SawStop, Dado Blade, and Arbor Length

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I own a SawStop cabinet saw. I used a dado blade for the first time in my life...... My understanding is that I can use as much as 13/16" width. I dropped in a width of 5/8", added the Arbor washer then the Arbor nut. I was surprised that the bolt section of the Arbor did not stick out the other side of the Arbor nut. Made me nervous. Is this normal? Did I miss something?

Worked like a charm, but still made me nervous.

[Victor Robinson]

The arbor washer actually isn't necessary as long as the nut threads fully. I think the manual says something about not using the washer beyond a certain dado width so the nut can thread fully.

[Howard Acheson]

You do not need, and most folks do not use, the arbor washer when using a dado. In fact, you will not be able to get the full width of the dado if you use the washer. Just the nut is fine.

[Van Huskey]

As mentioned you can dump the washer for dado blades BUT don't lose it! If you have full thread to thread contact across the nut another 5 feet of arbor won't make any difference.

[Tim Orr]

+1 on not using the washer.

Per the owner's manual: "For dado widths larger than about 3⁄8 inch, do not use the arbor washer."

Tim

[mreza Salav]

Pretty much on every cabinet saw of that size you'd have to remove the washer on wide dado blades.

[Larry Frank]

I also have a SawStop and use the Freud adjustable dado set. I am not comfortable with it using the full stack. My problem is that the adjustable stack is wider than a normal dado stack. I try to make certain that I have most of the nut on the arbor and if there is just one thread left, that is OK.

One downside for the SawStop is that you have to take the time to put the dado brake cartridge on and adjust it. It is one extra step in using the dado.

I sometimes wonder why they do not make the arbors an 1/4" longer to help accommodate dado sets.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Thanks..... I looked through the manual and I did not see it, but I thought I had seen something about it..... I really appreciate the feedback since I need to use the Dado blade again shortly.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I sometimes wonder why they do not make the arbors an 1/4" longer to help accommodate dado sets.

Yeah! Then again, I suppose that I would want to use a wider dado blade :-)