Dado Plane

[Jim Koepke]

Stanley 46! Rabbets, dadoes, and matching plane, multiple widths, all in one!

The Stanley 46 is nice, but not as common as the Stanley 45. The 45 can be used to make dados.

Don't get me wrong, if a 46 came my way it would be gleefully put to use.

jtk

[Greg Portland]

My preference has long been a saw and chisel. What the HNT Gordon plane demonstrated was a more efficient method. Further, while the relative smoothness of the floor of the dado is unimportant for fitting, the smoothness of the planed floors just reflects the ease with which they were made.

Derek, how does your saw method work when dadoing across wide boards (e.g. a 12" deep shelf). Assuming you didn't have a great dado plane what technique would you use?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Greg

There are a couple of builds on my website that use sliding dovetails. I do not have a dado, but the sliding dovetail is the same, just with perpendicular walls. Note that this is simply an illustration of others wrote before ..

Hold the saw blade firmly against a fence (2x4 will do) …



Cut as close to the line as possible …





The finished saw cuts …





Remove the waste ... first with a chisel … just zip it out ...





Then level the surface with a router plane …



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Greg Portland]

Thanks Derek. In your picture you show a large (sash?) saw that is longer than the board is wide. In your experience is there a certain point where the saw is too short? I've used a Veritas carcass saw (11" blade) to successfully cut dados in an 8" wide board but I'm wondering if my cut will wander if I try it on wider boards (12", etc.). I do knife mark my cut and chisel a ledge prior to any sawing...

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Greg

That is a mitre box saw. 24" long. It has since departed to a new home and I have another, the one below being 28" long (alongside an 11" carcase saw for comparison) ..



The longer saw cuts more efficiently as long as you have a guide for it. The saws are resting on the reverse side of a guide I made for sliding dovetails and dados.

Each side of the guide is lined in rare earth magnets.



This is simply a length of hardwood which is 90 degrees on one side and the dovetail angle of your preference on the other (I think that this one is 1:6) ...



It is held in place with a couple of clamps, and positioning is easier as a result of the 400 grit sandpaper used as nonslip ..



The rare earth magnets hold the saw very firmly to the side for accurate sawing. They are recessed slightly, so it is also possible to run a dado plane along the side ...



A simple and very useful tool.

Regards from Perth

Derek