Stacking table saw blades.

[Joe Hillmann]

Can I safely stack two identical blades side by side, with paper shims between them to make up for the kerf, on a table saw for cutting 1/4" dado cuts?

[Mike Wilkins]

Why not?? That is essentially what a dado blade does, only with big saw teeth between the outer blades. Just make sure to offset the teeth to prevent dmgs.

[Erik Loza]

Would paper be stable enough to support and maintain the alignment of those blades once they hit the wood?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Mark Bolton]

We use all sorts of paper and Manila shims for fussy fit. They work great. I just cut them the diameter of a large shim (perhaps 2.5 to 3 inch diameter). Keep a variety with the dado set and cut new ones as needed. Generally only using one or two. After that your up to the size of a metal shim.

[Erik Loza]

Interesting stuff, had no idea.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Rick Potter]

I sometimes use stacked Skill saw blades to do cove work. It stiffens up the blades and gives a nice size cove.

Rick Potter

[Joe Hillmann]

So now I need to change my question, can I stack up two blades that are different, I thought I had two 40 tooth blades but when I looked I was able to find an 80 a 40 and a 20 tooth blade. Would it be dangerous or a bad idea to stack the 40 and 20 tooth blades?

[Rod Sheridan]

The 80 tooth blade is an extremely poor ripping blade.

If you are cutting dadoes it may be OK.

It won't be suitable for grooving or rebating.

The other issue is blade diameter, are they all the same? Dado sets are ground as an assembly so they are the same diameter................Rod.

[Wade Lippman]

I've done it, so I know it's possible.
But consider cutting with one blade a shim against the fence, and again without the shim.

[Richard Coers]

I assume you are talking carbide tipped? Make sure no teeth touch each other or they will chip when you tighten the nut. Carbide is extremely brittle!

[john bateman]

I assume you are talking carbide tipped? Make sure no teeth touch each other or they will chip when you tighten the nut. Carbide is extremely brittle! Also, the teeth need side clearance from the other blades teeth. If the blades should shift during use and there is not a gap between the blades, the carbide of one blade will shear off it's neighbors carbide. So a 1/8" kerf plus a 1/8" kerf plus a spacer between will be more than 1/4" dado. I had a real dado blade do that when it hit something hard in a piece of lumber.

[Mark Kay]

The teeth are wider than the body, you may need to use thin kerf blades and then shim them, but what will happen if there's a gap between them?

It also may matter what kind of grind too. (TCG, ATB, etc.)

[scott spencer]

So now I need to change my question, can I stack up two blades that are different, I thought I had two 40 tooth blades but when I looked I was able to find an 80 a 40 and a 20 tooth blade. Would it be dangerous or a bad idea to stack the 40 and 20 tooth blades?

The blades have to be the exact same diameter to get good results, and the teeth need to be able to interweave without contacting with each other. The odds of both of those criteria occuring between two different blades is slim.