The Cheap Dado Cutter

I have purchased several dado cutter sets for my table saw. Some work great, others are mediocre. What baffles me is the price I paid for them. The price just never seemed justified. I mean really, what are you getting? Usually two saw blades and a handful of chippers that are really only partial saw blades.

So, for years I have debated the idea of just stacking up a bunch of regular blades. If you search around the Internet you can find this issue debated fairly strongly with little consensus. I finally decided to take the plunge and give it a try. I headed to the store and bought a pile of cheap matching blades, went home and fiddled with them for a couple of hours.

My results were great. I got dados that were every bit as good as the ones I make with my professional (and expensive) dado sets. I had all the little cardboard spacers from my pro sets, but I also tried to make a couple myself. It was easy to make fine width adjustments (as easy as it is with the pro sets).

The concern you will find bantered about is that the solid blade won't clear the wood chips like the chipper does and the blade set will get clogged. I found this to be quite untrue. I offset my blades carefully and never had any trouble. I could get clogged blades if I tried. And, doing my due diligence I did try. If I intentionally misaligned the blades and pushed the wood through fast and sloppy, sure enough the blades would have little wood chips wedged in the tight cracks. Lets face it though, the first rule of woodworking is to take your time and do the job right. I have no pity for the woodworker who finds himself in this situation, it is their own fault.

The one thing I would like to mention is that stacking up several blades does let the weight add up. Don't overdo it or you might strain your table saw motor. Also, be warned, with all that mass the blades have more momentum. It takes a lot longer than normal for the blades to spin down to a stop once you have turned your saw off. Pay attention and work safe.

Looking for saw blades online chech out woodtoolstore.com.