Table saws are amazing tools, but when you add a dado stack to the arbor, it's a whole new world! Yes, you can do a lot of great things with a single blade, but a dado stack gives you the ability to make rabbets, grooves and dados of variable widths and depths. The dado stack gives you a level of accuracy that can be made in a single pass. Save time, and a better joinery fit!
We just released a video that shows how to create five commonly-used woodworking joints using a dado stack. These are just a hint of what's possible with a dado stack.
Tongue-and-Groove
A great joint for hardwood flooring, but tongue-and-groove can also be used corner joinery in boxes, making a strong panel from thinner pieces and even a movable joint when used to make a slide-in lid for a simple box. And, of course, the groove itself is great for windows, doors, panels and much more!
Dado
When you cut a "trench" along the face of a board that is running in the same direction as the grain of the board, it's a groove. If you run a "groove" across the grain of the board, it's a dado.
A dado serves all sorts of purposes in joinery. While technically a groove, the trench shown above in the tongue-and-groove is still a dado, made with a dado stack. When the dado is run near the bottom of a cabinet side, it's a great way to hold the cabinet bottom in place, add extra gluing surface to the joint and make a very strong cabinet!
Rabbet
While we're on a cabinet side, let's add a 1/4" thick back by adding a rabbet. Backs hold the cabinet square, and if it's a floor cabinet the back doesn't need to be thick and heavy. The 1/4" thick back is perfect, but we don't want to see the back from the outside of the cabinet. The answer is a rabbet cut on the back edge of the cabinet side. This rabbet lets the back recess into the cabinet, which also saves the trouble of bumps in the wall holding the cabinet away from the wall! Rabbets made with dados are great for cabinetry, and much more!
Drawer Rabbet
One of the other great uses of a rabbet is in building drawers. By capturing a drawer side in a rabbet cut in a drawer front, you increase surface space for glue and increase the strength of the drawer itself. In addition, the rabbet helps hide the less attractive end grain visible at the front of the drawer. And all it takes is a simple little dado stack!
Ship-Lap Joinery
How about one more rabbet? Sure! The ship-lap joint is two interlocking rabbets that was originally used in ship building. Today's application is much more for adding beauty to a wide space. As we all know, wide boards and veneer can be expensive. By adding the ship-lap joint to opposing sides of smaller boards, a wall, or solid back to a cabinet can be made without wasting wider boards. The boards can be pushed tight against one another, or a space can be left to adjust fit and appearance.
Hopefully, we've opened your eyes to the many ways a dado stack can improve and strengthen your woodworking. But if you want to hear from someone else, take a look at the review below from Popular Woodworking almost 20 years ago!
Featured review of the SDB-800 Dadonator Set. George of Craftisian highlights why our Dadonator is a game-changer for woodworkers tired of the trial-and-error hassle of other dado sets.