Dado Blade Questions?

[Raymond Fries]

Is it better to get an 8" blade instead of a 6" blade?

What will an 8" do that a 6" will not do?

Thoughts please...

[Greg Funk]

An 8" dado will give you an extra 1" depth of cut which might come in handy if you are using a sled. I have 6" and have never found myself wanting any more. That said, I just ordered a Freud SD608 adjustable 8" dado. You never know...

[Howard Acheson]

Is it better to get an 8" blade instead of a 6" blade?

What will an 8" do that a 6" will not do?

Thoughts please...

It primarily depends on your saw. The six inch dado requires less power so it is generally recommended for saws with 1 1/2 HP or less. Also, some contractor saws do not have enough clearence if the dado is used with a full tilt.

[Samuel Brooks]

I have been using it for the past 2 years and I have never had a problem with power on my Jet 1.5HP contractor saw.

I also do not take a more then a 3/8 swip at one time since I usually work with sheet stock. If I need to go deeper then I just take a 2nd pass.

I would recommend the 8" and don't look back. Then when you do use a sled, which I have found useful on a regular basis, you will have the capacity.

Enjoy either purchase.

Sam Brooks

[Raymond Fries]

Looks like an 8" is the way to go for me.

Time to pay the piper...

[Steve Duxbury]

Raymond...

Sent you a PM...


Steve

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Looks like an 8" is the way to go for me.

Time to pay the piper...

Ridge carbide has a 10" inch Dado that makes me wish I knew about it before I got the fancy schmancy carbide insert Austrian 8" one I have. Might want to take a gander at it if you think you have the ponies under your table to drive all that diameter.

[Raymond Fries]

Not sure my a 2 1/2 HP would do it though.

[Carl Crout]

I bought the 6" adjustable Freud and am sorry that I did. You can only get about 1" of depth out of it and that is if you hollow the bottom side of your throat plate down to about 1/8". Frued made the adjustable hub too large in diameter. If I had of known this I wouldn't have bought it. As was mentioned if you use a sled for you finger joint or other jig you can't hardly get 3/4" depth out of it.:(

[Charles McCracken]

I bought the 6" adjustable Freud and am sorry that I did. You can only get about 1" of depth out of it and that is if you hollow the bottom side of your throat plate down to about 1/8". Frued made the adjustable hub too large in diameter. If I had of known this I wouldn't have bought it. As was mentioned if you use a sled for you finger joint or other jig you can't hardly get 3/4" depth out of it.:(

Carl,

I'm sorry to hear that you are not pleased with the SD606 dado. All of the OEM dado inserts I am aware of allow for the hub to raise fully. That gives a depth of cut that is 2" less than with a 10" blade. Your point about losing depth when using them with jigs that have a base is great. The only caveat is to be sure that the saw manufacturer recommends a dado larger than 6".

[Carl Crout]

Freud needs to put in the specs what the max height is for each blade. It is not in the manual that comes with the dado nor is it on the website. If I had of known the specs I would have bought the 8".



Thanks

[Greg Funk]

I bought the 6" adjustable Freud and am sorry that I did. You can only get about 1" of depth out of it and that is if you hollow the bottom side of your throat plate down to about 1/8". Frued made the adjustable hub too large in diameter. If I had of known this I wouldn't have bought it. As was mentioned if you use a sled for you finger joint or other jig you can't hardly get 3/4" depth out of it.:(
Carl,

What kind of saw do you have? I don't think the stock dado throat plate on my unisaw is more than 1/8" thick. Were you using a zero clearance insert?

Greg

[glenn bradley]

Is it better to get an 8" blade instead of a 6" blade?

What will an 8" do that a 6" will not do?

Thoughts please...

First qualify your saw to run an 8" dado (the manual should state this clearly) and if it does then get one. As you see in this thread the limitations of a 6" dado for home-shop folks is pretty obvious.

The price difference is minimal. Your saws inability to run an 8" is the only reason to go 6" IMHO. All is not lost if you can only run a 6"; mostly a ZCI, sled, box joint jig, etc. will be out. Cutting dados, rabbets, tenon cheeks, etc. would be fine.

[Carl Crout]

Homemade harwood insert on a Unisaw. The hub is so big that when you raise it up to get a deep cut the hub nearly needs to be flush with the TOP of the table. If the hub has to be flush with the top of the table then you ain't got no zero clearance insert. You have one heck of a big hole...
I am cutting 1/4" wide dados btw.

[Ed Falis]

Ridge carbide has a 10" inch Dado that makes me wish I knew about it before I got the fancy schmancy carbide insert Austrian 8" one I have. Might want to take a gander at it if you think you have the ponies under your table to drive all that diameter.

I have the Ridge Carbide 8", and it's a winner - does a beautiful job, and supports a lot of incremental sizes (via 3/32" and 1/16" chippers).