Freud Dial a Width Dado

[Lud martinson]

I'm about to upgrade my dado set to compliment a vintage PM66 that I recently rebuilt. I replaced the arbor bearing assembly with factory new.
I'm leaning toward the SD608. The only negative reviews I've read had to do with the arbor not being long enough to handle the extra width of the dial on some table saws.
Does anyone here have first hand knowledge of this?

[Shawn Pixley]

I can't speak to the PM 66, but it works great on my Sawstop. You may have to reverse the Dial a Width portion. (I seem to recat that I did) You also don't use the flange washer at the nut end.

[Richard McComas]

Works on a unisaw.

[Howard Acheson]

This is something Freud published a number of years ago.

The hub takes up 7/32" of arbor so the calculation is: Total Arbor Length - 7/32" - Nut Thickness = Maximum Dado Width (up to the manufacturer's stated maximum width). For maximum width dados, the arbor length needs to be 1 1/8" plus the thickness of the nut.

[Ole Anderson]

And the nut is recessed into the dial portion, so Freud provides a socket wrench to reach into grip the nut. No problem using it on my Grizz 1023 TS.

[Bill McDermott]

Aside from the arbor length issue...

Here is a recommendation for the performance of the product. I really like that set.

[Charles Lent]

I've had one for about 10 years. It's used on my mid 80's Unisaw and it works great. Make a few test cuts to get a feel for how it works and you will be on your way. I gave away my old stacked dado blade and now use the Freud SD608 exclusively. No complaints at all. The adjustable dial can be reversed easily for left tilt/right tilt saws. All saws with 5/8 arbors should be able to use the SD608, but if the arbor shaft is shorter on your saw you will not be able to use the full stack of chippers.

Charley

[Thomas L. Miller]

Like Shawn, mine works great on my SawStop ICS. It is so much easier than having to keep up with a bunch of shims and monkeying around with them to adjust the dado width. It cuts beautifully as well.
Tom

[Brian Tymchak]

I have the SD608 and a short arbor but I've been able to work around it. The set is great. The only issue I've had with it is 1 time trying to get a dado to snugly fit some 1/2" BB ply. Each click on the dial is roughly .004". 1 click either way was leaving me with a joint either too snug or too loose for my taste. I've never had a dado set with shims but I thought at the time that maybe I would have had an easier time with shims.

[glenn bradley]

From the website:

278134

I misunderstood the sizing and went with an SD508 which is a great stack. If I had better understood how to know if the SD-608 would fit my saw (their instructions have drastically improved) I would have gone that way.


Wow, 1/250th's of an inch, that's pretty picky for woodworking. :)

.004" is about the thickness of a piece of typing paper. This is definitely not too picky for many joints. I don't try to use a tablesaw for such tolerances and I agree that trying to do so when we are using a medium that can move that much from morning to afternoon is an exercise in futility. I do fit things by hand to a much tighter tolerance for a good appearance. Can you imagine a series of dovetails or finger joints that had .004" between each? The piece would look like it came from Wal-Mart :D.

[Steve Milito]

I have the SD608 and a short arbor but I've been able to work around it. The set is great. The only issue I've had with it is 1 time trying to get a dado to snugly fit some 1/2" BB ply. Each click on the dial is roughly .004". 1 click either way was leaving me with a joint either too snug or too loose for my taste. I've never had a dado set with shims but I thought at the time that maybe I would have had an easier time with shims.

Wow, 1/250th's of an inch, that's pretty picky for woodworking. :)

[Brian Tymchak]

Wow, 1/250th's of an inch, that's pretty picky for woodworking. :)

Yea, I'm with ya on that. I'm not usually that picky, but the joint that day just felt sloppy and I thought I should be able to do better.

And as a post note, that was only 1 time. I've used the set numerous other times and have been able to dial in to an acceptable width.

[Lud martinson]

Thanks to all - great site!

[Alan Schaffter]

One more issue with dial-a-width dado's .004" per click- that may be fine for general joinery, but not box joints. For box joints you need to be able to shim your dado by as little as .001" (or use an I-BOX).

[Gary Muto]

I went through the same selection a few years ago. I selected the SD608. I figured that most of the time I use dado of standard width and rabbet the mating part to size. The rest of the time it would be prefered to have ability to shim to tighter tolerances. I have yet to use a shim.

[johnny means]

I have had mine for a few years now. The quality of the cutters is great and I get good results. I never found the Dial all that convenient because you still have to stop the saw, remove the insert, and loosen the arbor nut. The slightly faster setup times I get IMO dont make up for the times when the lost width makes it impossible to do what I want to do. I would like to own an extra outside cutter dor when i need maximum width.