"Dick Snyder" wrote in message ...
"Dick Snyder" wrote in message
...
I have to cut a 1" dado for a miter track using my table saw. My 6" stacked
dado head cutter set will only cut to just over 3/4" wide. My table saw has
a good fence but not a world class fence so I don't want to just assume I
can cut a 3/4" dado, bump the fence over 1/4", and everything will come out
nicely. Does anyone have any tricks to get this cut to come out accurately
other than measure measure measure?

TIA.

Dick Snyder

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS:

First the good news. The 1/4" shim worked great. Now the bad news: The
surface of the miter table has high pressure laminate on it (formica). The
dados chipped the edges of the hpl. I probably should have taped them or
used a router instead. Fortunately this will spoil the functionality of the
piece but it looks crappy. What would you have done - tape or router
or.....??

It's the teeth coming DOWN toward the table that tear up the edge,
assuming your saw blade and fence are paralel. Try this: Set up for
first cut but have the blade 1/16 high. Make a scoring cut. Without
moving the fence, raise the blade for your final cut and make it. Then
add or remove your spacer from the fence and do the same two cuts,
scoring and final. Should prevent chipping.