The Axminster "take" on Dado Head Cutters

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Newbie_Neil

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Hi all

This comes courtesy of The Axminster Review, a customer magazine of Axminster Power Tools - February 2004.

Q. An Axminster customer with a BTS10P tablesaw, who watches a lot of Norm Abram, wants to know why Axminster don't sell dado head cutters.

A. To comply with CE regulations our saw tables have a motor-brake to stop run-on of the blade when you push the stop button. The weight of a dado head cutter is such that the inertia that it creates would overcome the motor brake and allow the blade to run-on, exceeding the stopping time laid down in the regulations.

You will also find that most saw spindles are now too short to accomodate the width of the full dado blade and cutter assembler. So even if you bought one from the USA you would not be able to fit it to your saw.

However, for the most part, you will find that a router will be more efficient and give you a better finish on those jobs that might otherwise employ a dado head cutter."

End of Axminster reply.

Now, for those who can't live without a dado head here is where you can buy your dado head cutter for the DW720K
http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/store/newsearch.php3?search=dado&max=25&start=0&submit.x=14&submit.y=8

Cheers
Neil
 
Baffles me why anyone would want to use a dado head. I realise that yankee personages don't know any better, but they still use feet and inches and that's the era that dado heads belong in
John
 
I realise that yankee personages don't know any better, but they still use feet and inches and that's the era that dado heads belong in

Hmm, those ole fashioned ' feet and inches' peeps have technology on Mars @ the mo, something us metric wallers seem to have a problem with. :lol:

Its not what you measure with, but how you measure up :wink:
 
johnelliott":2i8r9fj4 said:
Baffles me why anyone would want to use a dado head.

Just wondering what you use for grooving and dado-ing?
When you only need to do a few obviously there are various options, but what about making scores of dados for larger projects?
 
Hi Aragorn

WIth a router and a simple jig you can make dadoes that will ensure you can duplicate the dado quickly and easily. :wink:

Much safer than any tablesaw.

Cheers
Neil
 
Yet another dado head discussion :roll:

Also noticed in the review, axminster are selling a new super dooper looking saw guard, the type which hovers - and does not need a riving knife to hold it. (Thus more safely allowing "un-guarded" work to be performed guarded.
 
Newbie_Neil":1xajr40q said:
With a router and a simple jig you can make dadoes that will ensure you can duplicate the dado quickly and easily

I often use a router and straight edge for this, but also like the ability to adjust my dado head to a fraction of a millimetre for a good fit. Hard to do that with a router unless you make two passes per dado with an adjustment to the straight edge in between (unless I'm missing a trick :D )

Not another dado head discussion??? Hey, some of us are new here! Suppose it shows! :shock:
 
Aragorn but what about making scores of dados for larger projects?[/quote said:
You'll need to give me an example before I can answer that. It also presumes that dados are actually necessary, where as most times I've seen them used, they are not. About the only time I make grooves is for the ply back panel in cabinets

John
 
Hi Aragorn

Aragorn":2871rhnh said:
I often use a router and straight edge for this, but also like the ability to adjust my dado head to a fraction of a millimetre for a good fit. Hard to do that with a router unless you make two passes per dado with an adjustment to the straight edge in between (unless I'm missing a trick :D )

If you have a jig that has two sides then you do not have to move anything in between cuts. :wink:

Aragorn":2871rhnh said:
Not another dado head discussion??? Hey, some of us are new here! Suppose it shows! :shock:

Don't worry, whenever new people join there is invariably a discussion about dado head cutters. :wink:

Sorry, but I forgot to say welcome. :oops:

Cheers
Neil
 
Well you could always use a Multiplane instead of the Router, as that will allow for small adjustments. :D :D

And pray tell whats the matter with Feet & Inches :shock: :?

Bean
 
johnelliott":1x18nnki said:
You'll need to give me an example before I can answer that. It also presumes that dados are actually necessary, where as most times I've seen them used, they are not.

Fair enough! Different styles of furniture making at work here that's all. Often dado are unnecessary, such as when the joint structure is hidden by making stopped dados as Norm is so fond of.
But if you want the joint to show at the front of the cabinet (or finish the front with a sliding dovetail joint or mitred dado joint) then dados are a must!
I suppose it's not about necessity but aesthetics, otherwise why bother with joinery at all when these new polyurethane glues makes it virtually obsolete :wink:
 
Aragorn, You could use an offset trenching base such as the one Trend make(£19.95+vat). It screws to the base of the router & has 6 sides, each give 1mm more cut than the 1st cut so you can go up to 5mm wider than the router cutter. You could make one yourself with different offsets.
 
So Bilzee, do you approve of dado heads? and feet and inches?


Never used a dado head. Neither approve or disapprove.

Nothing wrong with feet and inches. They've served me well enough :)

....as have miles, pints, pounds and ounces and farhrenheit etc etc.
 
At least feet & inches & all the Imperial measurements were applicable to things around you. The metric system was made by French mathematicians, 200 years ago,who calculated it from the diameter of the Earth. Trouble was they got their sums wrong. The nautical mile is a true measurement based on the Earths circumference 1000 knots = 1°
 
Aragorn,

My BIL makes dolls house parapahelia. Fancy stands to put the dolls houses on, room boxes and stuff like that. He sells at shows and generally makes things in batches. Say 96 room boxes at a time and 4 or 5 stands.

With the room boxes for example there are 500 hundred joints to cut in a batch. With the router its to time consuming, ie loss of profit. He uses the freud SDH on an old Tyzac Zyto (spelling) table saw and can bash them out in a fraction of the time that he could with a router.

He uses a shaw type guard to provide gaurding and he whizes through them safely and effiiciently.

Obviously most of us wanabe chipendales aint going to be putting through that sort of quantity, if you are where do you get the time ;), so its a lot safer and quicker to use the router. And I dare say most of us dont have an older saw which is not subject to braking and with a long enough arbour

Ive used the SDH my self on the odd occasion but to be honest, the time it takes me to setup its no quicker than the router and a damns site scarier :shock: .

BIL on the other hand knows exactly where the setup guide is and has it done quicker than I can make a brew.

Sorry if this is a bit garbled and meaningless, its late on sunday night and I must admit to having drunk a bit to much :roll:

Hic


Signal
 
Has anyone tried the MAC mitre board made in Canada?
It can take either a circular saw or a router to cut trenches up to 24" when set at 90°. It effectively turns any circular saw into a radial arm.
I had seen it on QVC so before I bought one I made a board with a back & front fence & 2 rebated rails to suit my router. Its possible to make the back fence longer to accept a sliding stop system for repeat trenches. Stopped housings (dados) can be made simply by fitting a batten across the top to stop the router.
 
Dewy,

sounds interesting I shall seek out said oujiwangy on the net
and have a gander.

Cheers

Signal
 
Its £40 for a few pieces of plastic when QVC have them in stock.
The good thing about that board is that you have a mitre fence in the middle that can be accurately set to whatever angle you want although you do lose the full 24" cross cut ability.
One rail is fixed at 90° & the other can be adjusted to the saw or router base you have.
I just looked for them & they are out of stock at QVC right now.
This is the home page in Canada so you can see what it looks like & what you can do with it. http://www.macboard.qc.ca/
 
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