Keep the Recommendations Going - This time Dado Blade / Kit

Al Launier

Member
Messages
1,683
Location
Bedford, NH
You Guys are a great source of recommendations & advice, so I'm putting another request out there to be chewed on.

What is considered a reasonable quality / reasonably priced Dado Blade & Dado Kit? Seems like another tool that should be added to my growing shop. Have read about the kits/stack that are specifically designed to cut for plywood thicknesses, yet I don't know if that's the way to go or get the regular Blade(s)???
 
I've been using a Mibro dado set for maybe three years. Got it as an update for a cheaper set. It has a good set of shims and does what it's supposed to do. A couple of years ago, HD had the Freud SD208 at a closeout price, so I picked it up but haven't used it yet.

One thing to keep in mind about variable sizes of plywood is there's more than one way to skin that cat. For instance, one way to attach 3/4" ply to a side panel is to cut a consistent 1/2" dado, then rabbet the 3/4" as needed to give a resultant 1/2" tongue.
 
Let's see if I can beat Vaughn to this one! :p

The best low cost set I know is currently the Oshlun 6", on sale from Amazon for $57 shipped.

The best bang for the buck I know of is the Delta/DeWalt 7670 set for $113 shipped from Grizzly, Ebay, or Amazon. It gives a taste of the high end sets for close to half price, and has a great carrying case and really nice shim stock.

The best overall set I've used to date is the Infinity Dadonator. Super.... "oooh.....aaaaaah..." ~ $200.
 
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I've used several different sets over the years and finally settled on the Freud (about $90.00) I find there is little to no chipout on the edges and the bottom are consistently flat. My next set will probably be the real expensive Freud. It's about $190.00.
 
Like saw blade and router questions, this one seems to have as many answers as there are owners ;). I have a Freud SD508 picked up with a Rockler 25% off coupon and it does a great job. I scored on Lowe's clearance of the CMT equivalent of the Freud SD208 when they were blowing them out during the change to the Irwin badged stack they now carry. At around $30 it is a fine stack and I wish I would have bought a couple more to share with the members here. I have been disappointed by CMT in the past and so wasn't willing to risk a non-returnable purchase but, as it turns out (of course) the stack works great. The cheaper stack lets me save my SD508 from doing plywood and composite work :thumb:.
 
i run the freud 8" set but for the smaller saws HP wise i have heard that the 6" sets work better and the radius is smaller so it leaves less to clean out on a stopped dado set up.
but scott spencer has done some extensive trials on these blades so his advice is a valuable asset to you
 
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The best bang for the buck I know of is the Delta/DeWalt 7670 set for $113 shipped from Grizzly, Ebay, or Amazon. It gives a taste of the high end sets for close to half price, and has a great carrying case and really nice shim stock.........

This one looks good to me. Thanks Scott, I just bought it from Amazon. One more tool added to my shop. Turning out to be a good year. Now for a reasonable thickness planer.
 
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