Cheap Freud SD508 Super Dado 8-Inch Stack Dado Review
My first dado cutter was an ancient Sears non-carbide wobble type. It was pretty useless, of course, and years later I sprung for this Freud set. It was somewhat cheaper than the Forrest product, so this is what I chose.
I am happy with the quality of these blades. They are extremely thick and rugged, obviously good quality. Mine had no trace of rust or damage.
They certainly do a nice and safe job. I cannot say that the bottoms are perfectly smooth, but they are flat. The side blades do a nice job of not splintering the wood. Needless to say that they are a huge step up from the usual beginner-level of dado cutting.
A warning to first-time users: dado blades are a pain to install, no matter the brand. To really get the widths set correctly you have to make a test cut, take it all apart, play with shims and do it again. Wide widths on underpowered saws have to be done in stages. You will want to do all of your grooves at one time and not switch back and forth. Dado cutting demands good planning and careful set-up.
I like the case. It is sturdy, easy to use and very useful.
Many woodworkers use various router set-ups to make grooves and there are times when that makes sense, but for those perfectly sized grooves and clean cuts nothing matches a good dado set. If you do this kind of work, then this set is a good choice. If you want to spend more, then certainly the Forrest dado set would be a very nice choice indeed.
Surprisingly, the blades and chippers lost that perfect sharpness in fairly short time. To be fair, I was using a lot of ply and particle board then, and they don't seem to have gotten any duller since. While they didn't stay as sharp as my other Freud blades, they still work fine, even in my under-powered table saw. Still, that and the not perfectly smooth groove bottoms lose this set a star.
I would like to find a place that could do a good job of sharpening and radiusing them. They look like they could be resharpened many times as the carbide is thick. This is all part of the Industrial Life, so we have to deal with it.
