Tag Archives: table saw

I also bought a dado stack. Here’s what I think.

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A few months ago I bought a table saw and a dado stack set to help with some major projects I have coming up this year. I reviewed the DeWalt table saw yesterday. Today it’s the dado set’s turn.

I’m not a sophisticated woodworker. No high-quality, rare hardwood, micro-tolerance projects for me. So admittedly, I did not go after a precision dado set but rather something passable that would work with the more rough work I do. I picked up the Freud 8″ Stacked Dado Set for All Saws (SD208S).

The set comes with two outer blades, three chipper blades, a pair of spacers, and a bunch of shims in two sizes, all for about $100. It came in a fairly durable plastic carry case with a compartment on either side. the blades and spacers all go on two central spindles with screw-in caps to hold them in place in the case. It also includes a cardboard instruction card that doubles as the packaging front cover. Inside it tells you the necessary configurations to create stacks of all sizes from the minimum to the maximum.

The instructions are fairly good, so it wasn’t difficult for me to put together a test stack of half an inch to try out. Once I was more comfortable with dados I switched to a 3/4 inch stack in order to mass-produce some 1/5″ dados. The rips went well, with only a little splintering and tearing. The sides and bottoms of each dado were smooth. I have no micrometer, so I can’t verify the sizing was accurate to any particular degree of tolerance, but I tried the intended board size in the groove and it fit well. Considering I was making two cuts to achieve the 3/4 inches, and had sized the stack just a touch wider than 3/4 to allow for overlap, any discrepancy is more likely to be poor measurement on my part. In any case it’s good enough for what I’m doing. I suspect, as thin as the shims get, if precision is essential you can probably adjust accordingly.

I found putting a stack together to be fairly simple. The shims, being flimsy, tend to flex and lock to the arbor, making them a little harder to remove, but I suspect that’s normal and goes with the territory. Considering how much easier this is to use than my router (I don’t have a router table), I’m not going to complain.

All in all, I’m pleased with it. I just hope I never lose the instructions. I understand Freud is a fairly good brand. This particular set is rated a 4.7/5 with 430 reviews on Amazon. Should I need another dado set in the future I’ll likely look at Freud first.

I bought a table saw. Here’s what I think.

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I recently wrote about the factors that I considered in shopping for a table saw. Today I’m going to tell you about what I bought and review my experience. Behold, the DeWalt DWE7491RS 10-inch Table Saw:

All assembled and ready to rip! Makes sawdust like no tomorrow!

I actually bought this baby back in January, but other than assembling it, I’ve been unable to try it out until this week. My project list demanded immediate attention, and mostly that involved slinging a paintbrush, followed by a posthole digger. Maybe a story for another blog post later on.

I suppose if I were cool and hip I’d have created an Unboxing Video for you all. But…no. But here’s the box it came in:

Big box! I could sleep in it! Took two deliverymen to lug the thing inside.

I got the special edition, which came with a rolling stand. The saw itself came pretty much ready for use. The stand came assembly-required.

Some assembly required. Some better instructions would be appreciated.

So, let’s start with the stand. It’s essentially a hand-truck with foldable legs, to which you can attach the saw casing. It’s a bit tricky interpreting the instructions, but I managed with only mild cursing. And getting the saw itself maneuvered into place to attach it to the frame is difficult, especially doing it by yourself. Don’t do it yourself. Get some help. Don’t be stupid like me. It wasn’t pride, merely impatience. Everyone else was out of the house at the time.

But when I got it assembled my opinion changed considerably. They really designed this stand well. It’s sturdy. It rolls well. The folding legs have large, well-placed latch levers that are easy to operate, and they’re strong enough to bear the weight of the entire thing as you stand it up. And once you get it set up you realize the full extent of their genius: the legs on the side facing the front of the saw are canted at a steeper angle than the ones in the back. They don’t stick out and trip you when you’re working in front of the saw. The ones in back are at a good angle to brace the saw as you push wood through it. It also places the work surface at a very comfortable height just above my waist level. Maybe I’m easily impressed, but it left me very hopeful. If they put as much thought into the saw as they did the stand I would be in for a treat.

Unfortunately it took me three months to find out. Yes, I saw a few things immediately while just looking it all over and making sure it had everything it was supposed to come with. They made it to be portable, and everything that could possibly fall off (with perhaps the exception of the miter gauge) has a storage spot on the chassis somewhere and won’t fall off easily. That will make it take more time to set up and take down, but I can live with that.

So as I said, this week I got to try it out. After positioning it in the proper spot (ie. not pointed toward anything I want to keep (still remembering that board that kicked back years ago and tried to give me an appendectomy), I got out the instructions and started setting it up. It takes a bit of practice. The blade guard assembly goes in quickly once you find where the release lever is, and learn how to line it up right in the receiver when you can’t see down past the throat plate very well. The anti-kickback device, in all its spring-loaded glory, is a bit tricky to get into place. The fence take a bit to figure out, but goes into place easily enough.

They tell you in the instructions that everything from the fence gauge to the skiving knife were already adjusted in the factory and shouldn’t need recalibration. As far as I can tell, they’re right. I haven’t seen anything to make me doubt so far. I’ve yet to try out the blade angle mechanism yet, but everything else seems to work just fine right out of the box.

The miter gauge feels a little cheap. I may look into something more solid at some point, but it works just fine for what I’ve been doing so far. The rip fence adjusts via rack and pinion mechanisms on both sides, and locks with a lever that is a little hard to find quickly, but otherwise seems solid. The fence measurement scale is not immediately intuitive, but works well once you figure it out. There’s probably something about it in the instructions, but I was too eager to get started at that point.

After ripping some slices off some scrap wood I tried out changing the blade out for a dado stack (My review of the Freud 8″ Dado Stack is here). I did have to buy a separate dado throatplate, but DeWalt makes one specifically for the saw (DWE7402DI). It sits a little lower that the tabletop, unfortunately, and impacted some of my test cuts by making the depth uneven when one end of the board was able to sink a little:

First time test cuts with the dado stack. Irregularities are as much operator error as deficiency in the equipment, though knowing about the throat plate being uneven with the table top helps.

UPDATE: My older brother read this and offered some quick advice. The throatplate comes with screws along both edges that can be adjusted to raise or lower how that edge sits in relation to the table top. I hadn’t even noticed, but it seems obvious now. Just another reason why I like keeping my older brother around.

Those four screws around the edge…turns out they’re important!

The specs say the saw will handle a 13/16″ dado stack. I got up to that when I got down to my project in earnest, ripping a 1.5″ dado in two passes. Every cut came out nice and uniform. I think my stack set will accommodate even wider, but I don’t think the arbor would safely take much more.

I will admit I don’t have much of a baseline for comparison, but so far I’m pleased with my experience. The saw seems well designed, and it offers features most jobsite saws don’t, like the rack and pinion fence adjustment. Or a fence, for that matter. The fence also works in about three different configurations for more convenient cuts, and has a flip-down extension for narrow cuts. The blade area is designed to pulls the sawdust down and out through a 2.5″ dust port in the back of the unit (I have a shop vac; I’ll have to try attaching it sometime), and seems to work pretty well. The wider dado cuts showered me with sawdust, but that may just be the nature of wide dado cuts. It’s still considerably less mess than using my circular saw, and most all of the sawdust was concentrated in the back.

The power switch is designed to make it very hard to turn on accidentally (and it is–if anything it’s too hard to turn on) and very easy to turn off. A quick slap of that section of the front chassis will connect with the switch enough to shut down. The blade stops fairly quickly, too (a few seconds).

Perhaps I’ve been working with circular saws for too long, but I was surprised at how quiet this saw is. Rather than the high-pitched screech of a circular or miter saw, it’s more of a low growl. It’s still loud enough to merit ear protection, of course.

In short, there is nothing cheap or flimsy about this saw. While I’m not experienced enough to speak to how precise it is, so far it seems to work well enough for what I’m doing–I’m not making complex cuts or ripping hardwoods or crafting to fine tolerances. Any errors I’ve seen so far are due to operator error, more than likely. Perhaps I’ll come back sometime in the future and provide an update, but so far I am pleased with my purchase.

I actually tried to order this saw late last year only to find it completely out of stock. Everywhere. I encountered that again in January when I first tried to order it–there were none to be found online, in brick-n-mortar or anywhere else (for less than an exorbitant markup, anyway). It was originally backordered into March or April, but I checked back a few weeks later and found some in stock. I pounced. It’s a very popular, highly rated model (currently 4.8/5, with 2639 reviews on Amazon). At $600 it’s on the high end of jobsite saws, but with the stand included I feel the value is there. It’s going to come in particularly handy later this year when I’m building some projects at the far end of the yard.

Table saws are awesome and scary: A layman’s look at what to look for.

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I’ve been building up a collection of power tools over the years as my various projects require (okay, some projects are just an excuse to get a better tool than the one I have). One tool I’ve never gotten around to, however, is a table saw, partly because they’re expensive, partly because I’ve been able to make do with my mitre saw and circular saw, and partly because table saws scare me (I once took a 2×4 to the gut from kickback and feared I’d sustained internal injuries for a while).

I’ve started getting into more sophisticated projects lately, however, and I can’t always just trot down to my neighbor’s house to have him rip a few boards for me. He doesn’t mind, but so far all I’ve ever asked for is a couple of quick, simple cuts. That’s about to change. I decided it was time to start looking at what options there are for getting my own table saw.

My research turned up some simple details. There are basically two types of table saws: shop saws and jobsite saws. Shop saws usually come built into their own heavy-duty pedestal, have top-of-the-line motors and drives, and are built for precision. They often will cost $1000 or more, plus additional accessories, also built for precision.

Jobsite saws are smaller, more portable, potentially less powerful, and not really intended for precision work. They’re meant for more “bulk work,” like cutting sheets of plywood or particle board and rough cuts like would be needed on a construction job site (go figure!). They’re probably not the go-to saw for people building quality furniture, for example. You can pick up a decent jobsite saw for around $300 on up.

This was all interesting information, but did nothing to make my decision any easier. I decided to talk to my older brother, who is a long-time woodworker and owns the table saw that attempted the splenectomy-by-2×4 (he taught me properly, I just failed to fully comply). To my surprise he admitted he was thinking of getting rid of his expensive shop saw and was considering a jobsite saw instead.

He then proceeded to tell me which one he was considering–the exact some one I was currently favoring! You don’t know how bizarre it felt to be on the same page as my brother on anything concerning woodworking.

I still don’t consider myself an expert, but here are some of the things I considered in my search for the optimal saw:

Use Case – I’m a business analyst, so I’m used to a certain lingo. Use case simply means “how do you plan to use it?” Do you have a shop or a work area that is convenient to your projects? If you do all your work in a shop, you might want to consider a shop saw (wow, pretty radical, right?!). Those will be best suited to precision work and will be equipped to work with typical shop systems like dust collectors. If you do a lot of work at some distance from your house or shop, like building sheds or fences, portability may be the most important consideration.

Capacity – This is usually only a consideration when a fence (a rail along one side of the saw that guides the wood parallel to the blade) is involved. If you have no fence, there’s essentially no limit to how side a piece of wood you can cut, assuming you can control it. Fences allow for better control and closer measurement, but unless you remove them, they limit the width of the wood that can pass through. If you cut a lot of 4’x8′ sheets of plywood, for example, you’ll need at least a 24″ rip capacity to be able to cut one exactly in half.

Precision – If intricate cuts and joins and tight tolerances are important to your work, you’ll want a good shop saw with tight control over things such as blade depth and angle, fence adjustment, leveling, etc. You’re more likely to find what you need in a shop saw. Jobsite saws are more intended for quick-n-dirty, “good-enough” work. Most often their controls are going to be more “eyeball it and hope the locking mechanism doesn’t shift.”

Power – This gets a little fuzzier from my experience. Is it horsepower, voltage, amperage, or RPMs you most want? From my surveys of Amazon and similar sites, it’s anyone’s guess. But you’re more likely to get more control from a shop saw, like variable speed. Evidently RPMs matter when cutting certain types of materials, and the ability to adjust from 2000 to 4000 RPM, for example, may make a difference. Also, I would assume that higher horsepower is better for cutting harder woods. And then there are the vagaries of “worm-drives” versus…whatever other types there are. I didn’t get that far into it. But if you’re a serious woodworker you’re probably not going to want to listen to my input here anyway. I’m a layman looking for a tool that will give me basic, all-around performance.

Construction – A lot of jobsite saws have plastic housings and surfaces. Again, if you’re not looking for precision, that’s probably okay. I would imagine, however, that in time a plastic top is going to get scratched up, and that could impact how smoothly the wood moves through the blade. Shop saws are usually steel, built to take abuse, and still function with precision. But boy are they heavy and hard to move! (I’ve helped my brother move his.) On the other hand, a jobsite saw isn’t exactly light, and only some of them come with carts to help move them.

Dado Capability – This may not be all that important to everyone. A dado is a groove or a trench cut into a board. These can be made using a router, or you can use a table saw with what is called a dado stack, essentially a collection of blades and spacers that can cut a groove to a certain width. The maximum width of the dado of a given saw may make a difference. If, for example, its maximum width is 1/2″, it would be a waste to buy a 3/4″ dado blade set, as you’ll only ever use 2/3 of its capability. Wider is better, but mainly in efficiency. You could use the blade your saw comes with (if the kerf (thickness of the cut) is 1/8″ wide) and just make 8 narrow cuts side by side to get a 1″ dado. Or you can rip twice with a 1/2″ dado stack–a lot less work.

Other Considerations – Blade size may matter. The thicker the material you will likely cut, the wider the blade you’ll want your saw to be able to handle. A 10″ blade at best could never cut anything wider than 5″, and since the spindle (arbor) that the blade turns on generally can’t go higher than the underside of the table top, you’ll never be able to cut even half a blade’s width. I bought a saw with a 10″ blade, and can cut to a maximum depth of 3-1/8″ with the blade at a 90″ angle to the table, or only 2-1/4″ deep at a 45-degree angle.

The size of the worktop may be important, as well. There probably isn’t a standard size, so pay attention if you think it might matter to what projects you anticipate. You may also want to look at safety features, such as blade guards, anti-kickback devices, quick-stop blades, and the like.

The manufacturer may matter as well. I’ll admit I don’t have much wisdom to bestow here. There are some brands with good reputations, but whether the difference between them and their next closest competition is significant enough for the layman to notice, I don’t know. I’d recommend reading reviews, even though they can sometimes be more confusing than helpful. As for how to interpret reviews and star-ratings, I have my own strategy, but that’s another topic altogether.

So there you have it, the depth of my layman’s knowledge. I have since purchased my choice, and my review can be found here. I hope this is at least a little helpful.