Sigh. I have posted about this several times and produced the definitive DVD guide to the subject, too, with help from the HSE, but still this myth persists.
Using a dado stack on a tablesaw is NOT illegal in the UK.
Using a dado stack on a tablesaw is NOT illegal in the UK.
Using a dado stack on a tablesaw is NOT illegal in the UK.
What IS illegal in the UK, in a commercial environment is:
*Using an unguarded TS blade
*Using a saw which fails to stop within 10 seconds of the power being switched off.
The problem is that most saws use the RK to mount the blade guard, so removing the RK removes the guard too. Also, a dado stack is several times the mass of a single blade, therefore it has more inertia and takes longer to stop. On a small saw, if it were able to take such a stack, the extra mas might push the stop time over 10 seconds.
In a home environment you can do anything you like, no guard, no problem. A stack that weighs more than the saw, no problem.
THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO IGNORE THESE RULES JUST BECAUSE IT IS NOT ACTUALLY ILLEGAL IN YOUR HOME WORKSHOP, AND I AM NOT ADVOCATING IT! It may not be illegal, but it is unnecessarily risky. In my view it is stupid.
My saw is an Xcalibur, a clone of the traditional Delta. Old-fashioned design (blade tilts to the right) but built like a tank. I have several guards for different situations. Most of the time, for standard cuts as well as dado cuts, I use an overheard SUVA-style guard. I have other guarding arrangements for more specific tasks like cutting tenons.
I never EVER use the machine without a guard of one kind of another, not even when no-one else is looking. Apart from being stupid, it is unnecessary.
Also, the motor is beefy, so the extra mass of the stack is tiny compared to the overall spinning mass, so it still stops in just over 6 seconds.
I hope this puts the record straight (again).
