[dduane]

Good morning. I'm new to this forum, but have been woodworking for about 6 or 7 years now. It's just a hobby, but has become a bit of an obsession. I ran into a problem yesterday and was looking for some advice.

I know not to use the miter guage with the fence, I use a stop block only, when doing cut off work on my table saw. But, is it OK to do so when cutting dadoes? Specifically, I need to cut a 1/8" dado about 1/4" deep about 1/2" from the end of the stock. I've tried this using just the outside blade of my dado set (to get the 1/8" dado width) with my miter gauge and a stop block on my fence. The problem is the stock wants to move towards the fence once the cut is being made. It seems that since I'm not cutting off the piece there should be no danger of bind up and kick back. However, I have experienced a couple of scary kick backs in the past and I don't want to see another one. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[daryl in nanoose]

Welcome to the site dduane, On such a small cut I wouldn't worry about it. How about clamping the work piece to the miter fence

 

[pianoman]

Let me see... 1/8" dado 1/4" deep 1/2" from the edge... cross grain, right? Table saw. Dado blade????? First ... take the dado blade off. Use a tripple chip cross cut blade on the table saw... use the cross cut slide on the saw. Check blade alignment for parallel to fence and cross cut 90 to blade. Also , any vibration will cause blowout. The miter gauge should fit in the table with no side to side play. Ya know... the outside blade of a dado set is ground as to leave a flat bottom groove. I don`t think it`s ment to be used alone. It`s hard to say ...I have not seen your blade. I cut alot of cross grain dados on the table saw and do not own a dado set!!! It`s something I need. I have a wabble dado that someone gave me ... but refuse to use it!!!! Rick