Stack Dado

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Adbuild, Jan 17, 2005.

  1. Adbuild

    Adbuild New Member

    I note with interest that Machine mart are selling a Stack Dada set. Can the Arbour be changed to accept the extra width of the Stack. I have a cheap saw from ALDI and could canniballise it to accept a Stack Dado if the arbour was long enough. Can anyone help me?
     
  2. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Hi AB,

    This has been an old chestnut discussed many times on here. May I suggest you put 'Stacked Dado' in the search for last year, quite interesting threads.

    The main concern you have with a cheaper saw is power issues quite apart from the safety angle. The small saw table face will make it difficult to move the work in an accurate manner. It is far easier to build a router guide to cut the trenches you need.

    Seeing Norm put his stacked dado cutters to use does make it all look easy but film editing does not show how long it takes him to set up, change blades etc. I get p**d off changing a router cutter let alone a saw blade.

    Take a tip from me, don't bother trying to do it.

    DWD
     
  3. bodget&scarpers

    bodget&scarpers New Member

    treat ur self 2 a spindle ;)
     
  4. Dewy

    Dewy New Member

    Any table saw sold in the last 6 years will have a shorter arbor and all new machines must have an electronic brake.
    Both mean you cant use these stacked blades on them.
    Extending the arbor will nulify any insurance should the blades fly through you like ninja stars and the brake is likely to unscrew the blade with similar dangers.
    The only saws that are made to take stacked dado blades are radial arm saws.
     
  5. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    I have a dado cutter set in my saw machine. The cutter is by Felder.
    You just remove the normal insert plate and a spacer and on it pops instead of the blade..
     
  6. Phil the Paver

    Phil the Paver Screwfix Select

    RY, it's a 10 year is post.
     
  7. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    H&S wont let you use a dado cutter now.
     
  8. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    Don't think the hse or h&s have much say in the matter. Since the saws with dado facility are available here in the UK.
     
  9. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member

    Saw machine? Whats that? Combination machine?

    I do believe that the law is this. If you are governed by HSE regs, ie you employ or have customers visiting your premises then dado cutters in a panel saw/ saw bench are strictly forbidden. If you are a sole trader like me or a weekend warrior doing it for a hobby you can do exactly what you want.

    I am sure I could get one on my panel saw if I wanted to but its nothing that has ever interested me. I cant see the benefit of it really.
     
  10. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    Can't be forbidden when the saw machines are available.
     
  11. Phil the Paver

    Phil the Paver Screwfix Select


    Heroin is available doesn't make it legal.

    Laws tend to be, you can have but not use.
     
  12. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member

    The only saws that will take a dado are import saws like the Felder. I have worked in professional workshops all my life and have never seen one used. I am sure if someone really really wanted to fit one they could but it would require riving knife removal and dedicated wide blade guards etc. Not really worth the hassle. My panel saw is the centrepiece of my shop and is used for sizing and ripping. I have other machines that will do the work of a dado. Spindle, router table, routers, etc

    They are in my opinion a home workshop item not really a professional workshop item.
     
  13. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    Is this guy just a weekend warrior then?


    He's not using his saw every day to cut up sheet goods for kitchens so he must be right?
    Neither a router nor a spindle has the capability of that baby.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  14. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member

    Really. You cant groove with a router? Or a spindle? Or indeed find a more efficient way of making kitchen cabinets? Domino, biscuit, dowel, pocket screws etc.

    That way of working is illegal in all but places that are exempt from HSE, as the blade is completely unguarded.

    Not to mention using both the rip fence running past the blade and the crosscut fence at the same time is extremely poor practice as it is a virtually guaranteed kickback at some point.

    I can only go on my working life in professional workshops and having had my own for over 10 years, dados aren't really used professionally here in my experience.

    So is he a weekend warrior? From the way he works it looking likely. Nothing wrong with that but the world is full of two sets of woodworkers. Those of us who work the safest, quickest and best way ie those of us who can earn a living doing it. And those who treat it as a hobby. What camp do you fall into?
     
  15. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    I'm the hobbyist weekend warrior to stupid to make a living at it.
    Two week course cowboy failed kitchen fitter. That's me mate I'm afraid.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2015
  16. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    But I have felders dado cutter in my saw and ain't sure what I'm gonna do with it now. Probably trim my nails. LoL.
    I'm off now to sharpen up my chisels in readiness for the weekend. OOhh isn't it exciting!
     
  17. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    I saw a dado cutter on a radial arm saw about 25 years ago, my one and only experience of it.
     
  18. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member


    Hope you have a great weekend looking at and admiring your "saw machine". And please don't just follow what you see on YouTube in terms of how to use it. Follow whats going on in the dado video you embedded and you will find trolling online a lot slower with less fingers. Find a qualified wood machinist like me to show you how to operate it safely. I did my carpentry and joinery and then went back to do my machining as I felt it was the sensible thing to do as my career progressed.
     
  19. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    Looks pretty safe what he's doing. Fence past the cutter would only be risky if the piece was being parted off.
    As for guard. No need for one. Just be as much chance getting cut with one on. That's why the americans invented sawstop.

    Whats a wood machinist? Well it basically means you can operate a machine under foolish hse rules to satisfy the box tickers.
    I've invented machines in my time and manufactured them. Albeit probably more suited to the Victorian era where some nonce with a clip board doesn't come along. LoL.
    Can you beat that?
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2015
  20. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member

    Top trumps on work is a dangerous game to play mate. You might just find yourself looking a bit of berk.

    Whats a wood machinist? There speaks a man who hasn't really worked in a proper joiners shop. If you think a wood machinist just operates a machine then you don't really know what you are talking about.

    If you think operating using both fences simultaneously is safe under any circumstances then again you don't really know what you are talking about. It should be slid back behind the saw blade as the reference for square is between the cross cut fence and the blade and the rip fence is only there to provide a length reference and that can be safely set before blade contact. Two reference points on two different planes in a line mean the chances of one reference fighting against the other is huge and potentially catastrophic.

    Again operating without guards is basic stuff for any professional. If the standard guard wont work then make one.

    It probably does look safe to an amateur. To a professional the unguarded blade is an obvious.

    Trouble is mate you aren't even using the correct terminology which hints at a bit of a lack of knowledge.

    As for Sawstop, that was not invented so people could abandon guards! It was invented to prevent damage should an error occur. Accidental starts or leaving a scribe up etc.
     

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