A couple of questions.
First – has anyone taken a look at the DeVilbiss brad/crown stapler Sam’s club is selling? 90$ seems like a good deal and they seem very similiar to the Porter Cables. The primary differences are the lack of depth adjustment, and the release for the magazine.
Second – I purchased, only a few weeks ago, a Jesada Anti Kickback dado set because my ancient Sears just didn’t seem acceptable anymore. I’ve only made a few cuts with it, but in each notice that the bottom is grooved, particulary where the outside blades contact the wood. I suppose I was hoping and expecting perfectly flat bottom dados, is that too much to expect. I purchased the Jesada mostly on the reviews I have read in some magazines, and because it fell somewhere in the middle of the pack, around $150.00. Is this the best that I can expect from Jesada, or any dado set?
Thanks.
Replies
Those little grooves on the outside are normal. (Now, if I could only remember why...).
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The problem is primarily your Craftsman saw. The arbor on those saws has a groove between the threaded portion and the non-threaded portion. This causes the chipper resting in that spot to rotate in a non-concentric path (cut deeper). In addition, the way the threads are made on the arbor makes the diameter smaller than the holes in the dado components. In other words, the dado blades and chippers will not move in concentric paths again causing some to cut deeper than others.
You can frequently deal with the groove problem by purchasing a two part epoxy metal and apply it to the arbor in the area of the groove. Once hard, file and sand it smooth. This eliminates one problem but there is no way to eliminate the undersized threaded arbor. Sorry.
The teeth point on outside cutting blades of a dado set are diliberately a tad larger. This is to shear the wood upon entry slightly before the cleanout teeth so that the dado edges are clean and smooth.
BTW, a correctly fitting dado set should be somewhat of a pain to get on and off because of the close tolerance of the hole size and the arbor. Wiggling is frequently required.
Edited 11/8/2002 1:10:31 PM ET by Howie
No Craftsman saw here, I have an old Jet contractor style. The reference to Sears was for the old dado set I have. The old dado set is probably about 25 years old, if not older. But it sounds like no matter what set you have, they are never going to be perfectly flat bottoms.
Thanks.
Sorry to offend your Jet by calling it a Craftsman, but I seem to remember that early Jets had skinnier threads on their arbor. I saw the "Sears" name an made an assumption.
There is still the point about the diameter of the arbor relative to the diameter of the dado set hole. Do the blades go on easily or is it somewhat difficult?
Any of the current top notch dadoes should produce virtually flat bottoms except for the little "V" notches caused by the outside cutters.
As Charles M.--the Freud guy--said, just barely touch a flat board with you dado set with all the chipping in. This will quickly tell you if there is a mis-sized chipper. Then re-order the chippers and try again. See if it is the same chipper or in the chipper in the same position.
With that info, contact Jesada and discuss it with them.
I have a Craftsman Excaliber dado set that renders perfect dados including flat bottoms. It's not a stacked dado.. but two blades with a spacer that allows you to dial in the width of cut. Half inch or less you remove the spacer. The Excaliber sells for 199 but it's worth it if you're into cases and drawers like I am. Unfortunately, I have a Craftsman saw with the aforementioned, undersized arbor. It takes quite a bit of wiggling to set up for a 3/4 inch groove or rabbit. I also bought a 23/32 router bit from Woodcrafters that gives you perfectly flat bottoms. But I prefer using my T/S for most grooves and rabbits.
bill
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