Have you ever wondered what the end product difference is when you use one or another of the blades for making dado cuts?
The perfectly square cut comes from using a straight router bit, or a specific single size square tooth dado saw blade. Don?t try that dado blade in a cross cut as the top surface will splinter like crazy.
The old chipper and raker series of many blades sandwiched together alows you to vary the width and probably gives you the cleanest edges, but the bottom of the dado is not so perfect. This one works well on cross cuts as well as rips.
Many of you use the easy to adjust ?wobble washer? type of dado blade. It usually gives a pretty square slot at either 3/8 inch or ? inch, but as it moves away from its optimized cut, it begins to round out the bottom of the dado. If you don?t need perfection, this is the easiest way to go.
In all cases, a light first pass to cut the top grain will help to control splintering.
Knowing exactly what a tool can give you will help you to choose the appropriate tool for a given job.
**Originally published as an article by Jon Eakes in Home Builder Magazine, the magazine of the Canadian Home Builder's Association.