Dado cutters - Please, what is so dangerous about them

[Alf]

It was the Shirt wot done it.

Cheers, Alf

Happy to be proved wrong

 

[Anonymous]

I would need a hundred cutters to make up all the combinations of width I can do with my dado set...I know I can do multiple passes but that in itself adds more chance for injury

Can't imagine how one would use a router in such a way that there is 'more chance for injury with multiple passes'?

John

Well simply because the router would be in use alot longer hence more chance of injury, it's not rocket science... I'm not saying the router is more or less dangerous than a dado but the longer a machine is switched on the more chance of something going wrong...

Seaco, your argument makes no sense to me. Simply using a router for longer than a dado head cutter deos not make it less safe or the user more prone to injury.

At the end of the day, I still see no advantage in the dado head cutter over the router - and I used a dado for 2 years before reaching this conclusion. As for the argument made above about cutter sizes, how many sizes of dado do you reaaly cut? 1/4", 1/2", 3/4"? More?

Incidentally, I do not consider the dado head cutter any more dangerous than an unguarded tablesaw blade with no splitter (in fact I would say it is less dangerous!!)

 

[seaco]

Hi Tony

I'm not going into how useful or otherwise a dado is compared to a router we'll never agree, all I'm saying is a dado or router can only do you damage if it's rotating, my dado will do the cut I need in one pass the router would take more hence is rotating longer = more chance of injury...

Don't get me wrong I realise a dado set is a dangerous thing to behold but with proper attention to safety it's no more dangerous, any power tool will cause serious injury if handled improperly...

Everytime I use my dado set I realise it's potential for injury, so hence I take extra precautions for safety something that I may not do so much for the router...

Lee

 

[Nick W]

Oh puh-lease will one of you be man (person) enough to let someone else have the last word on this subject. Give it a rest - nothing new, or useful, has been said for the last n pages. Borrrrrrrrrring.

 

[seaco]

Oh puh-lease will one of you be man (person) enough to let someone else have the last word on this subject. Give it a rest - nothing new, or useful, has been said for the last n pages. Borrrrrrrrrring.

I quite agree Nick I don't know why I keep being pulled back in but I promise that was my last post on this subject....

 

[Colin C]

Oh puh-lease will one of you be man (person) enough to let someone else have the last word on this subject. Give it a rest - nothing new, or useful, has been said for the last n pages. Borrrrrrrrrring.

\/ 8-[

 

[Taffy Turner]

As a Mechanical Engineer with some experience of H+S and Risk Assessment, gained in the steel industry (please don't make me do that again!!!!), I think that we are all overlooking the most serious risk associated with dado cutters which is :-

The very real risk of dying of boredom whilst trawling through 12 page topics about them that re-hash what has been said in all the other umpteen page posts about them on this site!!!

At the end of the day, as a private individual, no-one is more responsible for your health and safety than you are. Look at the process, analyse the risk, and if you are happy to accept the risk, then go ahead. If you then have an accident, you have no-one else to blame but yourself. If you understand this premise at the start, it is surprising how it modifies your approach to so many things in life!

Regards

Gary

 

[Alf]

Ha-hum?

I'm inclined to think that if the dado head doesn't kill you, this thread might... :lol:

Cheers, Alf :wink:

 

[Kane]

Be worth stickying this thread as a "Dado Guidance" to make it easy for newbies to see.

Yeah yeah I know search feature blah blah blah lol but if you have a sticky that shows the pro/conc/alternatives why not sticky it and avoid confusing novices with the less clear threads that exist

 

[Adam]

Be worth stickying this thread as a "Dado Guidance" to make it easy for newbies to see.

Yeah yeah I know search feature blah blah blah lol but if you have a sticky that shows the pro/conc/alternatives why not sticky it and avoid confusing novices with the less clear threads that exist

Sadly, that doesn't work. People still ask the question anyway. Also, dado threads are good for the winter months, helps keep your blood temperature up. :lol:

Besides the forum wouldn't be fun it we didn't have at least one contentious issue. The forum rules steer away from politics and religion, so really, there is only dados left after that :wink:

Adam

 

[Kane]

True and it helps get my post count up too lol

 

[johnelliott]

At the end of the day, as a private individual, no-one is more responsible for your health and safety than you are. Look at the process, analyse the risk, and if you are happy to accept the risk, then go ahead.

That's very true. I will still reply to threads of this type not because I hope to dissuade 'dado blade in saw bench' users from doing so, but to dissuade beginners from doing so. I understand that many beginners watch an american woodwork programme which shows these devices being used, and beginners may quite reasonably think that there is nothing wrong with doing so, when of course the reverse is true

John

 

[nonidentity]

Besides adding to my count. I think the message is that perhaps as sticky thread can be posted presenting the arguments for and against dado head cutters.

Besides the new sawstop? table saw can reopen the potential because of the safety factor is built in the design. It seems that problems associated with the dado is due to the current design of table saws and perhaps new innovations may lead to new solutions.

Soemthing to think about? :roll:

 

[Paul Kierstead]

I think one of the curious things you see regarding safety is a focus the end result rather then how you get there. This is not quite Dado vrs Router (or at least I am avoiding that issue) You will often see "X is as safe as Y if they are both used correctly". This kind of approach really misses the point. By definition, they are all safe when used correctly; they only become unsafe when procedure fails. Now the question becomes, what is required to use it correctly? Lets say, at an extreme:

Machine X requires 1 simple step which, if not performed, will raise the chance of injury by 20%.

Machine Y requires 5 steps, which must be performed perfectly and in exact order or catastrophic failure results.

Now when used correctly, but are 'safe', but machine Y has a much much larger chance of not being used correctly, especially by the unitiated. The analysis of risk must also include what the chance of using it incorrectly is, not just the end result of correct usage. In addition, if there is an accident, one must consider the consequences of of the accident. For example, accidents frequently occur with chislels, but these very rarely require more then stitches and often just a bandaid. Accidents with chopsaws are much less frequent, but much more severe. Accidents with cement mixers (the kind at a cement plant...) tend to be fatal. So I think the simplistic view expressed largely in this thread doesn't even get close, on the whole, to the real risks; there is insufficient information here to make an informed choice. Now how one could get sufficient information, I am not sure; has anyone done a formal risk analysis on the Dado?

 

[Alf]

Be worth stickying this thread as a "Dado Guidance" to make it easy for newbies to see.

Yeah yeah I know search feature blah blah blah lol but if you have a sticky that shows the pro/conc/alternatives why not sticky it and avoid confusing novices with the less clear threads that exist

Sadly, that doesn't work. People still ask the question anyway.

But at least we could point them to the sticky with one simple link. And then lock the thread - quick. Mind you, it'd probably take a 50 page thread for everyone to decide what exactly the sticky should say... :-k

Cheers, Alf

 

[Scrit]

.....has anyone done a formal risk analysis on the Dado?

Yes - I required one as part of my ACOP assessment, i.e. a legal requirement in a trade shop, where I had to show ther was no safer suitable methodology - it wasn't easy. My assessment, however, was for the RAS.

Scrit

 

[Noel]

For those that are bored stupid with this thread please refrain from reading it. It's not hard to determine it's subject.
For those that find it of interest please continue to read and contribute. The vast majority of posts have been informative, constructive and interesting no matter which side of the fence each point of view emanates from.
We are, after all, on a forum where discussion, debate and information is the reason why we are all here.
Hopefully a thread will never be locked for the sole reason that some members find the subject matter boring. Dados are a common feature of this forum but as long as people feel the need to start a discussion and others want to become involved I see no harm. 12 pages and nearly 4,000 views in a couple or three days means something.
But, as I mentioned, if you find a subject boring (and there's plenty of other threads that are boring in the extreme) move on.

 

[seaco]

Sorry Nick I know I promised but I'm back...

OK I'm going to realise defeat here I'm not stupid if it ever happened "God forbid" I would rather fall on a router table than a dado blade...

But I will say that with proper safety precautions either is as safe as they can be, but it is true what I've read here that I wouldn't really be to happy for a newbie woodworker to get their hands on a a dodo set... hadn't really thought of that!

I will still use mine as I am fairly safety Conscious and love their ease of use I will also use my router for similar jobs when appropriate...

Lee

 

[Kane]

For those that are bored stupid with this thread please refrain from reading it. It's not hard to determine it's subject.
For those that find it of interest please continue to read and contribute. The vast majority of posts have been informative, constructive and interesting no matter which side of the fence each point of view emanates from.
We are, after all, on a forum where discussion, debate and information is the reason why we are all here.
Hopefully a thread will never be locked for the sole reason that some members find the subject matter boring. Dados are a common feature of this forum but as long as people feel the need to start a discussion and others want to become involved I see no harm. 12 pages and nearly 4,000 views in a couple or three days means something.
But, as I mentioned, if you find a subject boring (and there's plenty of other threads that are boring in the extreme) move on.

Agreed

(runs off to check his post count )

 

[JPEC]

For those that are bored stupid with this thread please refrain from reading it. It's not hard to determine it's subject.
For those that find it of interest please continue to read and contribute. The vast majority of posts have been informative, constructive and interesting no matter which side of the fence each point of view emanates from.
We are, after all, on a forum where discussion, debate and information is the reason why we are all here.
Hopefully a thread will never be locked for the sole reason that some members find the subject matter boring. Dados are a common feature of this forum but as long as people feel the need to start a discussion and others want to become involved I see no harm. 12 pages and nearly 4,000 views in a couple or three days means something.
But, as I mentioned, if you find a subject boring (and there's plenty of other threads that are boring in the extreme) move on.

Agreed

(runs off to check his post count )

Hear hear Noel, being new to this forum lark i have found it interesting, informative and entertaining :lol:

Kane, you have a long way to go to catch up with Alf!!