In article , wrote:
Sorry, I think that my original post was unclear.

The saw that I got has the original steel (no carbide) Craftsman blade on
it. It also came with a Craftsman wobble dado blade. As I have no more money
(and won't for a very long time), getting a better blade (Forrest, Freud or
other) or any other dado set isn't gonna happen.

A 'budget' carbide blade (which can be found in the $15 range) will be a
significant improvement.

A good Freud is only around $50, and would make a major difference.

"Finding the money" is just a matter of "finding the money". grin

Seriously, it's the price of a *few* pieces of lumber.

A dado set is a *luxury*. *Anything* you can do with a dado set, you can do
with a straight blade, albeit in multiple passes.


The wobble dado _is_ "ok" for casual work. If you're doing high-precision
"heirloom quality" stuff, take the extra time, and do multiple cuts with
the straight blade.

So, the only way that I would be able to do a rabbet or dado would be to use
the wobble (that everyone tells me is unsafe and not to mention looking at
it a PITA for accuracy and no flat bottom cuts) or make multiple passes with
the regular blade (again difficult to be accurate and time-consuming).

As I have not yet tried either, I am probably completely wrong of course. I
hope so as it is now too late to do anything about it.

It is _NOT_ that 'difficult' and/or time-consuming, to cut dados or rabbets
with a regular blade. *ONLY* the 'edge' cuts have to be 'accurate', so you
take your time, and do those first. Then you remove the 'middle' stuff.

Of course, if money were no object, I would get a Forrest Dado King or a
Freud SD608 or something better, but are wobbles really as bad (unsafe) as I
have heard? Looking at where the setting gets dialed in, hitting 23/32"
would be nearly impossible.

Even if I could come up with a better blade (I thought about stealing the
DeWalt crosscut blade out of my miter saw which has to be better the
Craftsman blade in the table saw now), is making rabbets/dadoes using a
standard blade as big of a PITA as it sounds?

NAH. I did it for *MANY* years, It's _slower_ than using a dado blade, but
that is the -only- down-side. *AND*, by the time you add in changing the
blade (and changing _back_ after you're done), cutting with a standard blade
may actually be _faster_ overall.

I've purchased a Freud SD208 -- their good stacked dado set -- and have *yet*
to put it on the saw. For only 1 or 2 (comparatively short) cuts, the time
and trouble of changing blades makes for no net savings.

If you're making _long_ dados/rabbets, it may make sense to do -only- the
edge cuts on the table-saw, and then 'finish' the job with a *hand* chisel.

Anyway, it seems to me that using a circular saw to do a rough-cut and then
easing up on the final dimension using a router and straight bit (or
straight edge and a flush-trim bit) would be easier than the options that I
stated above.

Please feel free to correct me. That's why I am here.

*EVERYTHING* depends on _what_you_are_doing_.

The *BIG* advantage of the table-saw is that when you cut multiple pieces,
against a fence, or a 'stop' on a miter, or cross-cut sled, they come out
*exactly* the same size. And _consistent_ with each other.

With a router/straight-edge set-up, you don't have anywhere near the same
degree of short-term 'repeatability'. Now, if you're building a box, and
"don't care" if the opposite sides are 1/16" (or more) mis-matched, then
this is probably not a problem for you.

Don't misunderstand me, you _can_ get the pieces the same dimension, using
the router set-up. It is just a whole lot more time-consuming, and a real
PITA.

When you're living on a budget, there is a downside to _everything_. It is
always a question of what you have to suffer with, to avoid those "other
things" that you -don't- want to suffer with.