How Do I Set Up Diablo Dado Blades for Cutting?

Stack dados, like Freud's Diablo, use multiple blades for wider cuts.

Diablo dado blades are a product of Freud, a company that produces blades for most types of power saws. The Diablo is a stacked dado blade, as opposed to a wobble dado. A stacked dado uses multiple blades installed side-by-side to cut dados. A Wobble blade uses a blade set an angle, or wobbling, on wedge-shaped washers to make the cut. Choosing the right number of correct-sized pieces is the key to setting up a stack dado.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Table saw
• Wrench
• Dado blade set

Instructions

1. Measure the piece that will be fitting into your dado. A dado is a slot used to install the ends of shelves and fit cabinet parts together with. Your dado will be cut to the thickness of the part you intend to fit in it.

2. Unplug the table saw and turn the depth set until the blade is as high as possible. Remove the throat cover plate. Place a block of wood, wedged against the edge of the blade to hold it steady, and turn the arbor nut counterclockwise with a wrench to remove it. Lift the blade from the saw.

3. Blow dust from the saw throat and arbor with a nozzle on your compressor's air hose. Consult the chart that came with your Diablo dado blade set. It will give a specific number of chippers, or middle blades, and spacers that need to be fitted between the two outside blades to cut a dado of the correct dimensions.

4. Place the outside blade that fits against the arbor face down on the table. The printed side of saw blades typically goes to the outside, or against the arbor in this example, and the teeth face toward the saw's operator and cut down toward the table. Position chipper blades and spacers as required, in the order of spacer blade spacer, to meet the necessary thickness. Stagger the blade teeth so that teeth from two adjoining blades are not together. Position the remaining outside blade on top of the stack.

5. Lift the stack of blades and slip it over the arbor, keeping the teeth aligned so that they remain staggered. Slide the arbor washer onto the arbor, and re-thread and tighten the nut firmly with the wrench.

6. Adjust the depth of the blade, using a framing square for reference to the required depth of your dado. Align the saw's fence to space the dado from the edge of your material the correct distance.

7. Start the saw and pass the material over the dado blade, pressing it firmly to the table and against the fence to get the correct depth and positioning for your dado.

Tips & Warnings

• Consult the chart that comes with your Diablo dado blade set for exact thicknesses as they vary from blade set to blade set.

References

• New Woodworker: Using Stacked Dados
• World Tech Tooling: Freud Tooling
• "The Table Saw Book"; R J DeCristoforo; TAB Books, 1988