Have you ever cut a dado and the parts fit perfectly, just clicking them together? You will every time with this set. You should make a test cut each time you change stock just to be sure, but this set is easy to setup. There is a chart that comes with it telling the mix of blades and chippers for each common thickness (I put mine in a sheet protecter to help me find it). If it is off just a little, slip in one or more of the supplied plastic shims to acheive perfection! I have a cheap caliper that I check plywood with and that gets me pretty close on the first try. I was cutting a bunch of dados last night in 3/4" birch plywood and there was absolutely no splintering or tearout. I was using a shop made plywood insert in my Jet table saw that was probably 3/64" below the cast iron table. In other words, it was a not-quite-zero-clearance insert and still no problems.I have a couple of old wobble blades and a Wards set that between them can't hold a trott-line, so I don't know what I'll use them for now. The Forrest Dado King is the only one I'll ever use again! Forrest DK08244 Dado King 8-inch 29/32-inch Width 5/8-inch Bore Dado Blade Set
The review below notes that the bottoms of the dado are 'not flat'. Even though he still gave it four stars, I think it's important to note that this is normal for the Forrestt and was not a defective blade. The ouside blades have a scoring profile on alernate teeth that does give tiny 'batman ears' at the each corner, when the dado is viewed on end. This is why the set cuts so well in lamanated materials. But it's true that when making box joints and the like, where the profile of the dado is exposed, they will be visible.
Forrest makes a clean sweep in the awards ceremonies. Their Woodworker II took top honors in Fine Woodworking Magazines run off of blades. Close behind was the Freud at a quarter of the cost. Excellent for both blades on smoothness of cut, but the Forrest earned an excellent on tearout, whereas the Freud earned a very good. Well I bought both, and found the Freud to cut a surface so smooth that it was glass like. If I was going to put a finish on it, I would rough it up with 200 grit to improve the adhesion, it was that smooth. Also the Freud had absolutely no tear out, not even a little bit. Perfect is the word here. So why did I buy the Forrest Woodworker II also? Because everybody was raving about it. Forrest makes great products. On the Dado set, I noticed the reviewers stating that their was a tiny ridge at the bottom of the dado cut, created with the Forrest. The Freud has similar results. Oddly enough the Freud creates a perfect edge when making finger joints and the like, even though when you look down into the pocket, their are miniscule ridges in the cut. Comments that the end result on the Forrest have me concerned, stating that the edge is not perfect. Is this an example of more expensive must be better syndrome? I bought the Freud Super Dado set based on my earlier experience with their standard saw blade vs the Forrest. I'm glad I did. No matter what you buy, a good old fashioned sacrificial piece of scrap sandwiched to your work piece is your best guarantee against tear out when working with expensive woods. If you look at the Amazon sales rank, the Freud outsells the Forrest 4 to 1. Of course anything that is less money, sells more quantity, but I just can't get beyond the "perfect" performance of the Freud. How do you improve on that? This is not a dig on Forrest. They make first class products. Just something to consider. I hope this was helpful.
With out a doubt the most difficult dado to cut is a cross cut of laminated material.
Most moderately price stacked dado sets cut smooth accurate dados with the grain and if you get an upper priced set you can get a smooth bottom as well. But if you turn the material 90 degrees every blade and chipper had better be `balanced' or you're going to get `chipping'.
The Forrest Dado King is a cut above the norm. It's a well `Balanced' tool that makes a clean smooth dado in either direction. With the grain it almost like using a wide blade and it's smooth across the grain as well.
This is typical Forrest quality, but this Dado-King set does not cut a flat-bottomed Dado. At each edge, there is a slight "ear," which is deeper than the rest of the bottom. This is where the teeth of the outside blades cut the edge. That's the negative side of this blade.On the other hand, it cuts with very little tearout, even on plywood, and is very easy to set up. It also comes with very good instructions that take the guesswork out of how many chippers to add to get the desired width.Overall, a great set... but with a slightly different grind on the outside blades, you could have a flat-bottomed dado, and that would make this a 5-star set.
This is my third Forrest product (my first was the WWII, then the Chopmaster, now the Dado King). Forrest is top of the price range in all categories of blades, but also the best quality in my opinion. The Dado King cuts bottoms that are smooth as glass, and tear out is literally non-existent. But as other reviewers here have mentioned, the dados/grooves aren't true 90 degrees. There are little Batman ears at the corners of the dado. But that is intentional, and the instructions that come with the dado set explain that. Basically, those little raised corners are what help make ultra clean sides and bottom to the groove and minimize tear-out at the end of the cut. I had a Freud SD208 Super Dado (see my review on Amazon for that)set for $90 or so, and it got the job done, but the bottoms were far from flat and there was a good amount of tear out. It was worth spending the $250 or so to upgrade to the best (Dado King)
This is a sweet dado set. It is so easy to use and cuts very nice dados. It has the Forrest name and quality behind it. I'm very happy with it and glad I made the purchase. I own 2 other Forrest blades and have no problems with any of them. - Excellent Product - Forrest - Great Product - Razor Blade'
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