bent Dewalt dado blades

[Mark Borowsky]

Am I being too picky? I got an admittedly cheap dewalt 8" dado set from Grizzly by way of Amazon and noticed the outside blade didn't sit flush against the end of the arbor. It flattened out when I cranked on the nut, but that didn't seem right to me. After cranking it on the blade required some "encouragement" to get it off.

So I sent it back and Grizzly way perfectly nice about sending a replacement. Which has the same problem only worse. So, am I fussing about nothing? No other blade I've ever put on this 10" saw has had this problem. Or is this just a really poorly made dado set? Here's a picture showing that it sits flush on one side but bends away on the other side.

Do you think I should abandon this product (which does cut nice dados), just shut up and use it, or try and get yet another replacement from Grizzly?

[Josiah Bartlett]

It looks like you might be having a clearance problem with your arbor- why don't you chamfer the hole in the blade so it sits right?

[Phil Thien]

It looks like you might be having a clearance problem with your arbor- why don't you chamfer the hole in the blade so it sits right?

I think you're right. I recently got some of the DeWalt blades when Amazon was having the incredible sale (the DW7140PT's, when they were were under $20 each).

Anyway, the first thing I noticed was that they were a very tight fit on the arbor. My blades have a yellow anti-stick coating that may have contributed. But even after cleaning it out it is still a tight fit.

If these dado blades were made in England, I'd suspect the center hole to be pretty tight.

I will say that the DeWalt blades I got for cheap cut almost as good as my Forrest. So they are worth a little extra trouble to get them on the arbor.

[Mark Borowsky]

I don't think the problem is the hole -- the blade looks to be bent. How would I go about chamferring the hole if I wanted to test that idea?

[glenn bradley]

I don't think the problem is the hole -- the blade looks to be bent. How would I go about chamferring the hole if I wanted to test that idea?

Before you go grinding on it, just how cheap was it? If it was $50 or less and cuts nice dados, I'd mess with it. If it cuts so-so and was much more you could get the Pro-dado from Freud for around $100 and not have so-so dados from this day on.

My sentiment is based on having finally eliminated those tools I avoid using or have to monkey with every time I use them. I'll also try to not buy anymore. Try being the operative word here ;-) I went with the SD508 which is markedly more expensive but does a perfect job, every time.

[Jason Beam]

First thought: It cuts nice dados, you said - ain't broke, don't bother fiddling with it.

Second thought: ... i couldn't pick a prevailing 2nd thought ... i'm stuck on the first - it performs to your satisfaction. I'd leave it be.