PowerPro with Dadonator Precision

[paulmcohen]

I don't know if I should credit the PowerPro or the 8" Dadonator but together I have gotten the most precise dado's I have ever achieved.

I was cutting a 31/64" dado in 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood, I blade was set to 15/32" and I did a pass on a 30" long piece assuming that the last 1/64" would just fall off. Boy was I wrong, I ended up with a sliver 1/64" thick the entire length of the board and the dado was to the middle of the plywood (in the middle of the middle ply with no chip-out.

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What you are looking at are two pieces of plywood on top of each other and the fuzzy side was the original edge. Notice the perfectly clean bottom and sides of the dado.

Before I got the PowerPro I it took seconds for the blade which weights 8 lbs to come up to speed, now it is at speed before I can get the wood in position for the cut and never bogs down.

[charlese]

So-- How did you cut the last 1/16"?

[paulmcohen]

So-- How did you cut the last 1/16"?

It was the last 1/64" but what I did was make multiple test cuts on scrap until the cut was exactly the width of the mating plywood piece. Each time moving the quill a very small amount. Once the dado was the correct width I cut all the pieces (leaving the 1/64" sliver). Then I moved the quill back and ran all the pieces again, the dado blade is so good there is no way to tell it was done in two passes. The alternative would have been to shim the dado blade and do it in one pass. Shimming the blade would have required removing the blade adding a shim and making another test cut. The ability to move the blade with the quill was much quicker.

[dusty]

Great job but it sounds like it was a tedious procedure. The flat bottom is the result of a good dado set and the lack of fuzz is the result of a sharp blade.

You have a steadier hand than I. Sneaking up on a 1/64" sounds tricky.

Do you have a router table.

PS: I got to thinking about this and now I am not certain I understand what the under taking was. Was the challenge to get a 31/64" wide dado or was it a 31/64" deep dado?

If you were striving for a 31/64" deep dado in 1/2" baltic birch plywood - WHY?

If you were striving for a 31/64" wide dado, why not just move the rip fence (or better yet, use a 1/64" shim between the fence and the baltic birch)?

I don't think I understand the task at hand!!!

[paulmcohen]

Great job but it sounds like it was a tedious procedure. The flat bottom is the result of a good dado set and the lack of fuzz is the result of a sharp blade.

You have a steadier hand than I. Sneaking up on a 1/64" sounds tricky.

Do you have a router table.

PS: I got to thinking about this and now I am not certain I understand what the under taking was. Was the challenge to get a 31/64" wide dado or was it a 31/64" deep dado?

If you were striving for a 31/64" deep dado in 1/2" baltic birch plywood - WHY?

If you were striving for a 31/64" wide dado, why not just move the rip fence (or better yet, use a 1/64" shim between the fence and the baltic birch)?

I don't think I understand the task at hand!!!

Dado depth was to the approximate center of a 1/2" thick Baltic Birch plywood and the width needed to be the exact with of the plywood. The rick was to get the width the exact thinkness of the plywood. I got a close to the thickness as I could get with the dado blade and instead of shimming for the extra width I used two passes. The interesting part is how clean the dado was to leave a complete sliver the entire lenght of the boards.

[dusty]

Paul: You had a great solution to your dado width problem. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have been there. Not so often with a dado but in situations where I used the quill to reposition the blade a small amount.

What I have are some photo images of a solution that is repeatable and very quickly implemented. It also serves to repurpose some of those pseudo credit cards that so frequently come in the mail. With my caliper, the card measures .022" thick.

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[robinson46176]

[quote="dusty"]

What I have are some photo images of a solution that is repeatable and very quickly implemented. It also serves to repurpose some of those pseudo credit cards that so frequently come in the mail. With my caliper, the card measures .022" thick.



.022 , isn't that the exact equivalent of a "smidge"?



.

[dusty]

What I have are some photo images of a solution that is repeatable and very quickly implemented. It also serves to repurpose some of those pseudo credit cards that so frequently come in the mail. With my caliper, the card measures .022" thick.



.022 , isn't that the exact equivalent of a "smidge"?



.

I think a smidge is what Paul needed - .016". I don't have a smidge size gift card. Actually, I was quit surprised at how close all of the cards I have were to .020" thick.

[fjimp]

So is the $1,000 gift card unique in some fashion or are you simply showing us your true value:D Sorry I just came from the doctor and must be feeling a bit ornery. Fjimp

[charlese]

Thanks Dusty, for that elegant, simple solution. Some of the many advertising cards in my stack are thinner than others. I'll have to measure them and mark them:eek: .

Just kidding on the measurements. I can just pick a card that looks right.

Another solution to Paul's situation could have been a very small rabbet to the part fitting into the dado.