# new dato blade is crap



## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I need help and advice. On what Dato blade to buy on a budget. I have a new Sears dato blade. It was about $60. I shopped around a while. I guess I should have spent more because my dato's look like crap


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

Here is the setup. is it possable I'm doing something wrong.


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## mdlbldrmatt135 (Dec 6, 2006)

IMHO Cross grain dados like that will have tearout........... something looks off with tthe chippers you're using... like the dia. is different........


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

You get what you paid for. You need to go with carbide. At a minimum go with a 24 tooth Freud. If you want to go full bore get a Forrest.


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## Ken Johnson (Nov 8, 2007)

Check out the dado blades by Ridge Carbide. They make awesome blades for good prices.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Those cuts are aweful....doesn't appear to be anything you did. Take it back and look into a Freud SD206 or 208 for ~ $80...fine set for the price. If u don't mind spending closer to $100, the DeWalt DW7670 (also comes as a Delta 35-7670) has twice as many teeth and leaves a bit smoother cut. It comes with a nice case and a great set of shim stock too.


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## PK. (Nov 12, 2007)

Finger joints, I think that's what you're going for, are easier to make on the router table I think.

That blade cuts lousy. Double dittoes on Freud and Forrest. Infinity is supposed to be very good as is CMT.


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## Spyko (Nov 3, 2007)

Those cuts are B-A-D. For any joint you'll want a blade that has chipper and edge blades that are the same diameter. The raised center in the cuts in your photo are the result of poorly matched (ground) blades. If you don't want to buy a new set you could try dropping them with a good sharpening shop for re-grinding. If the shop gets them all to the same diameter they might be fine. Try backing up your cuts with a sacrificial fence to avoid the tearout. Your set is a relatively inexpensive one, but you can work a bit more to get good results with it. If you want to buy a better set look for chippers with 4 cutters instead of 2 and carbide throughout. The best sets will offer 1 or 2 smaller width chippers to make varying the size of your cuts easier. Many woods (like the poplar in your photo) will tearout with a wide dado and no backup fence no matter what your feed-rate is or how good the set.


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

Freud make a dedicated boxjoint set just for that purpose, sells for under a 100 on internet.
Whoever said Freud is bad must be using the blades backwards. Freud is among the highest rated blades out there.
They make an awesome dado set that will cost you around 185.


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

Look a bit lower and you will see a post about Freud blades
READ and HEED:yes:


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## PK. (Nov 12, 2007)

Who said Freud makes bad blades?


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

That was just a piece of scrap poplar it ran thru a few times. I went to Woodcraft and got a Freud. I'm just begining wood working. I've been shopping all spring and summer for deals on tool's. I'm only a few months into it. When I was in school I always had wood shop, that was a long time ago. I'm doing a lot of 
practicing on corners an different joints. I think I'm going to have bite the bullet and get some kind of dust collection setup next. Thanks for the advice on the Freud. I'm writing Sears to complain. How can they even sell that thing. It's useless.


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I'll probably make a clock out of the darn thing.


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

PK; When I first read your post on blades the comment "double dittos" right after the previous comment of "blade cuts lousy" appeared to imply that Freud and Forrest also cut lousy :}:}:} 
After re-reading Never mind LOL LOL LOL:laughing: 
I have already gone into the shop and consoled my Freud blades and they understand you weren't being mean to them ROFLMAO
Jack


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

skymaster said:


> PK; When I first read your post on blades the comment "double dittos" right after the previous comment of "blade cuts lousy" appeared to imply that Freud and Forrest also cut lousy :}:}:}
> After re-reading Never mind LOL LOL LOL:laughing:
> I have already gone into the shop and consoled my Freud blades and they understand you weren't being mean to them ROFLMAO
> Jack


:laughing: You must be closer to your blades than I am....I can never tell what mine are thinking other than that they always seem to be lusting for blood! :smartass: :laughing:


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## PK. (Nov 12, 2007)

I thought maybe what I said might have been misconstrued. I love the Freud blades. I have four of them in use now. I've been buying them from TylerTools.com, good prices and good service. 

I really love my Forrest blades but have run into a problem with them on two occassions. The problem has been that when I sent them off to be sharpened, they never returned. Maybe they were jealous of my affair with the Freud blades?


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I tried out my new Freud blades, what a difference. They are great. I can't blame my screw up's on a bad blade anymore. I overcome one hurdle and another one crops up.


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

Leo G said:


> You get what you paid for. You need to go with carbide. At a minimum go with a 24 tooth Freud. If you want to go full bore get a Forrest.





bigredc said:


> I tried out my new Freud blades, what a difference. They are great. I can't blame my screw up's on a bad blade anymore. I overcome one hurdle and another one crops up.


 
Glad you took my (our) advice. I have had mine for 10 years now. Sharpened only once. Only because I used it on a run of melimine cabinets. If you only use it on real wood it will last a good long time for you. :thumbsup:


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

Knotscott: If you reveal what I am about to tell ya, gonna have to hunt ya down LOL;
Regards lust for blood: SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Use the RED COATED Freud blades!!!!!!! Cant see it ROFLMAO!
Professional secret.:laughing::yes:
Jack


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

skymaster said:


> Knotscott: If you reveal what I am about to tell ya, gonna have to hunt ya down LOL;
> Regards lust for blood: SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> Use the RED COATED Freud blades!!!!!!! Cant see it ROFLMAO!
> Professional secret. :yes:
> Jack



Well, somebody was thinking outside of the box with that idea! :w00t: Mums the words! :shutup: :icon_biggrin:


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I almost cut me thumb off when I was 19. Luckily I only needed a skin graft. That was over 20 years ago, and I'm still scared of anything with teeth that spins.


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## Spyko (Nov 3, 2007)

*Bloodlust of blades*

Since we've moved to a general talk on blades and blood and our OP seems happy, I want to relay a story from about 30years ago. It was my first day in shop class, back when schools in NYC actually HAD a shop class. My Teacher, Mr. M. (a very private fellow, wouldn't want me putting his name here) told us all to get out a pencil & paper. MATH was the subject, and here is the question:
DATA:
1)A 10 inch 60 tooth tablesaw blade is spinning at 3000 RPM. 
2)The average reaction time for a human to feel something and start to pull away from it (pain or heat) is about 1.5 seconds from the time you feel it to the time you're moving away.
3)You're feeding a board into the tablesaw at a rate of 1 inch per second and you're not being careful.

Question: How mant teeth will pass through your hand, and how deep will the cut be?

That's how he opened a 2-day lecture on shop safety. Great guy!!


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## Corndog (Apr 26, 2007)

High school shop class did nothing for me. I remember our shop teacher showing us how to jam a RAS. 12" DeWalt if I remember. Started it up....WHAM!!!!!! Just yanked 'er into some 8/4 oak. Stalled the blade. Scared the BEJEEZUZ outta me!!!!!

Next day he damned near cut his finger off showing us what NOT to do on the 20" General bandsaw. 6 stitches.


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

I once got my hand sucked into my router when I was using cope and stick bits. It chewed up my glove thoroughly and stalled, with only one finger damaged, (bone splintered and some skin taken). Later, when I taught intermediate woodworking at the local university hobby shop, I would begin woodshop safety by pulling out my tattered glove. I told them that this is what the router did to my glove, WITH MY HAND IN IT! It got their attention. Oh, and I no longer wear gloves when using the router table.


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

mmwood I checked out you work. That is some amazing stuff. I'm just starting out. I keep screwing up my measurements. How long have you been woodworking?


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

BigredC,

Thanks for the praise. I began as a kid, building forts. Progressed to furniture in my teens; did a season building garages; worked 2 years in a cabinet shop. At 20, burned out and disillusioned, I left Chicago and hit the road, landing in Oregon. Spent 11 years as a baker, burned out on THAT, and started my current shop. That's been 14 years now.

As regards measurements, I'm currently working on a job about 1 hour from my shop. In the first phase of installation, I discovered that, SOMEHOW, I had gotten my measurements wrong on 2 doors and 4 drawer faces. Go figure. Even after all these years.....it still can happen. Good Luck!


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

When I'm in a bad situation I've always tried to think it could be worse, to make me feel better. Lately when I screw up on the wood, I think of guy's like you being far from the shop with something very expensive. All the money and lost time involved when you make a mistake. It makes me glad I earn my living as an electrician. It would take the fun out it for me if I did wood for a living. I just don't have what it takes to do it for a living. I'm sure I'll get faster in time, but I've been spending ridiculous amounts of time doing stuff that you guy's would consider simple. But I'm having fun.


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## KC7CN (Aug 21, 2007)

This is the answer to your problem! Return the Sears blade, looks like somethings wrong with the chippers. Amazon has what you need right now for $59 and some change -- designed just for this application. Normally around $80. Very important to have zero clearance blade insert and backer board!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-7679222-9671964?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=freud+box+joint&x=0&y=0


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I bought a Freud set. It's great. I started this thread a while back. We moved to talking about almost cutting our fingers off. Read back a few. I do the same thing sometimes. I skip to the end. Thanks anyway


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## KC7CN (Aug 21, 2007)

bigredc said:


> I bought a Freud set. It's great. I started this thread a while back. We moved to talking about almost cutting our fingers off. Read back a few. I do the same thing sometimes. I skip to the end. Thanks anyway


I realized this post had a lot of content, but was anxious to share the sale price on the Freud box joint blade; I paid $80-90 for mine!

My bad! 

-Don


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

You should have said it was a Freud. I have the 6" dato. That one is a 8" box set. Can you do different things with the box set compared to the dato set. Are there many times when you need an 8" blade, and a 6" won't work. I checked the box set is $90 around here.


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## KC7CN (Aug 21, 2007)

bigredc said:


> You should have said it was a Freud. I have the 6" dato. That one is a 8" box set. Can you do different things with the box set compared to the dato set. Are there many times when you need an 8" blade, and a 6" won't work. I checked the box set is $90 around here.


Although I own the Freud Box Joint set, I have not used it to cut box joints. Just a test cut, and from that I know it will do a very nice job.

I think it's time to ask the expert on Freud blades! I sent Charles M a private message about this post. He works for Freud, and has really been helpful on the subject.

-Don


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## Charles M (Dec 10, 2007)

bigredc said:


> You should have said it was a Freud. I have the 6" dato. That one is a 8" box set. Can you do different things with the box set compared to the dato set. Are there many times when you need an 8" blade, and a 6" won't work. I checked the box set is $90 around here.


bigredc,

The Box Joint Set is intended for cuts along the grain (like a rip blade) so it has no bevel teeth to shear fibers. The result is a completely square cut. You could use it for dado cuts that run parallel to the grain like grooves for drawer bottoms but it really isn't intended to replace the dado set. In regards to 6" vs. 8", the saw manufacturer will specify the maximum dado diameter so you always start there. If your saw can accept an 8" you may still be better served with the 6" since it requires 25% less torque to operate. On the other hand, some situations (like using a dado sled) may use some of the depth of cut so an 8" might be better.

Thanks to Don for pointing me to your question.


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## KC7CN (Aug 21, 2007)

Charles M said:


> bigredc,
> 
> The Box Joint Set is intended for cuts along the grain (like a rip blade) so it has no bevel teeth to shear fibers. The result is a completely square cut. You could use it for dado cuts that run parallel to the grain like grooves for drawer bottoms but it really isn't intended to replace the dado set. In regards to 6" vs. 8", the saw manufacturer will specify the maximum dado diameter so you always start there. If your saw can accept an 8" you may still be better served with the 6" since it requires 25% less torque to operate. On the other hand, some situations (like using a dado sled) may use some of the depth of cut so an 8" might be better.
> 
> Thanks to Don for pointing me to your question.


And Thank You for replying to Bigredc's question; I was certain that you could contribute more than I could. I suspected the box joint blade would not leave the tiny score marks you typically have with a dado blade, but I wasn't certain for lack of 'first hand' experience.

-Don


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

Thanks for you fast response. My new saw will have no problem with power. I put a 3 hp motor on it. I'm like a kid, I want one of everything. I'm not rich I need to spend my money wisely. If as I get better I discover that I need it. I'll be mad I didn't get for a deal when it might be selling for 100 bucks in a year. Do other guys normally have both Dato and box sets or is one or the other the norm?


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## Charles M (Dec 10, 2007)

bigredc said:


> Thanks for you fast
> response. My new saw will no problem with power. I put a 3 hp motor on it. I'm like a kid, I want one of everything. I'm not rich I need to spend my money wisely. If as I get better I discover that I need it. I'll be mad I didn't get for a deal when it might be selling for 100 bucks in a year. Do other guys normally have both Dato and box sets or is one or the other the norm?


You can make box joints with a stacked dado set but the bevel tips on the outer blades will leave tiny "bat ears" in the corners that some find unacceptable. So for those that need to make dadoes across grain and/or in plywood/melamine/laminates and also want crisp box joints it is best to have both a dado set and the Box Joint set.


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## Dovetailer59 (Oct 10, 2007)

*Box Joint Blades*

Hello , Just wanted to jump in real quick , what are the p/n or name of the box joint blades you were refering too ? I want a good set to make box joints on my new table saw . Thanks


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

Dovetailer59 go back a few post's to # 28 and click the link. The blade is SBOX8. I needed a regular blade for my saw, so won't be getting the box set. I bit the bullet and bought a Freud Premier Fusion. HOLY COW, that blade is unbelievable. Just turning the saw on you can tell a big difference. It hums. The belt even smoothes out. I don't know how that's possible, but the belt actually spun smoother. It cuts like a hot knife thru butter. As I was walking out to my truck from the store, I was saying to myself I can't believe I bough a 100 dollar saw blade. Once I made the first cut, my apprehension disappeared.


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## Charles M (Dec 10, 2007)

Dovetailer59 said:


> Hello , Just wanted to jump in real quick , what are the p/n or name of the box joint blades you were refering too ? I want a good set to make box joints on my new table saw . Thanks


As bigredc said, the item number is SBOX8. Here's some more info:
http://www.freudtools.com/p-316-box-joint-cutter-set.aspx


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## Dovetailer59 (Oct 10, 2007)

*Freud Blades*

Hello , thanks for the info , yes I would be alittle shaken for the 100 bucks , but believe you me , I have had my share of scrap oak , and it will be more than welcome to finally have a great blade . :yes: Like I said earlier my new saw is in place and now I'm ready to finally get some projects done . Thanks again .


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## Dovetailer59 (Oct 10, 2007)

*Box Joint Blades - Freud*

To all , they are correct , bought one today for 59 & change . I would never belived it without seeing it myself . Great buy ! Thanks again !:yes:


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## Mark G (Dec 26, 2011)

Bringing a thread up from the dead.

Some years ago I bought a 6" Craftsman dado set for my Craftsman job site table saw. The set is crap. I was ignorant as hell about joinery but I could tell the dados were bad. But I figured maybe that was just the nature of dados in plywood. I know a little better now.

I now seek advice on a general purpose dado set for my 4.4 hp, 4000 rpm, 10" table saw. Should I stick with a 6" set? What do you think of this Freud set for $78.50 shipped?


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

I'm happy with mine.
It looks like a good deal.
If there's only a couple dollars difference I like to support my local stores, but if there's a big difference I go on line.
I bought a 10" Frued multi purpose blade local, and I must have gotten the one in a million that for some reason the carbide started to chip after about a week of very little use, they exchanged it for me with no problems.
It's been many years and the replacement blade has never chipped.
I'm not sure how easily the exchange would have gone if I had purchased it on line.
Just some food for thought.


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