $49.95.
Kev