DADO ADVICE

[PowerTool]

I bought that,along with Lonnie Birds "Bandsaw book" - would recommend both of them (sensible,well-written books with excellent information and advice)

Andrew

 

[Barry Burgess]

Thanks Philly its got to be quicker than using a router table and with the table saw table you have more control with the bigger bits. I have found with a normal bade and the times that I have removed the guard I have resorted to used a "Gripper" and have not had kickbacks or put my fingers in danger.

 

[cutting42]

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

Best investment you'll make.

Noel

Not sure what Bramers will do but I just ordered one, looks great.

Also in addition, I would like to thanks scrit philly and many others on this thread for the (mostly! :lol: ) on topic and very calm and collected discussion on the creation of dados with some very useful suggestions and in particular guard suggestions.

My dado set should be with me in a day or so and I feel much better informed how to use it in a safe manner as much as possible.

 

[neilc]

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.

Very sensible reply Philly and sums up exactly my experience using my set.
Neil

 

[Alf]

If it helps, I don't get kickback from my dado set either:



Cheers, Alf

Pursuing a policy of Patient Plane Promotion until you all jolly well give in... :wink:

 

[Colin C]

Now Alf , you can just stop show off 8-[
( ducks and runs)

 

[Scrit]

Alf, what sort of feed rate do you get on that? Oh yes, and where's the lead? :shock:

Scrit

 

[Alf]

Alf, what sort of feed rate do you get on that?

Depends how many Shredded Wheat I've had.

 

[Philly]

Ha, nice Alf! :lol:
Did I see Norm using one of those??
No, thought not :roll:
Philly

 

[Midnight]

patience Philly patience... it's taking time but Norm's gradually seeing the light..

 

[Philly]

You know it, Mike! I'm still a bit shaky after watching him cut those dovetails by hand. :shock:
Philly

 

[Ian Dalziel]

Alf, what sort of feed rate do you get on that? Oh yes, and where's the lead? :shock:

Scrit

yep definately no sign of a lead.... :roll: :shock:

I

 

[Alf]

Alf, what sort of feed rate do you get on that? Oh yes, and where's the lead? :shock:

Scrit

yep definately no sign of a lead.... :roll: :shock:

I'm sorry, but I absolutely refuse to take my planes out for "walkies"... [-( :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[tooold]

This is my first post here - I found this old thread while looking for information on dado blades - it's very helpful.

One note on the US/UK terminology issue - I'm American, but I started doing woodworking here in France, where I moved after living eight years in the UK. One of the biggest issues I face (almost daily) is trying not only to understand the basics of woodworking, but to translate English terms into French, and then, even harder, US into UK English and vice versa.

The English/French problem is difficult not only in terms of language, but because DIY culture barely exists in France - the feeling seems to be that you leave everything to professionals. But the UK/US issue is really hard - obviously there's a huge amount of books, DVD's, etc. that come from the US, while I usually end up getting tools, supplies, hardware, etc. from the UK. Also, for me, what I guess could be called the "US approach" to things often just seems to make more sense, but posts on UK woodworking forums are more relevant in terms of what I can get here.

I know that people in the UK often take a dim view of the US (putting it mildly - I've been verbally dressed down in public places in the UK several times simply because I'm American), but it seems like there's a lot of knowledge coming from both the US and the UK, and it would be a waste to lose any of it. There's no doubt a lot of slam-bang-done attitude in some US material, but there's also a lot of good as well.

So, I'd vote for dual-language! I'd love to find a US/UK woodworking term dictionary - anybody know if one exists?

Thanks to everyone for a very useful forum.

 

[jimi43]

Welcome to the UKW board.

Many years ago I rebuilt an MG Midget from the ground up with a friend who was American. We had exactly the same problem with car (automobile) terminology.

One day, armed with a few beers, we sat down and wrote out all the bits of the car that differed and then spent a hilarious few hours discussing the merits of each.

We came to the conclusion that about 40% English words made sense, 40% US equivalents made sense and the remaining 20% we could make no sense of at all. It was hugely funny getting there though....and before the days of the Internet where derivations would have been easily available.

I think that woodworking is likely to bring up a similar discussion....one that might be fun putting up here for a game for all to play! How about we put the two differing words meaning the same thing up for comment and then let loose the brains of the forum?

Start with the thread you chose?

DADO (US/CANADIAN)
HOUSING (UK)
TRENCH (EUROPE)

Cheers

Jim

 

[Alf]

Good heavens, how one's past comes back to haunt you. The glory days of the almost daily dado debate. :lol:

Might be worth starting a fresh thread; you'll have all the ancient members tripping off so far down Memory Lane with this one, they won't concentrate.

 

[dickm]

The glory days of the almost daily dado debate. :lol:

.. and just when we thought it was as dead as a dado.

Sorry...........