Good value dado blade?

[kooshball]

Which 8" x 5/8" dado set is the best value? I know they come in a wide range of prices but I don't know if I need to justify the $$$ ones??

Thanks

 

[Bill Clemmons]

"Best", like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And it depends on what type of woodworking you do. If you use a lot of plywood, I'd make sure I got one that can be set for 32nd's, since plywood is not exactly what it says it is (Ex: 3/4" is actually 23/32", etc.). Next, I'd want one that cuts square bottom dados. On some versions the trough is flat except at the outside edges, where it is slightly deeper. Finally, I'd want it to have carbide tips. Oh, and you want to make sure it comes w/ shims so you can fine tune the width of the dado.

I have 3 dado sets. One is an old Crapsman (not carbide) that I use only for very rough cuts. Another is a Freud 8" (carbide) which can be set to 1/16", but not 1/32". The chippers have two teeth. The third one is a Freud Super Dado, which can be set to the nearest 1/32", and the chippers have four teeth. Frankly, it's hard to tell the difference in quality of cut between the two Freuds. I'm very satisfied with both.

HTH, Bill

 

[junquecol]

I have several, Freud SD 208, Freud Safety Dado, Freud Dial a Width, and Forrest Dado King. The SD 208 is my everyday go to set. Lowes sells a set from CMT that looks just like the older SD 208's for less than $100. Grizzly sells a Dewalt (may now be labeled as Delta) for about the same, but the chippers have four teeth, instead of two. Cripe distributing has an "Unmarked" set by Irwin in both 6", and 8". 6" is $22, and 8" is $28, with shipping being about $10. Because you seldom dado anything deeper than 3/4", a six inch set will do 99.9% of what most need. If you should happen to order from Cripe, add a Delta 35-7657 10" 40 tooth blade ($17)to your order. Undoubtably the best blade for the buck.

 

[JackLeg]

+1 for the Freud 208! Unless you are a professional woodworker, I believe it will satisfy your needs! :wsmile:

 

[Travis Porter]

I would suggest getting a carbide tipped stacked set. The dial-a-width jobbers are fair, but do not leave flat bottoms. Any of the brands mentioned would serve you well. For the price Bruce mentions, I don't think you can go wrong. Heck, I don't see how they can make it for that price.

 

[kooshball]

Thanks to all. I actually ended up borrowing a Freud box joint blade for this task and am really glad I did. I don't know how much dadoing I will do so for me I might just buy this box joint blade and settle on making a few extra passes and never have to worry about flat cuts.

 

[toolferone]

David, The box joint blade set will not do a very good job going across the grain. It is a positive hook angle flat top grind. It will be fine in rip cuts which is what a box/finger joint is.

 

[McRabbet]

I would recommend any of the Freud dado sets --I have a SD508 (8" Super Dado with excellent carbide-tipped outer plates, four tooth chippers and a very good set of shims). Although it costs in the near $200 range, it will last a lifetime and cuts chip-free edges and square bottomed dados. I use it alot, so that justifies the higher cost. They make a less costly set in both six and eight-inch versions -- get an eight inch as the cost is not that much more.

 

[SubGuy]

I bought the CMT from Lowe's and like it. It cuts clean and I like it. Definitely worth the price!:icon_thum

 

[ehpoole]

I own both the Freud #508 (SuperDado - stacked set with shims and 1/16", 3/32", 1/8" chippers) and the #608 (Dial-a-Dado - uses 1/8" chippers and a dial hub that adjusts 0.004" per tick mark). Both are excellent dado sets, but pricey at roughly $200 and $250.

The Dial-a-Dado #608 is nice due to it's 0.004" adustment increments without the need for any shims, but the dial is very deep, thus limiting me to just over 5/8" width maximum on my Steel City hybrid saw.

So, to reach my goal of just over 3/4" I had to add the #508 stacked dado set to my collection. Now I have the best of both worlds (though at a bit of a price). The stacked set is wonderful for anything that is in 1/32" increments, the Dial-a-Dado is great for anything of odd widths. Though each is capable of the same widths if you go back and add the necessary shims to the stacked set (which, of course, requires removing the outer cutter to adjust the shims versus simply loosening the arbor nut and rotating the dial for +/- 0.004" per tick, then retighten arbor nut).

Both sets use 24-tooth carbide-tipped outside cutters and a combination of primarily 1/8" chippers with 4 carbide-tipped teeth each. Both cut cleanly with little, if any, tearout -- even in laminates and veneers. They both cut flat-bottomed dados with only slight visible scoring (primarily on wide multi-pass dado cuts) from the ATB outside cutters, but the residual scoring is so slight that a touch of sandpaper, or use of a water-based glue will erase them. If only a single-pass dado is made, the outside scores are not noticeable. This shallow score cut is the primary reason these dado sets create so little tearout versus a 100% square-bottomed dado -- it's equivalent to pre-scoring the cut-line with a utility knife.

That said, if I were to go back and do things again, I probably would have settled for just the Freud #508 stacked set. I bought the #608 when I was first starting (well, restarting actually) my hobby a few years back, which I purchased at the same time I ordered my table saw.

 

[SgtSnafu]

I use an 8" set put out by Avenger, which I purchased at Rockler when they were on sale... I am not seeing them sold any more, but the Oshlun 8" Stack dado set is identical.... I am willing to bet Oshlun bought out Avenger... I believe Amazon has them for 74.00.. What attracted me to them in the first place is that they have 6 tooth chippers...:icon_thum Mine do leave a little "bat wing" at the sides of the dado, but given what I paid I am happy with that, until I can get me a very nice set...:eusa_danc

 

[kooshball]

SD508 seems like the way to go. I found an old article in Finewoodworking that also points to the SD508 as one of the best overall dado sets.

thanks for all the replies.