Dado Arbor

[Glenna]

I have just bought a second hand Jet JTS-250cs table saw and would like to obtain an arbor that will take a dado stack does anyone know what I can do or where I can get one, Thanks in advance
Glenn

 

[Trevanion]

First things first before getting carried away, is the motor powerful enough to use a dado stack effectively? I would say you need a 1.5kw/2hp absolute minimum for light cutting with a stack, 2.2kw/3hp is ideally needed to run it effectively. I can almost guarantee that you won’t be able to find a shaft aftermarket so that leaves having to have one machined for you by an engineering company which may cost a fair bit so you may want a char when you get a quote.

Don’t even consider some form of shaft extension as this is just a death wish.

I’d also wouldn’t bother getting a dado stack, I’d get a 6-15mm split groover set from CMT as they’re not much dearer and they’re a much better bit of tooling all-round.

 

[Glenna]

Thanks for your reply. I am new to this so any advice is welcome. The saw is 2.2kw/3hp so I don't think the power is a problem and i wouldn't dream of getting an extension. I am not familiar with what a split groover is

 

[sunnybob]

Youre watching too many yankee utubes dado stacks are frowned upon in europe by almost everybody
Much better to search out the split groover as above or seriously consider a router table, which is a very versatile tool.

 

[Glenna]

Thanks for your advice sunnybob. Can you tell me why dado stacks are frowned upon in Europe

 

[Trevanion]

Nothing inherently wrong with a dado stack they’re just an inefficient and very clumsy piece of gear compared to the more modern groovers available like this:CMT 694.001 Adjustable Groover Set B=4-15 d=30

When Bob says dado stacks are frowned upon in Europe he’s not totally wrong, health and safety regulations are far more strict in Europe than in the USA and I think in most countries the regulations state that a spinning cutter must come to a stop in less than 10 seconds which is hard to do with something with as much mass and inertia as a dado stack. Of course, with a braking unit it’s easy to achieve sub-ten-second stopping but with the mass of the dado stack it presents the problem of the inertia of the object wanting to keep moving rotating, on most machines they have a left hand threaded screw holding the blade in place which would get undone when the machine came to a braking halt with all the inertia and a spectacular crash bang and wallop would ensure as all the blades became loose on the shaft. So most European manufacturers made arbours just long enough to hold a single blade pinned in place by the driven flange but recently they’ve started making longer arbour machines (Felder does I believe) and they also sell adjustable groovers which can be pinned in place on the shaft so there is no chance of them coming loose.

This is a non-issue if you’re just a hobbyist with an unbraked machine and you’re willing to let it freewheel to a stop over a time. I would seek out having a new arbour made with a 30mm diameter shaft.

 

[sunnybob]

What he said....

 

[Glenna]

Thanks to both of you

 

[Shane‘s weekend builds]

I think the strength of a dado stack over a router table is that you can adjust it to (almost) any width. hence you can adapt it dead on to the thickness of the stock you want to join. To achieve this with a router table always involves to do at least two passes. This implies that you need to have the ability to position your router table fence very accurately. Additionally you will be much faster with a dado stack and you will have much less mess in your workshop.
For sure just my 2 cents,

(and touché, i got aware of those dado stacks on youtube but the principle is very efficient in my view)

 

[MusicMan]

I thought the OP was asking about an accessory for a table saw. Isn't a split groover for a spindle moulder? There are grooving saw blades available but I don't know any that are adjustable (which may be my ignorance).

Although a wobble washer set with a standard blade sounds like a scary contraption, it doesn't have the mass/inertia of the dado set so presumably would not be so hazardous? What do people think? Anyone use one? (I am getting an Inca saw shortly which comes with a set).

 

[Trevanion]

Don’t both machines spin a sharp disc?

The only real difference between a spindle moulder and a table saw is a TS spins a little bit slower than an SM. I used to have a cutterblock set that belonged to a Multico table saw for running tongue and groove boards and small mouldings.

Wobble saws are OK but they do leave a very slight curved bottom to the cut, I’ve seen it done with wooden wedges in the flanges and I really don’t recommend it!

 

[Glenna]

Thanks Music man and SWB. So where would I get an arbor from, does anyone know. I've heard they are available from the US but how would I go about getting one, they must be available over here somewhere

 

[Doug71]

The other reason dado stacks are frowned upon is that you generally have to remove the riving knife and blade guard to use them, this is never a good idea despite what you might see on Youtube

 

[lurker]

Americans using power tools on u tube all seem to have a death wish
Be very careful about copying them.

 

[Orraloon]

Thick kerf blades are the way around not having a long enough arbor. A 6mm kerf or multiple passes for wider cuts. I am seriously looking at getting one as I find setting up the dado set for a one of job is quite often not worth the time.
Why Flat Top Saw Blades? - YouTube
There should be something similar in the UK
Regards
John

 

[Trevanion]

Well, turns out there is an arbour out there!

Arbor [200303] for Jet Power Tools | eReplacement Parts

Might cost you £100-120 total to get it here.

 

[clogs]

just don't go there......
I used a dado and a wobble saw blade when I lived in Calif......
they are OK if ur doooooing miles of grooves....but just too fussy to set up.....
My mates place over there had a dedecated saw just for that job...they did a lot of carcase work....
I dont bother with grooves too much anymore.....I dont make fancy furniture....
I use a lot of biscuit's n glue......
but when I do, I use the table saw for the initial side cuts (with a new blade kept for special jobs) and a big router table to clean up the excess....
also, dado blades and w/saws leave a tatty edge unless u buy the best.....and they go off real quick....
now ur back into tricky sharpening....unless u buy carbide.....more money.....
gotta do a lot to make it worth while.....

 

[Terrytpot]

Nothing inherently wrong with a dado stack they’re just an inefficient and very clumsy piece of gear compared to the more modern groovers available..

only ressurecting this thread as I'm currently contemplating throwing ££'s in the direction of a new Table saw by Harvey although the colour of it will depend on who I goto for one as there seems to be more than one retailer in the UK now and all of them
seem to have the option of an arbour capable of using dado sets. If the op of this thread had wanted his groove to be fairly distant from the edge of his workpiece I don't see the groovers mentioned above being much use and would personally stick to the advice of either cutting each edge of his groove with a saw blade then hogging out the center with either repeated cuts with the same blade or to dig out a router and a straight edge for the job.
Getting back to the dado sets though, as Axminster and Baileigh are selling Harveys that can use them..does anyone have or use them and have an opinion on them?

 

[Orraloon]

Like a few others I find the dado stack to be not as great as it's supposed to be. Fine if you are on a production run and doing lots of the same width cuts but all that faffing around with shims and test cuts is sometimes not worth the bother on a small project. I would use mine more if I had a spare tablesaw I could leave it set up in.
Regards
John

 

[Trevanion]

does anyone have or use them and have an opinion on them?

I've only ever really used them in a radial arm saw and I always found them to be a complete hassle with all the extra blades and washers, with the modern split groovers they are completely accurate as if it starts at 4mm empty and you put a 0.5mm shim in you get 4.5mm, put 2.5mm shims in and you get 6.5mm with absolutely no guesswork and multiple test cuts like on a dado stack. The only positive the dado stack offers is that it can do a larger groove than an adjustable groover without having to buy two separate blocks but it all depends on what size grooves you plan on doing, if you're only doing small ones you can get a 4-15mm groover for a little more than a dado stack and if you're doing predominantly larger grooves you can get a 14-28mm groover for less than a dado stack.

As far as I'm aware, the only new dado stack you can buy in the UK is the one from CMT: CMT 230 Dado Set D=200 B=6.35-22.23 d=30 Z24