Dado blades

[hoppydayz]

I have a 10 in. Bosch portable table saw (4000-09) I am looking to buy a dado blade set. What size blade set (6 or 8 inch) should I be looking at. What advantages does one size have over the other and what set would you recommend.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

First let me say welcome to the site where Ralph mouth, Potsy, Richie and the Fonz are always welcomed :) :)

Hope you look around and check out the site and join us in the sharing of our wisdom or something like that.

Anyway to your question. First before you buy a dado set you must make sure your saw can handle one. If you are talking about one of those bench top saws some of them can't handle a dado blade. The reason is the shaft is not long enough. Check your manual. Even though it may say you can use one the one they are talking about is a wobble dado set. I do not like these for a few reasons one being the vibration they cause with the one blade wobbling around and two the quality of the cut is not great. You ask about what is the difference between 6" and the 8" well the 2" gives you more depth you can cut at. In other words you can cut a deeper dado. Now is this important you ask??? Only if you are a cabinetmaker and if you were you would not be using a tabletop saw for sure. So stick with a 6" dado. You will very rarely have the blade sticking above the table more than 1" at any time. The saw has to have the power to run a dado blade also so again check manual.

As far as brand goes I have the Freud and love it. Stays sharp, has good variation of chipper blades may cost a little more but very good quality.

[pops-shop]

I will agree with JT on this one.

Another thing to think about is the frequency of use. If you are going to use your dado blades frequently, invest in a good quality set like Freud. However, if it is an infrequent thing go to Harbor Freight (a lot less money and less quality).

Yeh, I know - you get what you pay for, but in our big boy play houses we always gotta save money for more toys. :rolleyes:

[hoppydayz]

Thanks for the advice Pops and JT.

[woodisgood]

I love my Freud stacked dado set. It's a pain to setup stacked dados, but the results are great. This is one where the frequency of use is not really an issue if you want good results.

[RollaJohn]

Woodisgood, welcome to the best woodworking forum on the net. I agree the Freud stacked dado set is an excellent unit. Mine is over 10 yrs old and I would buy another if something happened to this one. I considered a wobble dado blade for a short time then realized that one of the quality of cut problems JT mentioned was the bottom of the dado isn't flat, the edges are shallower than the center of the cut. That was the deal breaker for me.

Also I checked out the link you posted to the tool critic site and found it well worth adding to my bookmarks. Thank you.