Cutting dados with wide kerf blade on Martin TS

[Michael Koons]

I have read through other threads here about dados on sliders and specifically the Martin. Last year, I switched from a MM to Martin T60C and the only shortcoming on the Martin is dados, which has been discussed here in the past. I've seen Steve's videos (they helped immensely in my purchasing process) and he walks through dados in detail.

Switching from a standard blade to dados on the saw is a major PITA and I probably won't do it. It seems like it would just be easier to set the rip fence at a specific distance, use it as a stop and take multiple passes. The problem with that now is that the standard cross cut and rip blades don't leave a flat groove. No problem, just get a flat top blade. The other thing I was thinking is that if I get a new blade, why not get it as wide as safely possible to reduce the number of passes. I've looked at Carbide Processors and they have blades that go as wide as .19".

Has anyone seen or used this configuration on a big slider like that before? Any downsides that I may not be thinking of?

Thanks for the help.

[Richard Coers]

For one a flat top blade will likely give you a lot of tear out on cross grain plywood cuts. Or do you plan on using a scoring blade?

[Michael Koons]

Great point Richard. I do have a scoring blade but will need to check if I can match the width of a wide kerf blade.

[Jim Becker]

Rather than using a "flat top" blade (which is primarily for ripping with the grain), use one that has ABTR...the R stands for raker and is a flat tooth that cleans the bottom. You still get the slicing action at the edges with the alternate top bevel teeth that way.

A lot of folks with sliders don't consider them for grooving/dado/rebate work and most of the machines don't support it or, like with Felder, require special tooling. SCM/Minimax did build that in as you mentioned. I will admit that I bought a dado stack a while back, but still haven't actually put it on my S315WS for some reason.

[Mike Wilkins]

Infinity Tools has a table saw blade with a 1/4" kerf; perfect for grooves or multiple pass dadoes. I have used mine multiple times for grooving on solid stock and plywood.
You would have to have the arbor hole enlarged from 5/8" to the Martin size (I don't know their size) but that is food for thought.,

[Kevin Jenness]

How long does it take to set up for a dado stack on the Martin? On the T72 I used to operate it was a matter of removing the arbor flange spacer and the table inserts, a bit of a pain but worth it if you needed the sliding table action for grooving a surface- that is, rarely. Otherwise we had a couple of cabinet saws that would take a dado set with less fuss. I would think that if you need to dado on the slider the setup time would be quickly overwhelmed by making multiple passes with a single blade. If you have room, a variety saw is a good complement to a slider.

[Warren Lake]

What is it on the martin that is such a bother, is it time or what? or you have to reset something. No issues on my small SCM slider, its the same as a cabinet saw just 1" arbor instead.

[Mel Fulks]

How long does it take to set up the dados? For many helpers and borrowing friends the answer is "too long".
So they put in their ear plugs....clanking steel and carbide tips can cause hearing loss ! Getting a dado set "sharpened " is
often code for "new carbide tips".

[Warren Lake]

I said the slider it was the same as the cabinet saw but remembered its far easier, you have space to move around in the slider. Mels post below made me realize while I never had issues with dadoes doing damage on the cabinet saw it was to restricted.


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[Michael Koons]

It really does take a bit of time. You have to remove 4 bolts on the throat plate and replace that. Then you have to remove 4 bolts on the cheese plate to make the arbor wide enough to hold the stack. All of this for a 5/8" dado. For me, it's enough of a pain where I doubt I'd do it. It might take 5 mins. Compare that to taking 4 passes for a 1/8" blade which may take 20 secs.

It's personal preference. If you watch Steve's Martin video on dados, he says "This is how you do it although I don't usually work this way." For me, I'd tend to agree with him.

Actually, right now I'm still doing dado's on the MM slider. I have the dado stack permanently mounted on the MM. It's very convenient but a bit of a luxury. At some point, I'd like to move the operation to the Martin and just sell the MM so I can reclaim that space in the shop.