Dado Blade/Miter Gauge

[Mike Burke]

Hello, I'm looking for a couple new tools.
I need a new dado blade. My old Freud dado set is past its prime after several sharpenings.
I am also looking for a new Sliding miter gauge.
Looking for suggestions

I Think I'm leaning toward the Freud SD508. Its available local and have read good things about it.

The miter gauge...I have looked at the Kreg unit and a couple of the Incra ones. I don't need the most expensive unit , I'm just a hobbyist woodworker. But also want to get a good unit.

Any insight on these new purchases would be appreciated .

Thanks

[Dustin talbott]

As far as dado blades go, I've been very happy with the 6" Freud SD206. I don't do a ton of dado work but it has served me well. I made the decision to go with the 6" vs the 8" because of several reasons. At the time I had a 1.75 hp saw and wanted to give my saw an easier time especially if it was a full stack. Granted you do sacrafice some depth with the 6, but I figured most dados and rabbets I do are shallow and not through cuts. So height has never been an issue. And the best part, 6" is about half what the 8" is...

For the miter guage I went with the incra v120. It has the adjustments to remove slop in the bar and it has more than enough adjustments for angle. I didn't need 1/10 degree adjustments. I put a piece of 80/20 aluminum extrusion and now I can mount flip stops, clamps etc.

[Jim Dwight]

I use the $100 Freud dado set in 6 inch. I need a 8 inch for my new SawStop but I am just using the 6 inch on one of my other two saws at the moment. I like my Osborne gauge. It is a different layout but I think it's better. Triangulating the settings this way will help it hold and make it easier to set accurately. It also has a flip stop you can set pretty far out.

[Lee Schierer]

I really like my Kreg miter gauge. It is very accurate and uses a shot pin for common angle settings. It changes easily from left to right side and comes with a cut off stop for repetitive cuts.

[Earl McLain]

I used a Kreg miter gauge for several years before lucking into an Incra 1000 a few years ago. The Kreg is a very good gauge--and while the Incra has some additional sizzle (pre-sets, etc)--for the work that i normally do it would be hard to tell the difference. I'd consider selling the Kreg if you're interested in used (the aluminum extrusion already has the required "oops" slice in it, but only one!!). Only downside to used it that it would probably need a large flat rate box which is now $20.
earl

[Martin Wasner]

How does a dado set get past it's prime? It can either be sharpened or not, and it can be sharpened way more than a few times

[glenn bradley]

How does a dado set get past it's prime? It can either be sharpened or not, and it can be sharpened way more than a few times

I'll assume when the shop won't do it. I'll also have to assume the thing has been sharpened . . . a lot :). I have an SD508, a CMT that looks like an SD208 and a DeWalt 7670. Why three? All were bought at a price that loosened my wallet at the time. The 508 is my "finish" dado stack, the CMT is for ply and composites and the 7670 is because someone on one of the forums gave us a heads up about a stupid-low Amazon price.

All leave 'bat-wings' to some degree but, the impact of these depends on what you are doing. The bat-wings are smaller than a pin nailer hole so if those showing is OK with you, your good. For air-tight dados I use, or follow to final depth, with a router bit. There are dado stacks that leave less, or no, bat-wings and if I ever sharpen a dado to death, I will look at one of those :)

[Mike Burke]

I just looked. Its a Freud D308 dated 1989
It has been sharped by Bellew Saw n Tool many times.
It no longer cuts very good. It leaves grooves and high spots on the bottoms of the dado.
I think I have got my use out of it and time to buy a new set.

"There are dado stacks that leave less, or no, bat-wings "

Which dado set would that be ?

Thanks for the suggestions so far

[Martin Wasner]

It leaves grooves and high spots on the bottoms of the dado.

This is poor work by the sharpener, or not sending in the complete set to be sharpened. They should all be matched for diameter. By a face grind and topping them. I've sent extra chippers that are part of the set in that have been unused since the last sharpening to make sure it remains a set.

As far as the bat wings go, if you don't have them you get more tear out or chipping depending on the material and whether across the grain or with the grain.

I send stuff in for sharpening until they won't sharpen it any more. Not trying to pick on you, but it takes a lot to kill a dado set.

[Jim Becker]

There's a reason for the "bat wings"...it's to shear the fibers at the edge of the cut, particularly when going cross grain or working with veneered sheet stock. Some sets have more and some sets have less. There are probably some that have none. I can see where this might cause concern when the edge of the cut is visible, such as at the edge of a board and everyone has their own tolerance for that. Even some traditional hand planes used to cut dados/slots/rabbits have a scoring blade at the edge for the same reason, however.

The Freud SD20X offerings are nice mid-priced sets, IMHO. The SD50x is better but at a cost. I truly enjoyed the Forrest Dado King I owned back when I used a cabinet saw, too. Buy the best you can afford...the cut will be better and more than likely the repeated sharpening over time will also result in good service. I do agree with Martin that properly sharpened, there should be no inconsistencies in the cut. If there is, it's on the sharpening service including if there's inadequate carbide left for them to do it correctly and they don't tell you that.

[Lisa Starr]

I recently upgraded by miter gage to an Osborne. So far, I really like it. As for the dado set, I've been using a Forrest Dado King for about 5 years now. It is fairly expensive ($275.00 ish), but it has held up well and makes very clean dados.

[Bob Grier]

I have the SD508 and I like it.

However; I also like to use 6mm (1/4≈) baltic birch plywood for drawer bottoms and I make quite a few drawers. I think a 1/4" dado or slot is too loose of fit for 6mm (actual 5.9mm 2.32") plywood so I use router bit instead of the dado for making the slots for drawer bottoms. Not a big thing but I would prefer to use the table saw for making the slots. I think some dado blades do make a narrower dado than 1/4".

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, as others have indicated a dado set should be ground as a set.

I have. An FS Tools set and it produces flat grooves......Regards, Rod

[Mike Burke]

I have always sent the dado blades in for sharpening as a set.
I am going to contact them again and discuss the issues I'm having with the dado set.
Send them back in and have them cut with them.

Thanks for all the suggestions/help
Appreciate it

[Mike Burke]

Mounted the full stack 3/4" on and did a couple sample dados. One is a cross grain in oak
The other is plywood..with the grain and a cross dado......I think I know whats wrong. Whats your opinions ?

Thanks402166402167

[Jim Becker]

You have at least one chipper that's not right and be sure to check that you have the two outer blades on the correct sides of the stack. Not really pretty on those edges, either...a lot of tear-out.

[Mike Burke]

Outside blades are on the right way..other chippers or evenly spaced out. Its just plan ugly.
That's why I am looking for a new dado set.