DADO ADVICE

[RogerS]

Id much prefer that people cared sufficiently to spell correctly. If your spelling is that bad use a spellchecker. I can live with American terminology if I must. To be honest I couldnt / wasnt prepared to invest the effort to read past the first line of Bramers original post in this thread.

or missing punctuation marks :wink: :lol:

 

[RogerS]

I some times get aggressive emails about terms and spelling from American readers of my WoodRat site,

What incredible arrogance! Presumably they also complain to the owners of websites written in French, German etc.

Here's a few more

Boot trunk
petrol gasoline
fag (UK slang for cigarette) US slang for homosexual
rubber eraser or US slang for contraceptive

 

[bramers]

i have been working alot recently and have just had a minute to catch up, i have read the past page of post's and just laughed

i had know idea that caps lock could have such an infuluence.

i was only typing up an essay for college and was writting the header of a sub title and then i thought about d's and just quickly wrote a post about it.

it had no meaning what so ever, and i can't belive how :twisted: some can get over CAPS LOCK,

i feel afraid to use it, maybe i sould get a screw driver and pop it out of the keyboard

dont worry about caps, worry about what wood and what tool you are going to buy next

 

[Scrit]

Sgian - now see what you've started........ :lol:

Bramers - any chance of some feedback - good, bad or indifferent about the gist of the on topic stuff? :roll:

Anyone - someone like to shoot me down, or at least afford me a critique of the last post I did? :roll:

Scrit

 

[Alf]

Anyone - someone like to shoot me down, or at least afford me a critique of the last post I did? :roll:

I'm still trying to work out how it'd fit on my #46... :wink: Seriously though, not being a tablesaw (saw bench? ) user I couldn't say.

Cheers, Alf

 

[bramers]

well i have used the dado for a few tasks now and i can only say that it is brilliant, i dont want to anoy anyone but that is my opinion, i wear all the ppe and use feather boards and push sticks, havent had any probs.

also that was in mahogany and beech.

i watched norm this morning and it was and old one, he had a wobble in the saw and that made me jump up inside

i would certanly not use a wobble blade but have nothing bad to say about the D.

if i get scared i just stop and think how can i do that and still play my £ 400 guitar tonight

big B

 

[Noel]

Hi Scrit, it's just a regular cross cut sled.

The block on the rear limits travel and stops exposure of the blade although a clamped baton or chain / cable as well as the block would be safer for the less confident user. But with use it's pretty easy to realize when the cut has been completed.

Noel

 

[Scrit]

well i have used the dado for a few tasks now and i can only say that it is brilliant, i dont want to anoy anyone but that is my opinion, i wear all the ppe and use feather boards and push sticks, havent had any probs.

also that was in mahogany and beech.

You may wear the "PPE", but do you guard the blade? A dust mask and ear defenders won't save your fingers from amputation. A guard probably will, which I thought was the purpose of this thread.

As for mahogany, it cuts like butter. Beech isn't that hard either. Try it on iroko and see it that doesn't scare you :evil:

Hi Scrit, it's just a regular cross cut sled.

Well, as a proper panel saw user of many, many years I wouldn't know...... And in that case why is it that Super Norm (and many other American wood butchers) don't use them? (crosscut sleds, that is)

The block on the rear limits travel and stops exposure of the blade although a clamped baton or chain / cable as well as the block would be safer for the less confident user. But with use it's pretty easy to realize when the cut has been completed.

I think that there are a couple of other issues here, though, Noel. You absolutely need a limiter block at the rear to stop the rig before the blade becomes visible. Basing it on judgement isn't a safe approach, especially if you have a trip. :shock: The second thing missing from the cross cut jig is any form of hold-down which may or may not be a necessity depending on the depth/width of the trench. I've sometimes felt the radial arm saw "snaking" as it tries to climb cut when deep trenching. That probably translates into a latent kickback in saw bench terms so there needs to be some sort of mechanism to limit this.

Scrit

 

[Philly]

Scrit
Where do you get the "soft" beech from?? The only beech I ever get is rock hard :lol:
Noels' crosscut box does have a stop built in-a simple addition.
As to Yanks using cross-cut carriages, they are pretty common (if the US magazines are anything to go by) You would enjoy Kelly Mehlers DVD on table saws-he is more safety conscious than you :wink: Well, nearly :lol:

Brahmers
Glad you got on well with your dado-as long as you work within your limits of what feels safe you should be o.k.
Cheers
Philly

 

[Scrit]

Nah! Beech is pretty soft against some of the stuff out there..... try oak, teak or iroko and you'll see what I mean :lol:

I'd say it is a medium hardness timber and machines quite well because the grain is normally fairly straight. Only time I have trouble with it is end grain cutting where it can have a tendency to scorch - just like sycamore and maple.

Scrit

 

[johnelliott]

i had know idea that caps lock could have such an infuluence.

i was only typing up an essay for college and was writting the header of a sub title and then i thought about d's and just quickly wrote a post about it.

it had no meaning what so ever, and i can't belive how :twisted: some can get over CAPS LOCK,

i feel afraid to use it, maybe i sould get a screw driver and pop it out of the keyboard

dont worry about caps, worry about what wood and what tool you are going to buy next

I think you will find that writing posts in all upper case on any forum will not go down too well. If you are worried about unintentionally using the 'CAPS LOCK' key then looking at what you have written on the screen before you post it will let you know if you need to correct it or not.
Some keyboards have a warning light that comes on if the CAPS LOCK is in operation.

John

 

[Colin C]

If you think Beech is hard try Wenge, Palm or Yew ( very hard ) and you will see what Srit means

 

[bramers]

Calm yourself's, im only explaning to you not proving anything.

Especially you Scrit, i am not being nasty but i am only here to learn good practise, not be given an English lesson with Mrs smith.

great if thats your thing but taking up two pages about it is mad.

if you want me to learn don't give me " ear protection wont save your pinkys" that turns me away when you could be helping.

thanks for the interest :norm: he,he,he

i must add, norm always says every time " and make sure all saftey gaurds are in place" (or somthing along that line) he never uses one when it would be ideal. anyway thats his prerogative.

 

[Barry Burgess]

Philly I want to put you on the spot - you are a user of a Dado head cutter in your saw - what are you doing about safety and what are your experiences with kickbacks and near misses with your fingers??
You have more experience than most with the dado cutter so your comments would be valuable to this discussion

 

[Barry Burgess]

The crosscut sled would be of no use to me doing trenches or rebates of 600mm to 800mm or more

 

[Midnight]

OK, then, define a "planer" or a "moulder" (machines) - there is a potentially misleading difference between what an American and an English-speaker means by the terms. If you want to describe something accurately, you need to know the nomenclature,

Och.... too easy... it's one o them heathen Normite woodmunchers innit...?? Nexttttttt.

:wink:

 

[Philly]

No problem, Barry.
I use the dado in my table saw, not a huge amount, but when appropriate. I have a shop-made guard that attaches to the fence when cutting close to the edge of a workspiece. If its a foot or more in I just use the fence to guide the piece through, no "safety" gear. (We are talking cabinet sides, really) If the dado is buried in the workpiece (except when entering/leaving) I have no problem with it.
As to kickback-never had ANY experiences with it. A regular blade, yes. The dado-no. The blade is cutting in line with the cut (as opposed to rotating the opposite direction, like a straight router bit) and it is a quiet, clean cut. No mess, multiple takes, jigs, etc. Just set the fence, depth of cut, turn on the vac and voila, job done in a few seconds, minimal noise and fuss.
I feel the majority of problems with dados in the UK are down to using them in saws that are NOT suitable. You need a heavy duty machine that is designed for it. It is quick to set up (not much longer than swapping saw blades), quiet (and that is a REAL benefit to most hobby woodworkers) clean (all the waste gets sucked away by the saws extraction) and you can cut it in one pass.
I would love for you to all pop by the workshop and see it in action. It is a REAL LET-DOWN. You just set it up and make the cut. No horror stories, no fuss. All UK dado users I have spoken to have said the same thing-you are expecting all sorts of terrible things to happen when you switch it on, fueled by Internet old womens tales. In the real world (well, mine :lol: ) it is a much more simple story.
So-bottom line. Used in a suitable saw, and within it's design application, a dado head is a useful tool in your workshop. You may not use it every day, every week, or even every month. But sometimes it is the best tool for the job.
Hope this is of help,
Philly
please note-this is my own personal opinion. Your safety is paramount-never perform an operation you feel is unsafe.

 

[Midnight]

Anyone - someone like to shoot me down, or at least afford me a critique of the last post I did?

relax... I'm unarmed..

what you've drawn (nice job btw) looks pretty close to a jig that Taunton posted a video of a while back, the only differences I can see between the two are esthetic.. In the vid, the fore n aft fences had a distinct crown to them in their centre (no doubt designed to keep the rig intact when used with the blade at full height), and the rearmost (closest to the user) fence was a good few inches taller than its counterpart. A subsequent vid demonstrated how to ensure the rear fence ended up square to the sawn kerf...

only reason I can think of to explain why Norm doesn't use one is his preference for suitable alternatives... chop saw, radial arm or mitre guage when using the table saw...

 

[Scrit]

I am not being nasty but i am only here to learn good practise.....

Great if thats your thing but taking up two pages about it is mad.

If you want me to learn don't give me " ear protection wont save your pinkys" that turns me away when you could be helping.

That seems to be a contradiction in terms. Perhaps if you want to have assistance you should re-read the earlier posts in the thread before the hi-jack, or was it that which was "mad"?

Scrit

 

[Noel]

Bramers, invest £15 in this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 07-3410203

Best investment you'll make.

Noel