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My scariest dado ever.

Rennie Heuer

Rennie Heuer

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I needed to make some half laps for two sets of legs for the candle stands I'm making for our church. I thought about doing the half laps prior to gluing up the feet (Lyptus with bloodwood accents) but to do so (to my reckoning) would require an absolutely perfect glue up. :eek: Glue ups have not always been my strong point:eek:. I wanted to do the glue up and then be able to run them over the jointer and through the planer so I could be sure they were all exactly the same width. So, that meant doing the half laps with the feet attached.
Now, normally I'm fearless (yeah, right) in the shop and have a very healthy respect for my tools. My dad lost 3 fingers on his Craftsman contractor saw when I was a kid. I swore I would never do that! But I have to tell you, seeing this much blade unprotected and whizzing by so quickly had me turning a little weak in the knees.

None the less, I took my time, clamped the workpiece tight (not shown in the photos) and said a few prayers. Success!!:thumb:

Dado 1.JPG Dado 2.JPG Dado 3.JPG

Thanks for looking!!
 
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Nice work Rennie.
using the mitre gauge with that extension must have been a real help too.
That is a lot of blade showing but your fear turned into precaution, with all saftey measures in place allowed you to escape unscathed :thumb: . That is a healthy fear, nothing wrong with that. If you are still unnerved with a certain process even after all precautions are in order, stop and rethink...get help or skin that cat another way.:D
Did good, NICE PIECE!
Shaz
 
Hey Rennie, good to hear it went well :clap: . I did one like that once for a teak door with an arched top, but I was holding the piece in a tenoning jig. Still kinda scary with that big blade all the way up.

One question though... Why would cutting the lap joint before gluing on the accents prevent you from running it through the planer? :huh: If you were worried about the accent pieces throwing you off when you re-joint the edge indexed to the lap joint, you could always intentionally make that piece say an eigth oversize, then let your accents slide around where they want when gluing, as long as its less than the extra eigth. Then joint off the eigth in one pass so that the original indexed edge is maintained (assuming your jointer cuts straight :D ), and the accents are flush. Clear as mud?
 
Well done. All precautions taken (hearing and eye protection assumed). As I was once told and have never forgotten "You'll hear folks tell you to respect your tools . . . fear them, its safer". A healthy fear is implied, not the white knuckle kind. Thanks for sharing your set up and once again, well done.
 
John Downey said:
One question though... Why would cutting the lap joint before gluing on the accents prevent you from running it through the planer? :huh:
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Hi John,

Actually, I was afraid that I might cut the dados and then, after getting all the sides jointed, find out they were too wide. Not knowing if anything would move during glue up left me thinking that if I undersized them I would be OK, but who knows? If the accent pieces moved a little too much, by the time I got them jointed flush my stock would be too narrow for the dado.

Half laps have always been one of the difficult joints for me. Just never seem to get them tight enough or flush enough. It seemed most prudent to get everything sized as perfectly as I could and then sneak up on the dado width.
 
Matt Dunlap said:
Looks good! Seems you followed the 10 finger rule. Anytime it looks scary, then you take precautions. Then you finish with the 10 fingers you started with.
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The rule of ten - good rule!

Robert Schaubhut said:
Nice work Rennie.
using the mitre gauge with that extension must have been a real help too.
That is a lot of blade showing but your fear turned into precaution, with all safety measures in place allowed you to escape unscathed :thumb: . That is a healthy fear, nothing wrong with that. If you are still unnerved with a certain process even after all precautions are in order, stop and rethink...get help or skin that cat another way.:D
Did good, NICE PIECE!
Shaz
Click to expand...
Thanks Shaz. After the legs are assembled I get to chop a 1" square hole in the middle of the joint to accept the tenon from the upright. That's fun for later in the week.:D

glenn bradley said:
Well done. All precautions taken (hearing and eye protection assumed). As I was once told and have never forgotten "You'll hear folks tell you to respect your tools . . . fear them, its safer". A healthy fear is implied, not the white knuckle kind. Thanks for sharing your set up and once again, well done.
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Glenn,
For this particular operation I didn't even turn on the worktunes! Just wore the head set. And yes, eye protection and being careful never to step in line with the blade. I like not bleeding. It's become a bit of a habit for me.:D
 
Aha! I missed that. Cutting the joint first does lock you into a fixed size that you then have to hit just right :eek: , not too bad if you're a little over, but what a mess if you're a little under (thats when I throw the tape measure across the room - on the bright side, I usually make mistakes often enough to never have a worn out tape :D )
 
This would have been the perfect place to have used a hand saw, a chisel, and a rabbet plane.

A dado jig and a router would have worked, too, if power was really necessary.

Either would have been less 'fearful' then the TS method.
 
Jim DeLaney said:
This would have been the perfect place to have used a hand saw, a chisel, and a rabbet plane.

A dado jig and a router would have worked, too, if power was really necessary.

Either would have been less 'fearful' then the TS method.
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Ahh Jim, you're a purest.:thumb:

Yes, all you say is correct. I gave a lot of thought to using a router and a jig. I use my router often for mortises. Don't remember exactly why I decided against it. Probably my inability to make a perfect jig!:rofl:

As for the hand saw, rabbet plane and chisel. Yes, but that would have necessitated my going out and buying a good saw and plane!:D Since I just dropped a bunch of $$ on a new camera (gloat to follow once it arrives) I don't think the LOML would have stood still for spending another $300 or so.

However, your point is well taken.:wave:
 
Rennie, I'm with you. I swear, my tablesaw, with blade down and unplugged, growls and snarls at me when I walk by. It's a scary thing. I probably avoid doing some projects because of my extreme respect for the danger a TS poses. And that dado whizzing, has given me the "weak knee" feeling also. Congrats on your ingenuity and recognizing the potential danger.
 
I had a Makita SCMS and it would not support a dado set. I think it is unusual for one to be able to mount one on them. If you've ever watched NYW, Norm has used them frequently on his RAS. Anyway, if your RAS is set up correctly, and I've spent a fair amount of time making sure mine is, it is very safe to do dados on them.
 
Sean Wright said:
I've seen Dado blades used on Radial Arm Saws.

It his rather scarry.... but it can be done.
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Just as an aside over in Europe it's illegal in lots of countries to use dado blades on the table saw.

The Radial Arm Saw is the preferred and legal tool for dadoing.


I've done lots of dados on the ts but I really miss my old craftsman RAS for that.
I may pick up another one some day just for dados....

Scary looking Rennie but it looks like you played it safe and managed:thumb:
 
Success!!!

Not perfect, but pretty darn close.:D
DSC_0535sm.JPG
This might seem a small accomplishment to some, but lap joints have been my bane for years. I'm very happy this one is behind me.:)
 
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