Dado set problem

[sibi1972]

I have a Rigid TS2400 TS, under powered for sure for big work but the fence stays true to the miter slot and with a good blade, it gets me by. A while back I setup a cut with a new 8" stacked dado set. I made a test cut in a piece of scrap 3/4" ply and it looked fine. After setting up with oak, feather boarded nicely, I started the cut only to find a series of "bangs" and a destroyed chunk of wood. I disassembled the dado set and reset it again. All of the teeth were set to turn towards the front of the saw and tried the test cut again. Fine. But it destroyed the oak again the moment it touched it. I am sure it's not a feed rate problem, it banged instantly, it never cut. Then I tried it with one chipper and the two end blades. Made real sure it was tight too. On ply it's fine, on oak it kills. I managed to get the groove I needed on the router table with a large bottom cleaning bit but the dado set is back in the box and I'm afraid to let it out. It seems like I did something stupid/wrong, any ideas??

"Red"

[carl civi]

Hi, maybe the depth of cut is to deep,try a shallow cut first,sounds like blades is banging into wood,oak is a lot harder then ply and pine..Carl
http://www.pens-by-carlo.com

[TDHofstetter]

That's what it sounds like to me, too - if the dado is to be very deep, make it in several passes of progressively greater depth. A dado set is being asked to remove a LOT of wood in a very short time.

-- Tim --


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[sibi1972]

Thank you guys. Yes, the cut I tried was 1/2" tall and 1/2" wide. It's what I thought a dado set did, cut tall and wide with one setup. If it won't do that or at least not with my TS then I find it easier to make these type of cuts on the router table. I have better dust control there, more HP for the bit to motor ratio and I guess I'll keep the set for any big plywood cuts. Thank you again.

"Red"

[Sawduster]

1/2" X 1/2" dado or groove in a single pass is a bit to ask for even with a router. I've cut 1/2" box joints 1/2" deep in a single pass, but that was through 3/4" or less of thickness and even that was a tense situation in some harder woods.

[sibi1972]

I take no more then 1/8" if even that on each router pass with hardwoods and large bits. I realize now that my TS is way underpowered for big dado work. I know how heavy the dado set is and I don't think my TS motor weighs as much. When I was setting up the first cut, I was thinking "is this motor really gonna rotate all this weight?" Surprisingly, it cut the plywood just fine but I don't think it's a good thing to do to that saw. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought a 8" dado set to go into that TS. A 4" dado set would be more like it, if they make them that small.

"Red"

[Sonny Edmonds]

6" is the smallest I've seen.
But for lesser powered saws, 6" is the long time standard to use.
You see, the larger the diameter, the harder it is to keep the speed up. It's a matter of leverage and torque.
Stepping through passes with lighter cuts is the trick with lesser power. And oak is not nice about being "man-handled".
More teeth make for a smoother cutting operation, especially with Oak. You can't just hack away at it without pooping your pants, it gets hairy.
Many folks will use only the router table to do dadoing. I suppose the fear of a bucket full of razors spinning at high speed has a lot to do with that.
So... back off a bit, go slower, and work your way into your dadoing. Use push blocks as well. (You can make some really excellent ones from rubber faced cement floats.)

As with any shop machine operation new to you, go very conservative at first, then take bigger bites as you gain experiance and confidence with that operation.
You'll get it. Just take it a bit slower at first. ;)


:D

[link:home.earthlink.net/~pie/data/index.html|Sonny Edmonds ]
Saugus, CA
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