You get what you pay for?....Maybe less

Good review thanks

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Interesting, I’ve been considering the Oshlun 8” set based on good reviews and haven’t heard anything about bad cutting with those.

Oshlun is definitely a better dado set. But the steep angle does leave more noticeable bat ears than other dado’s.
On the other hand, and after this experience with DeWalt, I would rather have some bat ears than waste time trying to set up exact dado width.
Whatever set you get, even if you don’t get a chance to use them right away, make sure you measure the blade thickness at plate and cutting head with caliper.
If blades are slightly under, it’s ok because you can add shims. If they are over then they are useless in my opinion.

-- Router è ancora il mio nome.

I love my Forrest Dado King!!

-- Matt, Houston Texas

FYI… I have the cheapie Freud set (the one in the plastic tote) and I honestly couldn’t be happier. A little less than $100 and nice flat dadoes.

-- Laziness - Apathy = Efficiency

Hey, at least you’ve got a good table saw!

-- Life is short...we should hurry to do good.

I have the Delta version of this dado set, it is basically the same thing only with a different case as they are both owned by Black & Decker, I paid about $145 for my set and for the price I think it has been pretty good to me so far, I bought it about a year and a half ago and it still gives a superior cut for me.

-- A hammer dangling from a wall will bang and sound like work when the wind blows the right way.

I have the Oshlun 6” set and have no clue what Bat Ears you are talking about on the Oshlun set. Mine cuts laser sharp, square dadoes.

As far as being undersized slightly, they all are, or most of the Dado sets are undersized, that is why they come with shims. Setup of your dado stack includes using your caliper to make sure you have the size you really want.

The undersize cutters are, not remarkably, meant to work with undersized lumber, such as the 23/32” plywood that is all over the place now…

-- Trying to follow the example of the master.

I also have the Oshlun 6” set and I don’t know what they are talking about with the bat ears?

-- Senior Chief

A good saw will make a difference.

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

thanks for the review – I picked up this set not too long ago and since I haven’t used it yet I will try to return it based on your review.

-- JC - Central PA - www.affyx.com

In all fairness, I should have measured the set and did some test cuts right away. Sometimes few bad batches go out.
On the other hand. Freud has sets in this price range and Oshlun seems to be reasonably priced @ 73.00

-- Router è ancora il mio nome.

Any dado set that uses an ATB grind on the outside cutters (which is nearly all of them) will leave small grooves at the edge of the cut because the points of the beveled tips protrude slightly beyond the flat teeth of the inside chippers. This is an intentional design choice in order to reduce tearout by the outside cutters. The steeper the bevel, the lower the tearout, but the bigger the groove. I often hear of people who get “perfectly flat” bottoms on their dados, but I believe they’re mistaken and have overlooked the small grooves “bat ears” caused by the outside cutters….look closely. They likely have dados with “nearly flat” bottoms, but unless your outside cutters use a flat top grind (FTG), the bat ears will exist to some extent, but if your outside cutters do have a flat top grind, you’ll get more tearout on crosscuts….never a free lunch. Some sets like the Dadonator use a combination of ATB and FTG teeth on the outside cutters to reduce bat ears. A straight router bit will leave a perfectly flat bottom, but offers a different set of disadvantages (refer back to the “free lunch” principle ;-))

I had the DW7670 for about year and got really good results with it…better than with my SD208 that had less teeth, but not as good as the premium higher tooth dado sets like the Dadonator and Systimatic, and I suspect the Forrest, Ridge Carbide, and Freud SD508. I wonder if your teeth were on the dull side when you received the set.