Steve apologies for my delayed response. I was finished at work at 4pm, hence my apparent disappearance just prior to this time. Didn't want to be late for getting off early on a Friday.
I've been out in the wshop tonight finishing off a plane till, glad it's done. Anyway I wondered if I had left you hanging, so had to check it out. It seems I had, so apologies once again.
To answer the last question you put to me, the answer is, no, of course not. I would not wish to give the impression an unprotected dado was a safe means of operating or encourage usage on unsuitable machines. I would agree however the router is probably :-k the safer method, that said, an inexperienced user is just as much at risk with a large router used incorrectly. To make best use of the router, particularly for housing joints in this case, purpose made jigs are an neccesity, unless of course you enjoy fiddling about trying to line a straight edge up with corresponding lines on the mating part. I know I don't. By the time I mark out the housings, chuck the bit, clamp on a straight edge, clear the work bench, clamp the workpiece etc etc I could have the joints cut on the TS. I have several routers but to be honest not a fan of them. I just find them, bulky. fiddly, noisy, messy and I always seem to get entangled in the flex.
Perhaps I need to spend time and build that jig, I have seen many, just never taken the time to build one because, for me the TS and dado is the first port of call.
I actually have 4 dado sets, all of which have been shipped at various times over the years from the US to cater for the 5/8" arbour on my saw. If you were going to ask why I have 4 sets, I could ask why do guys have 5, 10, 20 routers?? I suppose because we like them and want to experiment with different styles. I keep one for rough work on particle board and MDF etc and one for working on veneered surfaces where tearout is important. Besides we all like our toys and we can't have too many of those.