Rabbet & Dado - Router or TS

[Raymond Fries]

I have a DW744 TS and a DW625 router. I am not sure my TS has the power to cut a large dado although the TS manual says I can use a stacked dado up to 13/16".

Looking for advise on getting setup to cut these. What is your preferred tool to cut these joints?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have a DW744 TS and a DW625 router. I am not sure my TS has the power to cut a large dado although the TS manual says I can use a stacked dado up to 13/16".

Looking for advise on getting setup to cut these. What is your preferred tool to cut these joints?

I used to cut all my dados (some really huge ones) on my craftsman contractor saw with a 1 HP Dayton motor. I had a 35 year old craftsman 8" dado with the zillion tiny teeth on the outer blades.

[Ron Robinson]

Raymond,

I consider myself a novice woodworker so take this answer with the appropriate amount of salt.

I have made these cuts using all the methods possible. For me, the right tool depends on a number of factors.

1. The size of the piece and the cut. (Smaller = router table for me)
2. The number of cuts needed.
3. What else I'm working on in the shop at the time.

If I have to make one or two cuts and have my tablesaw set-up for something else, I'll use a router and a straight edge. If I had a fancy edge guide system I'd probably use it more than I would the table saw. I have a nice Freud dado set so my preferred method is with the tablesaw.

Ron

[glenn bradley]

A little more info on what you are building, dado depth and length, etc. will get you more specific answers. I just recently got a decent dado stack. Up until that I had always used the router for these types of cuts. I just happened to catch the SD508 on sale and I had wanted to do some of the larger cuts in fewer passes so I added one to the arsenal.

From my experience I have chosen these methods:

- For shorter rabbets and dados like bookshelf sides and small cabinets; either will do. For repeated cuts I prefer the dado stack as I can use a sled and stop blocks to control the material.

- For longer runs I prefer a hand held router as the small base will follow the slight curves of the material yielding a more consistent depth of cut (plywood for example, can be a little wavey).

- For short runs that will receive plywood and other 'in between' thickness material, I prefer a dado jig as it cuts the dado width perfectly: (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46406)

I have had ply material that varies in thickness more than the special "under size" router bits can deal with because they are consistent and the material is not. I find the jig easier than setting up a stack with shims for shorter cuts with this requirement.

If you need to do a boat-load of 31/64" dado's 30" long, a stack would be my preferred method just due to setup time on the jig (which is very quick, I'm just impatient with repetitive tasks).

[frank shic]

glenn, how much did you get the sd508 for? i'm interested in buying a portable table saw to use a dedicated dadoing machine for cabinets.

[David DeCristoforo]

"What is your preferred tool to cut these joints?"

This is better determined by the nature of the task at hand. There are situations in which it is better to bring the tool to the work in which case the router is going to be the "better" choice and vice versa. Your TS should certainly be able to take the load of a dado head.

[Bill Huber]

I am an new woodworker and this is what I have found out so far.

Like the others I think a lot depends on the job you are doing. I have an 8 inch table saw and a 6 in dado stack for it, this is the fastest way to cut them, but set up time can be a little long at times to get the cut size just were I want it. There are some post on this site about making a gage for this and it would help a lot but I have just not done it yet. After it is set it is very fast and I can do a lot of dados in a very short time.
But with that said if I have a big panel or just one or two dados to cut I use the router. I was lucky and found an Accurate Guide at Woodcraft so I use it a lot. It is a dado cutting fool. The problem is they are not around anymore, I found mine on a shelf at Woodcraft under some other items.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/accurateguidervu.html

I really don't know why they disappeared but it was a great tool, you may spend some time calling around to different Woodcraft stores and see if you can find one.

[Jim Becker]

Both methods are valid and often there will be times that one is better than the other for a particular job, but not necessarily in general. Equip yourself for both and your covered!

[Raymond Fries]

Thanks for all the information. It makes sense that different tools will work better for different joints. I guess Jim hit it on the head. If you have both, you are equiped for anything. I am trying to get the tooling together to make a roll-top desk and some bookshelves. I have always wanted the desk and would like to make my own. Guess I will have to get the tools for both machines.