Thread: Daddo Blade

Carbatec in Adelaide sells CMT dados on various sizes.

Thank you Jaz, I just worked out that i have been spelling it wrong.

I was going to ask if it was for Andrew or Cameron, fourleafandy.

A router is a far safer option than a dado blade, but the dado blade has it's purpose.

Cheers,

eddie

G'day eddie,

I'll ask the question. Why is the router safer than the dado blade?

I don't have a great deal of experience with the router so this could have an effect but I tend to feel a lot more comfortable working the table saw than I do holding on to the router. The router always feels like it's trying to get away from me, which is probably a good thing, but if it does get away then who knows where it's going?

Thanks.
Steve.

Originally Posted by stevemc32

G'day eddie,

I'll ask the question. Why is the router safer than the dado blade?

Thanks.
Steve.

Hi Steve,

The dado blade in a table saw is a mainly US thing.

The risk is kickback and the board twisting, dragging your hand onto the blade as it twists. A dado head can't be used with a riving knife. There's lots of teeth on the dado head, so there's lots of risk of the timber taking off very quickly or spitting back at a rate of knots.

I just don't like using them on a personal level. They're also used on radial arm saws - my training for their use on the Radial Arm Saw included the phrase "hold on tight!" That says it all

The router needs to be used so that it's not 'climb cutting' - ie: the sharp cutting edges are getting a huge bite of timber and trying to propel themselves along, just like the tracks on a D9 bulldozer but on a smaller scale. This means that the router must be used in an anTiclockwise direction if you're using the fence or a pilot guided bit and this fence/pilot bearing is running on an ouTside edge, or clockwise if you're hogging out waste from the face of a board with the bit not touching the edge.

I'd much rather use a router than a dado head, either a table mounted router bit or a hand-held router.

Andy's question indicated limited experience - I was just pointing out that there is a far safer alternative.

The above are my experiences only - I'm sure that there's many who swear by their dado heads. Be interesting to see if there's any tradies using one, as I've yet to see one on a table saw in a trade setting.

Cheers,

eddie

Thanks eddie,

That all makes sense.

You've hit the nail on the head with respect to my routing technique. I hadn't really considered in which direction the routing should occur for various jobs but now understand the importance.

Thanks again,
Steve.

Originally Posted by eddie the eagle

I'm sure that there's many who swear by their dado heads.
eddie

Yes, I prefer using the dado blade in the table saw which I think is much safer than using a router bit in the router table.

I know that they are personal preferences and each have to use what they are comfortable with.

BTW in the 4 years of using dado blades I never had any kickbacks.


Peter.

Good thread that answered my questions on dado heads.

I am with "eddie" on this one, but obviously it is a matter of personal choice and what one feels comfortable with.

I will stick with the router methodology as I have done in the past.

PEN

Dados are easy and safe to use, they can be used with a riving knife a modified one.

I think the thread has already been hijacked, so I'll add my 2 bobs worth.

1. Kickback occurs on a table saw when the outfeed timber collapses in on itself as stresses are released. Thus, the timber binds on the back of the blade. This is why almost all table saws now have riving knives. Kickback can still occur, even with a riving knife, though the danger is miminal if you watch what the timber is doing at the outfeed end.

2. Dado blades are not used to rip boards. Typically, you used them to cut grooves, rebates etc, leaving more than enough wood to counteract any release of timber stress. For case work, the dado blade set lets you take say a 12mm by 12mm groove out of cranky grained timber with no tear out. Unlike a router where you would have to back-rout the first and last passes with a couple of passes in between.

3. Safety? Hand-held or in a table, routers have got to be noisier, more messy and considerably more dangerous than a dado set in a table saw. (I won't enter into the radial arm saw issue). A table saw with a half-decent fence is infinitely more stable than most (if not all) router tables and any guide system.

I have nothing against routers. At last count, I think I have 7. Two are in router tables, another in my WoodWizz, two for hand-held use (1/2 and 3/8), another ready for my Leigh jigs and one laminate trimmer. All have a purpose, none of which includes cutting a rebate or groove. Unless of course I have to! Rare occasions though I might add.

I do all my rebating work on a small dedicated Jet TS with a six inch dado set. It hogs out material with a mimimum of fuss and I do feel safe using it. If anyone can show me a better way of doing it with a router on River Redgum, please PM me and visit.

Jeff

+1 for the dado set. I use mine all the time and it sh*ts all over the router.

Hey Jefferson,

Where did the hijack comment come from?

I did a search on the site for dado and this is how I found this thread. I also read many of the other threads from the search.

There is obviously a wide body of differing opinion on router v dado. But isn't that what the site is about an exchange of views and opinions? The debates on here in respect of table saws v panel saws brings out great passion and enthusiasm, is robust and often firery, but the respective views don't change.

Your points are well made and argued and most of all respected, but not necessarily accepted by all. You obviously deal with different timbers to other members and have found what works for you. Great that it works for you, but we all don't vote the same , drive the same cars etc.

Pity the poor manufacturers if there was no choice and no differing views on products. How boring would life be?

PEN

Pen,

The thread started out I think on where you buy dado sets. So most of what followed was at a tangent.

As I said, I'm more than happy to be shown a better method of cutting rebates with a router instead of the dado blades. I suspect I will be waiting a while.

I also accept that there are quite a few out there that haven't got a table saw to start with, so a router may be the only alternative. But not if you have a table saw waiting to go....

Table saw v. panel saw? Like the router v. dado blade issue, I have both so I think I'm in a pretty good position to argue the pros and cons of both. Just last week I was switching from one to the other making some cabs for a kitchen. (Rip saw capacity on my panel saw peaks out at 800mm).

As long as the thread doesn't get personal, I'm happy to listen and learn. Check out my entries on the wood turning forum and you'll find I'm very much ready to heed the words of wiser heads.

If there are any router junkies out there with something to share, I'm all ears.

Jeff

I always use a router and not a dado set, simply because my TS wont accept dado blades.