Freud 8 In. Professional Stacked Dado (SD208)

After researching and shopping around for a dado set, I finally decided on the Freud SD208. Bear in mind, for the last 30 plus years, my personal set was a Craftsman Kromedge 8" 'Satin Edge' dado set, which wasn't all that bad. While the chippers were carbide, the 2 main blades were not. I could still cut plywood, but solid wood looked more like I was cutting my dados with a torch! Our shop had a nice 10" Freud set, but I've retired and no longer have access to it My main priorities for a replacement set were; 1) good carbide, 2) good clean cut and flat bottom, and 3) price that won't break the bank. Obviously that last point eliminated the 10" sets, and even if you could find a decent price on a 10" set, chances are you're going to sacrifice on the carbide and/or cut. As far as my intended use, since retiring I now just make cabinets, bookcases, and woodwork for family, friends and fun. So my budget was under $150. The first thing I noticed removing the blades from the case was how big the carbide teeth are on the main blades. The alternating bevel teeth are big, but the main chipper looks huge. Installing the blades, the shaft hole fits snug but doesn't catch like some of my old blades.The shims require a little patience as the thinnest ones can fall in the shaft threads, but from my experience that's just the facts of life. It cuts effortlessly, clean, and smooth. I'm satisfied overall, with only two small issues. First is, the smallest dado you can cut is a full 1/4" (using just one blade), which makes my drawer bottoms a little sloppy. I want a little clearance for expansion, but this is too much. I tried using one chipper blade as they're thinner, but that's not what they're designed for and it splintered the wood. Of course this has more to do with modern plywood dimensions, but dado manufacturers know the industry trends. Second, while there is a good assortment of shims for a wide variety of widths, I would like to see included in the set a 1/16" chipper. I have one in my old set and it seems like I used it in almost every setup I encountered. I don't know if even more expensive sets include them or maybe they're a thing of the past. And I know the shims give an almost infinite variety of widths. But after 30 plus years of using one, it was my go-to blade. I consider these minor nuisances, and the plus factor of beefy carbide teeth clearly outweighs my narrow dado issue. If I were to purchase another set today, I wouldn't hesitate to get this one. I've never had a bad experience with Freud, they are a top-notch company. I'm still using re-sharpened 20 year old Freud blades in my shop today!

This is my first ever dado blade set. It is on my Ridgid 4512 10-inch table saw. I installed the blade and built it out to 3/4" as I believe that's about the max width I'll use on a dado cut. It cuts perfectly in conjunction with a Leecraft Zero Clearance Insert. I find the cuts to be quite flat on the bottom as do many other reviewers of this item. The photo of this item is not correct. It is actually silver rather than black. the big box store "Big Orange" sells the exact same blade but theirs is red and carries Diablo as its name. It is model DD208. I will say that when setting up the dado stack you must be VERY careful to have every blade/spacer/shim flat next each other. The slightest gap will cause your stack to rotate out of round and also give you poor cuts. I find that on the R4512 saw I am not able to use the outer washer when the stack is built to 3/4". There are 2 threads or so coming through the nut, so it is on securely and safely. I read in other reviews that R4512 owners didn't know what to do with the riving knife locking lever. When you remove your regular blade and the riving knife simply leave the locking lever UNLOCKED in the upright position. It is perfectly safe and you can still make a deep dado without the lever hitting the zero clearance insert. This is also stated in the Ridgid manual.

Awesome dado stack at a reasonable price. Lots of possible configuration for precision dados. Comes with 2 outside cutter blades, 3 chippers, 3 spacers and a variety of thin shims in a range of thicknesses. I bought this to use on my SawStop pro and it fits great. If you have a Sawstop you need the dado brake and you will need to adjust the spacing every time you switch back and forth, which is not a huge hassle after you do it a few times. This would be the case with this saw and any dado stack. I like the blade holder it comes with. Make sure to hold on to the paper that comes with it because it shows you how many blades, spacers, shims, etc you need to achieve a give width of cut. Make sure none of the carbide tips are touching and are staggered when you install the stack so as to not chip any of the carbide teeth. My only complaint is that there are no detailed instructions on how to use a dado stack so if you are a beginner and never used one before I recommend watching some youtube videos.

This is a great set. It measure a few thousandths off when I get into anything above a 1/4" just on the small side so I have to shim it into place. The small guide to the sizes is pretty darn close to right on and is great to use. The packaging/storage is a plastic case that works great. I wish there were directions but basically it has shims on one side with the blades and then spacers on the other side with the chippers. Blades are heavy duty, make a solid cut and a pretty awesome noise on my table saw when it's running Cons: - The surface that is cut when using the dado set leaves very small grooves. This doesn't affect my projects so far since my dado's are internal but it if you had any of it exposed it would need to be cleaned up - The cut leaves two small over cuts in the corners of the dado. If you raise your saw up so it is supposed to cut 1/4" the entire middle will be exactly the same but in each corner of the cut there will be a small corner that is a bit deeper in the shape of a triangle (blade). If you have any exposed dado's then you need to cut a bit shy of your final and shave it into place. This isn't ideal but for 1/3 the price of the nice sets I can't complain.

This is a great deal of value and performance for the price point. The kit comes with multiple shims to precisely dial in the thickness of your dado and the resulting cuts are clean and flat. Highly recommend!

First of all I have modest experience with dado blades and molding heads because quite frankly they scare me. Now just because I don't have a hundred years experience I can tell you a few things I've learned from guys who do. In the first place it's WOODWORKING! Like that old guy on "Router Workshop" says - "I laugh when people say they have to adjust things down to .0001., IT'S WOOD - IF YOU BREATH ON IT IT WILL CHANGE THAT MUCH IN AND OF ITSELF. I have used and set up this blade enough to know that it makes completely flat bottom dados. I have mine on a Craftsman 10" radial arm saw (your laugh here) which I personally haven't had problems with after six years. I don't know why people feel the setup for this dado set is complicated. I'll admit that the charts for it are not really directions , but the amount of trial and error required to get a snug fit is minimal. I haven't had any problems with the shims "falling" into the arbor threads,- of course I haven't figured out exactly how something with a 5/8" hole "falls" on a 5/8" arbor either. (Get a 10$ set of magnetic shims - though the slotted type look like they could "fall" indeed ,if you have the wisdom to figure this out). Maybe another reviewer can explain this to me. I know that it's wonderfully easy to work with on the Sears RAS(being above the table). I checked the condition of my arbor before I bought this blade and I'd bet some of the people who have complaints did not do that. I can see the "etched" blade tracks at the bottom of the dados sometimes, but its nowhere near the fifteen thou that others are complaining about.(less than .0001 that I can see) The fact is it has as much to do with the wood itself. Forget dadoing warped or twisted wood. If I had a scanning , tunneling electron microscope I might be able to find a "ridge". I have cut as many dados with this blade that look like they were routered.(correctly) I haven't felt the slightest bit of kickback with this blade either by the way and I thought there would be an increase in noise over using a single blade but strangely I believe it is noticeably quiter - of course my RAS is very quiet to begin with.

This does what it is supposed to do! It cuts flat and precise slots. Honestly feels like I got away with a steal of a deal! Kind of like I found a garage sale hosted by the wife of a cheating husband and everything is a red tag special! The Diablo (by Freud too) is supposed to be for the average guy and that one retails for about $100 and change out the door at Home Depot or Lowe's. The SD208 set was supposed to be for the average wood worker as well but you can see there is a big difference in the material and craftsmanship, plus the cuts are way better than the Diablo. Do not chance paying for the $30-$60 sets since they might only make 20-50% of their sets accurately. It really is a gamble going cheap. My pieces range from cheap flower pots to top of the line furniture and I do not see my self adding another dado stack, for it's dimensions, after getting this one.

my only complaint here is that the two outer blades don't create a perfect 0.25" dado. i had to experiment around a while before i determined that i have to use the two outer blades plus one of the smallest shims (0.03?") to get a 0.249" dado. HOWEVER, the fact that it comes with shims at all is the reason why that didn't affect my 5-star review. if i'd bought a set that didn't make a perfect measurement AND there were no shims, i'd have been pretty upset. and either way, every single other thing about the set is perfect: the price, the cut quality (perfectly square dadoes), even down to the storage case it all comes in (which has threaded knobs to hold everything in place when not in use)! with other dado sets costing as much as $40 more, i think the cost-to-quality ratio (particularly for a freud blade) is completely worth it here. would definitely buy this again if it got lost or stolen.

The dado set was high quality and 8 inch is more than adequate for my needs. Given the Freud quality I consider it well priced.

Excelente herramienta, indispensable para el trabajo de carpintería. Facilita el realizar ensambles de todo tipo. La recomiendo por su calidad

Excellent produce with smooth crisp cut, zero chipping or tear out on white melamine sheet material. Thin spacers were also provided to ensure you get an exact fit for the size of dado cuts, this is something I’ve never found any other blade brands to do. I did notice that the center hole was very tight on the shaft, a little difficult to put on and take off.

Never got to test it as was of no use as the centre hole was too small. This is only for smaller saws. Those with a 30 mm spindle will not allow this item to be used. Shame pindle diameter was not on the original info. Bear in mind also that these do not appear to be available in UK so are they legal over here under H & S guidlines/rules? My fault should have made enquiries. However returned no problem and refunded. Cost me the postage though!! But still better off with the refund.

This is my first dado so I don't know much, but it is very good quality with all of the shims. It was very easy to assemble for different sizes, instructions are understandable but could be better. Comes with a nice storage case. It cuts clean and effortlessly with no tear out. And best of all it is priced right.