Beginner Dado Question

discordanian · Post by **discordanian** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:30 am

I've got a 510 and just started to make some Dado cuts. This may be a silly question, but does anyone see an issue with making a 3/4" dado 3/8" deep in one pass? Should I do this in multiple passes?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:36 am

discordanian wrote:I've got a 510 and just started to make some Dado cuts. This may be a silly question, but does anyone see an issue with making a 3/4" dado 3/8" deep in one pass? Should I do this in multiple passes?

If the blade is sharp, it should can be done with little difficulty. Do not feed too fast. Watch for tearout.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:21 pm

Hi
I agree with JPG. I have made that size dado in soft material such as MDF when I built some garage cabinets and also in some soft plywood.
You may want to run the dado blade at the lower end of the speed seting and watch your feed rate. With this size you are removing a LOT of material.
Bill

kalynzoo · Post by **kalynzoo** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:37 pm

I'd have no hesitation with that setup. I would suggest running a scrap test piece across the setup first to make sure there is no tearout or burn on the wood being use.
Good way to check your sizing too.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:37 pm

I would recommend that you come to the required depth in multiple cuts. I would do this in at least two and probably three passes.

Do you have a lot of them to do?

If so, how are you planning to set up to do the cuts so that they are similarly located from board to board.?

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:16 pm

IMHO, making that cut in one pass is do-able, but like Gary said, try a test piece first, and watch for tear-out. Doing the cut in multiples, to get your final depth, like Dusty suggests, reduces the chance of tear-out. I wood probably opt for using a router to make those cuts.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:50 pm

Hi discordanian! I assume you are using your new 510 equipped with a dado blade.

As said earlier, a ¾"X ⅜" dado or groove is certainly do-able in one pass on your table saw. In fact, multiple passes while using a dado blade can often result in less than straight sided grooves.

Just be careful in your set-up so that your workpiece is controlled by only one surface.

discordanian · Post by **discordanian** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:59 am

I'm actually making some holiday trivets. So lots of repeatable dados.

I'm actually making it 3/8" wide by around 3/8" deep, so it sounds like I shouldn't have an issue.

Thanks for the information.

nomoman · Post by **nomoman** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:43 pm

discordanian wrote:I'm actually making some holiday trivets. So lots of repeatable dados.

I'm actually making it 3/8" wide by around 3/8" deep, so it sounds like I shouldn't have an issue.

Thanks for the information.

Did you check out the saw dust sessions? Check the thread "sawdust and blackboard session index". Nick has a jig on the blackboard for doing trivets.

I found it. November 12 2007. Making wooden trivets.

discordanian · Post by **discordanian** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:16 am

nomoman wrote:Did you check out the saw dust sessions? Check the thread "sawdust and blackboard session index". Nick has a jig on the blackboard for doing trivets.

I found it. November 12 2007. Making wooden trivets.

Oh yes. I saw that episode and that's kind of what got me started.

Thanks.