How to tweak a dado?

Dan Bowman

New User
Dan Bowman
What do you do if you find your dado slot is a smidge too narrow for the plywood insert? I'm not familiar with a plane that pares the vertical surface. I sanded it but I was wondering if there's an easier way. Thanks,
 

McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
I use a Side Rabbet Plane to widen the dado -- here is the one I use and it works perfectly for exactly what you need. Optionally, you can set up a straight edge parallel to the existing dado and shave off a small amount using a straight bit in a router. With either method, you need to be careful not to take too much additional material or you will have a useless dado that won't hold your mating plywood.
 

sandfarm

Joe
User
My set of dados has thin shims. They are about 3-4" diameter circles. You put them between your dado blades as needed.

Joe
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
Instead of widening the dado, you can also shave off a smidge form the mating piece. A regular shoulder plane works well for that.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
If you've pulled the dado stack from the table saw, another simple machine tool way is to use a straight edge and a router to shave a bit off.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
I would love to send the title of this post to a non-woodworker to see what they thought it meant.

Roy G
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Instead of widening the dado, you can also shave off a smidge form the mating piece. A regular shoulder plane works well for that.
Or "kill the wood" by hammering along the edge. This is a common Japanese ww'ing technique.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
All of the above will work. I want my dados to be a snug fit, so frequently run into the same problem. Normally, I will just lightly plane a slight bevel in the "back" side of the board going into the dado using my block plane but the same can be achieved with a sanding block. You want to make sure that the board will slide completely to the bottom of the dado. Quick and easy to do and doesn't affect the integrity of the joint (providing the bevel is not too steep).

Sometimes just slightly chamfering or rounding the corners of the board's edges will allow it to slide into the dado without the need to thin the board or widen the dado. A good practice because it also prevents the edge catching and causing tear out.
 

Dan Bowman

New User
Dan Bowman
Thanks for everyone for the ideas! I sent my wife the link to the Veritas plane, as Christmas is right around the corner.
 

wooduser

New User
Lecil
Stumpynubs did a video on a jig for adjusting the width of a dado. I built the jig and it does a good job. A link for the video is below.

Lecil Alexander
 

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