Amana Prestige 8" Dado Set

[Michael Mayo]

I have a really crappy Mibro dado set bought at the BORG a couple of years ago and the other day I noticed it wasn't cutting a well as it used to. So I started looking at the teeth and the chipper teeth are all busted up. One of them is actually almost completely gone? Never cut anything crazy with it but it is a very cheap low quality dado anyway. So I was looking at new ones today. I have a local saw and tool company that sells Amana/Whiteside/Lennox and I was there this morning to pickup a couple of router bits. I saw the Amana Prestige 8" Dado set online listed for $300+ which pretty much put it out of my price league but when I was at the saw place this morning I noticed in the display case several of the Prestige sets. They had the price marked as $199.99.....:eek: I was pretty surprised as i couldn't find it anywhere for less then $300. I asked the guy about it and he said they are great blades and when I asked him about the price he said they get a very good deal from Amana because he buys 20-25 sets at a time. So it looks like I will be going back next week to pick one up unless someone has experience that says not to?

[Van Huskey]

I think the going online price for those is about $200 give or take $10. In any case you would be supporting a loacl business without over-paying. It is an excellent set and the only other one I would consider without going up $50 or so would be the Infinity Dadonator.

[Michael Mayo]

http://www.toolstoday.com/p-5876-prestige-super-fine-dado-set.aspx?variantids=9738,0&
http://www.woodwerks.com/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_title=1&search_in_Model=1&keywords=658060&x=0&y=0
http://routerbitworld.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=658060

Well you know how to take the wind out of my sails don't you Van...............:o I had only looked at a couple of links from the Amana site and they were all over $300 but now that I looked a little closer I did find it at one of the other sites for $199.99. I still think I will buy it from my local saw dealer as I like them and they are very helpful and I don't have to pay shipping. I too agree with supporting the local guy as much as possible.

[Van Huskey]

http://www.toolstoday.com/p-5876-prestige-super-fine-dado-set.aspx?variantids=9738,0&
http://www.woodwerks.com/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_title=1&search_in_Model=1&keywords=658060&x=0&y=0
http://routerbitworld.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=658060

Well you know how to take the wind out of my sails don't you Van...............:o I had only looked at a couple of links from the Amana site and they were all over $300 but now that I looked a little closer I did find it at one of the other sites for $199.99. I still think I will buy it from my local saw dealer as I like them and they are very helpful and I don't have to pay shipping. I too agree with supporting the local guy as much as possible.

Thats the reason I didn't even link to them since I would buy it local for the same price if I could. Sorry. :o In any event it is one of the true premium sets.

PS if you want to know the street price of just about anything hit Amazon first. I wouldn't just buy based on that one search but it will usually get you in the ball park.

[scott spencer]

$200 puts you firmly in the league of premium dado sets. Forrest Dado King, Infinity Dadonator, Freud SD508, and Ridge Carbide Dado Master are usually the top contenders at this level. The Prestige set is probably a really good set, but when discussions of the top dado sets come up, you rarely hear the Amana set mentioned. The Dadonator is the best set I've used, and it happens to have a very similar design to the Prestige, but the Dadonator has 50% more teeth on the chippers. It's hard to blame you for wanting to support a good local store, but if you decide to order one, I'd definitely lean toward the Infinity.

[Michael Mayo]

$200 puts you firmly in the league of premium dado sets. Forrest Dado King, Infinity Dadonator, Freud SD508, and Ridge Carbide Dado Master are usually the top contenders at this level. The Prestige set is probably a really good set, but when discussions of the top dado sets come up, you rarely hear the Amana set mentioned. The Dadonator is the best set I've used, and it happens to have a very similar design to the Prestige, but the Dadonator has 50% more teeth on the chippers. It's hard to blame you for wanting to support a good local store, but if you decide to order one, I'd definitely lean toward the Infinity.

I just checked out the Dadonator and watched their video on it and was impressed. I guess if I am going to spend $200 I may as well spend an extra $10 and get the Dadonator. I like supporting my local dealer but I also want to have the best tool for the job and that Dado blade seems very precise and accurate. I really liked their dado measuring jig that mates with the Dadonator. It is another $30 but I can see it being very helpful in making setup much faster. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Van Huskey]

NOt saying don't get the gauge BUT the most useful dado "measuring tool" known to man is the Bridge City Kerfmaker. http://www.bridgecitytools.com/default/featured/km-1-kerfmaker.html It isn't a stock item but they usually make a run several times a year. Check out the video on the halfinchshy blog http://www.halfinchshy.com/2011/06/bridge-city-km-1-kerfmaker-users-guide.html

It doesn't tell you how to set up your dado but it produces better results than fiddling with spacers etc.

[Matt Marsh]

Michael, I bought an Amana Mission style rail and stile set around a year ago from Toolcity.com, and was totally impressed by it. So when I needed to upgrade my dado set, I had no problem deciding which one to buy. I bought the Prestige set this past fall online from Amazon. I have now used the set to build about a dozen or so of the 20 drawers in my new shop cabinets. It is awesome!