Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be done?

Tom

For starters many saw blades centers are not flat. They may be hollow
ground and you would end up distorting the blades. Most are not designed to
crosscut and leave a smooth bottom unless your are using a rip blade and are
going with the grain. A good dado set is precision matched so that the
bottoms of the cuts will be even. This is not likely to happen with common
blades and especially if one of the blades has ever been sharpened.


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

Accuracy for one. With the combination of blades you can get most any
thickness and easily adjust with shims for a few thousandths if need be. It
is easy to compensate for the undersized plywood.

hey are also made to work together as a set. Blades may vary a bit from one
manufacturer to another so just grabbing blades at random would not give
repeatable results.
Ed

What looked to a youngster like a stack of regular blades, was probably a
stack of, you guessed it, stack dado blades. Even 40 years ago.

O'course you could stack 6 Forrest blades to do a 3/4" dado and it would
only set you back $600.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

I always thought the answer was chip removal and also the fact that the
inside chippers only have two teeth set on opposite ends which allows for
setting them inside the teeth of the outside blades.

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer blades
says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out, which would work
if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow translates to "this
side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes next to the arbor nut,
("out" from my perspective) but then it has to be positioned such that the
"this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.


"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message
s.com...
What looked to a youngster like a stack of regular blades, was probably a
stack of, you guessed it, stack dado blades. Even 40 years ago.

O'course you could stack 6 Forrest blades to do a 3/4" dado and it would
only set you back $600.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

Look at the tips of the outer blades (not the chippers) you should have
one side that some teeth are pointed toward the outer side of the blade if
you look at the other blade the teeth should be pointed to the opposite
side. this is how you figure out which is the left and the right side
blades.

CHRIS

"Tom Kohlman" wrote in message
et...
I always thought the answer was chip removal and also the fact that the
inside chippers only have two teeth set on opposite ends which allows for
setting them inside the teeth of the outside blades.

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer blades
says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out, which would
work
if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow translates to "this
side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes next to the arbor nut,
("out" from my perspective) but then it has to be positioned such that the
"this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.

Thanks Chris...now take me one step further!!! Left vs. right on the teeth
I can do...now what do I do with that information??? LOL

So we come to a common point of reference, on the arbor nut side do I want
teeth pointing in or out (or up or down or north/south or east/west or
horizontal/vertical)...better yet, there is a washer welded onto each outer
blade around the arbor hole...do they face towards the chippers or towards
the arbor washers? (I could make a case for either way...towards the
chippers to act as a shim, towards the arbor washers to stabilize the
blades). Have actually tried them both ways and can't see much difference
other than the latter seems to make for too tight of a dado but perfect if I
add one or two of the cardboard shims that came with it.

thanks again



"Chris Melanson" wrote in message
news:ClHec.41460$Sh4.19756@edtnps84...
Look at the tips of the outer blades (not the chippers) you should
have
one side that some teeth are pointed toward the outer side of the blade if
you look at the other blade the teeth should be pointed to the opposite
side. this is how you figure out which is the left and the right side
blades.

CHRIS

"Tom Kohlman" wrote in message
et...
I always thought the answer was chip removal and also the fact that the
inside chippers only have two teeth set on opposite ends which allows
for
setting them inside the teeth of the outside blades.

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer blades
says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out, which would
work
if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow translates to
"this
side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes next to the arbor nut,
("out" from my perspective) but then it has to be positioned such that
the
"this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.

In article ,
Tom Kohlman wrote:
Thanks Chris...now take me one step further!!! Left vs. right on the teeth
I can do...now what do I do with that information??? LOL

So we come to a common point of reference, on the arbor nut side do I want
teeth pointing in or out (or up or down or north/south or east/west or
horizontal/vertical)...better yet, there is a washer welded onto each outer
blade around the arbor hole...do they face towards the chippers or towards
the arbor washers? (I could make a case for either way...towards the
chippers to act as a shim, towards the arbor washers to stabilize the
blades). Have actually tried them both ways and can't see much difference
other than the latter seems to make for too tight of a dado but perfect if I
add one or two of the cardboard shims that came with it.

you want the 'flat side' of the teeth towards the other blade(s) installed,
and the 'angled out' side of the teeth 'away from' the other blade(s).

If you put _just_ the two outer blades together, with no chippers, you should
have a combination that looks like a 'normal' blade.

What you call the washer is probably a 'stiffener', and should be on the
outside of the blade pack. i.e. on the side away from the other blade(s).

If in doubt, _read_the_directions_. It is simply *amazing* what one can find
out by doing that.

"Chris Melanson" wrote in message
news:ClHec.41460$Sh4.19756@edtnps84...
Look at the tips of the outer blades (not the chippers) you should
have
one side that some teeth are pointed toward the outer side of the blade if
you look at the other blade the teeth should be pointed to the opposite
side. this is how you figure out which is the left and the right side
blades.


Let's take this one more step. The chippers have usually two or four teeth.
You put four of them together between the outer blades to make the thickness
you want. here do you place the teeth of each. One in back of the other?
Stagger them? Put some distance between them? Does not matter at all?

Ed

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:42:47 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

Let's take this one more step. The chippers have usually two or four teeth.
You put four of them together between the outer blades to make the thickness
you want. here do you place the teeth of each. One in back of the other?
Stagger them? Put some distance between them? Does not matter at all?

Assuming the chippers are perfectly made, (balanced), it wouldn't
matter as the rotational forces of the chipper(s) would place even
load on the arbor/bearings as they spin.

However, that would be a bad assumption. Nothing's perfect, and since
I don't have a several-hundred-dollar set of dado blades, I assume
mine are less perfect than others. ;

I stagger them as best I can so that there is even distribution of
weight about the arbor. I get little, if any, vibration using this
method. (I've never done it any other way, so I don't know that I'd
get any vibration jamming all the chipper blades' teeth right next to
each other, either.)

Fwiw,
Michael

In article ,
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Chris Melanson" wrote in message
news:ClHec.41460$Sh4.19756@edtnps84...
Look at the tips of the outer blades (not the chippers) you should
have
one side that some teeth are pointed toward the outer side of the blade if
you look at the other blade the teeth should be pointed to the opposite
side. this is how you figure out which is the left and the right side
blades.


Let's take this one more step. The chippers have usually two or four teeth.
You put four of them together between the outer blades to make the thickness
you want. here do you place the teeth of each. One in back of the other?
Stagger them? Put some distance between them? Does not matter at all?

Ed



Given the option, staggering is preferable. It makes for a more even load
on the saw bearings.

A 'staggered' setup does not necessarily imply a uniform set of offsets as
you go from one side to the other. sometimes there are benefits to be had
if the 'angularly adjacent' teeth are not on physically adjacent chippers.

The extreme case, 2-tooth chippers, with several of them set together,
would result in a big 'chomp' as they all come in contact with the wood
and "no" chomp, while the leading/descending tooth has cleared the (nearest
the user part of the) piece, but the trailing/ascending tooth has not yet
contacted the (farthest from the user part of the) piece.

"This side out" means outside of the stack. Given that and the teeth facing
the correct direction, means you got it right. "This side out" would be
meaningless if it meant outside on the arbor, since there are left and right
hand arbors out there.l

--
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com/woodshop


"Tom Kohlman" wrote in message
et...
I always thought the answer was chip removal and also the fact that the
inside chippers only have two teeth set on opposite ends which allows for
setting them inside the teeth of the outside blades.

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer blades
says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out, which would
work
if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow translates to "this
side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes next to the arbor nut,
("out" from my perspective) but then it has to be positioned such that the
"this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.


"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message
s.com...
What looked to a youngster like a stack of regular blades, was probably
a
stack of, you guessed it, stack dado blades. Even 40 years ago.

O'course you could stack 6 Forrest blades to do a 3/4" dado and it would
only set you back $600.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would
stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

"Tom Kohlman" wrote in
et:

I always thought the answer was chip removal and also the fact that
the inside chippers only have two teeth set on opposite ends which
allows for setting them inside the teeth of the outside blades.

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer
blades says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out,
which would work if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow
translates to "this side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes
next to the arbor nut, ("out" from my perspective) but then it has to
be positioned such that the "this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.


I was confused by that too. I came to the conclusion that the printed
side should face the arbor. That gets the orientation of the teeth right
as well as the little spacer disks that they have fixed on the inside of
the outer blades.

Secret wrote in message

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer
blades says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out,
which would work if I put next to the inside arbor plate which somehow
translates to "this side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes
next to the arbor nut, ("out" from my perspective) but then it has to
be positioned such that the "this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.

I was confused by that too. I came to the conclusion that the printed
side should face the arbor. That gets the orientation of the teeth right
as well as the little spacer disks that they have fixed on the inside of
the outer blades.

Forget the arbor, just chant to yourself: "OM, OM, The chippers go on the
inside of the stack, the blades go on the outside" ... and you can't go
wrong.

Works for me. ;)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/13/04

"Swingman" wrote in news:1dGdncxM2t9DcubdRVn-
:

Secret wrote in message

Dumber question yet is the 8" Delta dado stack. One of the outer
blades says "this side out". That's it. Does it mean facing out,
which would work if I put next to the inside arbor plate which
somehow
translates to "this side in"? Or does it mean that the blade goes
next to the arbor nut, ("out" from my perspective) but then it has
to
be positioned such that the "this side out" is actually facing in.

Who's on first, etc.

I was confused by that too. I came to the conclusion that the printed
side should face the arbor. That gets the orientation of the teeth
right
as well as the little spacer disks that they have fixed on the inside
of
the outer blades.

Forget the arbor, just chant to yourself: "OM, OM, The chippers go on
the
inside of the stack, the blades go on the outside" ... and you can't go
wrong.

Works for me. ;)


Actually with this set you would go wrong. There are round discs attached
to the side of each outer blade. They are not thock enough to eb
stiffeners but are just shims that are permamnently affixed to the
blades. If you reverse the blades these shims would be on the outside of
the set and you would not get cuts in any of the standard sizes.

Tom,

assuming it wasn't a dado set he was using, it is likely the blades were
steel and not carbide tipped. Should you have a stack of carbide spinning at
3450rpm and one blade either slips or stops, the remaining blades will have
so many teeth missing it'll look like the nightshift at the WaffleHouse.

This assumes the freed teeth haven't turned you into a colander and you are
still physically capable of looking at the mess.

--
Greg


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message ...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

I actually tried this last year when I needed to make large box joints
on my crapsman ts and couldn't afford to buy a dado. I found a set of
7 identical B&D 7-1/2" steel blades and stacked them with washers and
poster board shims between them to get the right spacing.

I cut 240 3/8" box joints with it. When I first started, the notches
came out fairly nice requiring minimal clean up. After about 180 cuts,
I had to do moderate clean up of each notch bottom with a chisel.

After I finished I just threw away the blades since they only cost me
$4.99 for the set.

Would I do it again? ONLY if I HAD to cut dados and HAD no money. They
made such noise I was scared out of my gourd the entire time.

Tillman


"Greg Millen" wrote in message ws.com...
Tom,

assuming it wasn't a dado set he was using, it is likely the blades were
steel and not carbide tipped. Should you have a stack of carbide spinning at
3450rpm and one blade either slips or stops, the remaining blades will have
so many teeth missing it'll look like the nightshift at the WaffleHouse.

This assumes the freed teeth haven't turned you into a colander and you are
still physically capable of looking at the mess.

--
Greg


"Tom Lewis" wrote in message ...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom

I have done this before and have had no problems. I worked in a lab once
where they bought cheap 8" blades in bulk (50 at a time maybe?) I used to
stack these togther to make dado cuts. They were flat top ground blades and
they made a pretty good cut. Not perfect, but better than some cheap stacked
dadoes that I have seen.(the baldes were not exactly perfectly the same
diameter, but really darn close.)

Some one else stated that this would be dangerous if the blades slipped and
the carbide teeth broke off and went flying. I don't buy this argument.
First off, as long as you tighten the arbor nut properly, they are not going
to slip. Secondly, this is no different than most stacked dado sets. On my
delta set, the teeth all overlap each other. if the blades ever slipped
(which they don't) the carbide would become projectiles as well. It is not
an issue.

I do agree that in general, it is probably cheaper just buy a stacked dado
set. (Unless of coarse you have a pile of bulk blades setting there like i
did.

Just my opinion.

--
Joe in Denver
my woodworking website:
http://www.the-wildings.com/shop/



"Tom Lewis" wrote in message
...
Some 40 years ago when I was in high school the shop teacher would stack
regular saw blades together to make dado cuts. Why shouldn't that be
done?

Tom