Dado Blade

8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:07 pm

Getting back to the 8" vs 6" question; The Shopsmith, like many other saws designed to operate on standard 120V home recepticles, fall into the "underpowered" classification. Thus, the cutting torque at a 4" radius is proportionally lower than than at 3". You might get along just fine with an 8" dado until you try to cut a deep or wide dado into something hard, like oak or maple. For us with our Shopsmiths, a 6" dado is probably the best choice.

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:09 pm

[quote="8iowa"]Getting back to the 8" vs 6" question]

I'm not so sure. There is an 8" Tenryu on my Shopsmith right now. I've been cutting 3/4X3/4X 6' dados in white oak for 3 days. Not a whimper. Keep it sharp and use a little common sense when it comes to feed rate and everything will be fine. That being said, I would like a little more power behind that blade.
...Looking fwd to the new DC motor.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:40 pm

Gene Howe wrote:I'm not so sure. There is an 8" Tenryu on my Shopsmith right now. I've been cutting 3/4X3/4X 6' dados in white oak for 3 days. Not a whimper. Keep it sharp and use a little common sense when it comes to feed rate and everything will be fine. That being said, I would like a little more power behind that blade.
...Looking fwd to the new DC motor.

It is NOT a 'DC' motor. It is a 'VR' motor. Methinks it resembles a big 'stepping' motor!;)

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:47 pm

How often do you need the cutting depth that an 8" blade offers compared to a 6" blade?

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:03 pm

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shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:41 pm

heathicus wrote:How often do you need the cutting depth that an 8" blade offers compared to a 6" blade?

You don't. I have an 8" because it was my 1st one on sale. Since then, I have purchased the 6" and that is all I use now. There is nothing wrong with the 8", and it worked fine. I just prefer the 6".

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:44 pm

judaspre1982 wrote:I would also like opinions on wether woble dados are harder on the equipment----arbors , quill bearings , ect. I acquired a Sears Excaliber adjustable dado that is brand new but I have not tried it yet. It came with my last MK V purchase. The owner never used it . I have an Amana stacked dado I use and like. Just curious about how the wobble effects machinery.----Dave

Dave,
IMHO, I do knot think that the saw, arbor, bearings, etc., know the difference. The blade does knot actually "wobble", it just cuts like it does.

What say others???

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:52 pm

heathicus wrote:Several months ago my dad bought a wobble type dado blade for me for a project we were working on. After opening it, we realized it wouldn't fit the arbor on my stand alone table saw (the arbor isn't long enough). I kept it because I knew it would fit the arbor on my SS 10ER. But I still couldn't use it at the time because I was in the middle of restoring the 10ER.

The dado is an "Oldham" brand. I finally used it yesterday to quickly cut some half lap joints for a gate I was building. Before I started cutting the treated pine, I ran a test dado set to 3/4" on a scrap piece of 2x6 whitewood. The result was quite horrible. The bottom was rounded out and jagged, one corner was deeper than the other one, there were ridges down the length of the dado, and the width was 13/16" instead of 3/4". I wish I had been able to test it when we had just bought it and still had the receipt so I could take it back.

It worked fine for what I was doing because I didn't need highly accurate and pretty dados for the gate - I just needed to clear out a lot of material fast. But when I do need something to look and fit better, I'm going to need to buy another dado.

Hi heathicus,

Sorry to hear of your experience! I have always liked Oldham saw blades and router bits (Viper brand bits), but I have never tried their wobble dado. Actually, I have knot purchased an Oldham blade in a while, and now that they are owned by Black and Decker (for a couple of years now), I am knot even sure where they are made! B&D discontinued manufacturing the Oldham router bits, and I do knot know what quality standards they now use for the saw blades. Sad to hear of things that spoil the reputation of a (former?) good American company.

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:21 am

[quote="JPG40504"]It is NOT a 'DC' motor. It is a 'VR' motor. Methinks it resembles a big 'stepping' motor!]

Well, you see, that's getting too technical for me. I don't know what a stepping motor is. And to really expose my gross ignorance, I don't understand the electrical differences twixt a DC and AC motor. I know only how they differ in potential...at least I think I do.

I don't know how sausage is made, either. I just like it with my waffles and eggs.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:49 pm

[quote="Gene Howe"]Well, you see, that's getting too technical for me. I don't know what a stepping motor is. And to really expose my gross ignorance, I don't understand the electrical differences twixt a DC and AC motor. I know only how they differ in potential...at least I think I do. ]

Do you know how your eggs are 'made'?:D