Slider Dado Set

[Patrick Kane]

My KF700 is capable of taking a dado stack(less than 3/4", i think) or a slot cutter. I never felt compelled to fork over $400-500 for a dado set, but now i find myself with a spare 8" dado king with 5/8" bore. I sold my 10" saw, and purchased a used 10" dado king set with a 1" bore off the classifieds here for my PM72. Is there a compelling reason to spend $100+/- to have my 8" set bored to 30mm with the pins, or will i never use it? Im thinking it would be useful to have for doing dadoes in case sides, but this is also something i can do with minor setup using my of2200 and a track. Im leaning towards selling the 8" set, but wanted to double check im not missing something with a slider and running a dado head.

[Jim Becker]

The bottom line is absolutely "will you use it". To date, I have not used a dado with my slider, but I bought one through the Classifies here mid-last year and intend to make a table insert to accommodate it "just in case". Fortunately for me, my saw has a 5/8" arbor so I don't have to deal with the cost of custom boring for the arbor and pin holes that you need, so again, if you feel it will be something helpful to have available and that you might use it, even if not frequently, then go for it. Otherwise...sell the redundant DadoKing as it will bring good money.

[johnny means]

The dado set for the slider vs a jigged up router, for me, would pay for itself in one job.

[Mike Tagge]

I guess it depends on what you do. I use my Felder dado stack / groover to do all kinds of dados and rabbets for cabinets. Very nice job with absolutely flat bottoms by design. Not sure if you got the dado option, but if you did, the cutters with inserts are definitely a thing of beauty. Expensive. But if you use it like I do on almost every job, its worth it.

[Jim Becker]

Dado King is a nice, flat bottom, but the outer blade grind does leave a "very slight" scoring mark as they are designed to shear cleanly when cutting across the grain or in veneered sheet goods. It's like the best and worst feature all at the same time!

[Mike Kees]

Mike ,how do you tell if a Felder is dado compatible ? I have a Felder k700s that I bought this summer and I have no idea if it is or not.

[Mike Tagge]

I ordered mine with it but to change to the dado stack I have a different bushing to use that Felder supplied. The main saw blade bushing comes off leaving a long axle protruding then a flatter one takes it's place, the dado goes on and is locked in with a smaller diameter disc bushing that the allen bolt goes through.

[Patrick Kane]

Yep, if your arbor has a spacer thats about 5/8-3/4" thick then your machine can take a dado stack. Take your blade off and look. What year is your machine? Dado was standard after 2004, i think.

As far as my situation, i was looking for reasons to keep the stack, but at the same time i dont see many situations where i would actually use it. Heck, i really dont use a dado stack that often as it is. Mainly to run grooves in drawer parts or make the occasional tenon.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Patrick, I have an FS Tools dado set and a Felder groover for my saw.

I guess if you don't make dadoes, grooves or rebates, you don't need one, however I find them useful.

I would bore out the set and if required have it ground as a set so it's perfect............Regards, Rod.

[Mike Kees]

So I learned something today. My saw is dado capable.I was at my shop working this morning so took off the blade and checked. My saw does have the pull off spacer/bushing. I think I remember seeing an extra bushing when we loaded my saw up. Will have to track it down. Rod is there anything besides the 30mm bore different about the felder groover ? I just bought a Minimax shaper,wish my spindle was 30mm so I could share.

[Patrick Kane]

So I learned something today. My saw is dado capable.I was at my shop working this morning so took off the blade and checked. My saw does have the pull off spacer/bushing. I think I remember seeing an extra bushing when we loaded my saw up. Will have to track it down. Rod is there anything besides the 30mm bore different about the felder groover ? I just bought a Minimax shaper,wish my spindle was 30mm so I could share.


Haha see, kinda my point of why i posed the question. Theoretically, dado capable sounds great, but there arent many situations i would NEED to use it. I dont know how long you have had your machine, but i imagine a couple years of not missing your dado function. Im going to price up the bore and pins. If its under $100, i might just do it. After that, its not worth the cost to do it plus the cost to not recover $200 from the set.

[Mike Kees]

Actually I just bought it in May.In about a week I will be starting my first set of cabinets with that saw.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, it was under $100 to bore my set out and have the pin holes bored......Rod