Synopsis: Take tablesawn joinery to the next step with this set of four specialty blades—8-in. stacked dado set, box-joint set, specially ground flat-top rip blade, and specially ground dovetail blade. Because they are designed for specific functions, these blades increase your speed and accuracy whether you are cutting rabbets and dadoes or box joints and dovetails. Woodworking teacher Bob Van Dyke walks you through these blades step by step, with tips on choosing the right blade for each specific joint and using it efficiently.

The tablesaw is one of the most useful power tools in a woodworking shop, perfect for ripping, crosscutting, and a variety of joinery tasks. I keep a high-quality 50-tooth combination blade in my tablesaw 90% of the time, which I use for most ripping and crosscutting operations. But when it comes to joinery, blades that are designed for specific operations usually do a better job because they increase your speed and accuracy. From basic rabbets and dadoes to finicky box joints and fine-fitting dovetails, a set of four blades makes many joints quickly and precisely.

The dedicated joinery blades I use most frequently are an 8-in. stacked dado set, a box-joint set, a specially ground flat-top rip blade, and a blade specially ground to cut dovetails. By the way, always invest in high-quality blades; I find they far outperform most cheap blades.

Here I’ll show you how to take advantage of these specialty blades to increase the speed and precision of your machine-cut furniture joints.

Many people already own an 8-in. stacked dado blade set. It’s the most versatile joinery blade, making jobs such as cutting tenons, rabbets, dadoes, and grooves simple and straightforward. You change the width of a cut by stacking different combinations of blades and shims.

To cut a groove or…