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Wobble Dado Owners Anonymous: An offshoot of the "Worst Tool" topic.

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Forum topic by Douglas Bordner posted 335 days ago 1434 views 1 time favorited 80 replies Add to Favorites
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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


335 days ago

Topic tags/keywords: humor question wobble dado heads

I’ll start. My name is Douglas Bordner, and I’m powerless over the fact that I purchased a Craftsman “Excalibur” wobble dado.

I used it to built something that I am rather proud of. As it was something I built long ago with my first contractor’s saw (Yup, a Craftsman with an Aline-a-cut yellow plastic implant ahead of the throat), I can’t remember specifically things being so bad.

What is the part of using one of these that is so infamous? Rough cut, splintering, not crisp bottom of the cut?
You’re reminding me will help me save a hapless board from an undeserved fate.
I contemplated mounting the thing up the other day, to waste dadoes that I could clean up with a router if needed.
Would that have been a mistake (I ended up just hogging them out with the router in my table)?

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

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Karson

13167 posts in 929 days


335 days ago

I just lied to myself. I was typing that I’ve never owned one of those sear’s blades. I am a bold face lier. I’ve owned one. Used it on a radial saw. Don’t know where it is and for that I’m glad.

I will never do that again. I am cured, I don’t know if there was 12 steps in there but I’ve learned how much I’ve sinned in buying and using.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

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Dusty

783 posts in 684 days


335 days ago

fellow lumberjocks

I confess I had one also …but I never turned the machine on!

-- Dusty

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mot

4851 posts in 565 days


335 days ago

I contemplated buying one, but embarrassingly enough, couldn’t figure out how it was supposed to work so I didn’t buy it.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

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RAH

310 posts in 405 days


335 days ago

I had a wobble blade and the raidial arm saw to go with it, sold the two as a pair. I still have and use the contractors table saw with the yellow implant. I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or insulted. A new saw is on my wish lis however my wife’s wish list is bigger.

-- Ron Central, CA

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scottb

3037 posts in 855 days


335 days ago

I had one that came with my shopsmith… and desperately needed it for a project (mostly due to time not skill level) unfortunately i misplaced (or never took ownership of) whatever held it in place on the shopsmith’s arbor…. and since it diddn’t fit my tablesaw I ventured out to pick up a good “real” dado set. Liked the look of the ones you could dial in the width, and not fuss with shims… but as only owned (and still do) a cheap portable Delta jobby, I (to add insult to injury) had to by another wobble dado that was specifically for the short arbor on my saw (the ONLY option I could find).

The project was all made in PT, and came out quite good (considering the materials). I don’t regret the purchase for time saved. But I won’t put it to anything close to furniture grade. Shop grade stuff… but nothing going above ground.

I suppose it’s just as well I didn’t put a $200 dado set on a $70+ saw.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


335 days ago

Ron,
No insult intended. I lugged that Craftsman from Kansas to Nebraska, and would still have it except for the fact that 1.) The wife’s wish list is for ribbons and thread and such and, 2.) She’s pretty supportive of the woodworking addiction, even an enabler (she bought me a bandsaw).
Her car never sees the inside of the garage unless it’s going to hail or a tornado is coming.

I’m even beginning to suspect that that saw is actually a Jet tool, made for Sears.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View rikkor's profile (online now)

rikkor

8365 posts in 403 days


335 days ago

I’ve still got a wobbler, but only because I seldom throw anything out. It has been replaced with a decent stackable set.

-- Maplewood, MN

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mrtrim

1548 posts in 408 days


335 days ago

woo hoo !!! for the first time ever i can get through a confession and have not sinned !! well unless thinking of it is a sin in which case im quite guilty.

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


335 days ago

But what about ‘em sucks so badly?

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

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mrtrim

1548 posts in 408 days


335 days ago

oh no . are you considering another one ? call farther karson!

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CaptnA

90 posts in 341 days


335 days ago

Well for me the thing was used on my Craftsman table saw. I can’t bash that saw too badly. After 20+ years it still makes a decent cut as long as I take the time to truly set the fence – but that’s another story. (I’ll take any unisaws that are on the give away list – hint hint)
The wobble head does just that. It wobbles. it starts like / and then goes to \ but in the meantime it leaves ^ this in the ‘bottom’ of the trough it hacked out. Rough sides rough bottom. Unlike the above where someone used it to clean up after the router, I tried using a router to clean up after the dado. Found that I did better with a good straight edge and a few passes with the router itself. The aggravation led to the thing finding its current home in the top of the green military surplus parts cabinet. It just seems to fit in there.
Mr Karson I’m not sure about the 12 step thing but if you’ll write them down I know there are those that could use them – I’ve still got hope about getting rid of some of the things “stashed” on shelves and in drawers…. :) hmm if I had more room…...... I could buy new tools ~

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

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miles125

957 posts in 534 days


335 days ago

Sounds like we need a contest to see who can best enshrine their wobble dados in a well deserved display case (plus gives added benefit that nobody ever tries to use them).

This has potential to turn into the “wobbly dado” award given to the crappiest things we’ve ever built.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

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Peter O

669 posts in 403 days


335 days ago

Douglas – the problems with the wobble dado, like CaptnA said, are sloped sides and rough sides and bottom. The blade is held at a slight angle to the arbor, which makes it nearly impossible to acurately measure the distance between the cut and the fence. On the plus side, at any given moment you are only removing 1/8” of material, instead of removing the full width of the dado, so a wobble dado is not so likely to bog down a lower powered saw.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

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Russel

1307 posts in 467 days


335 days ago

Peter, I love your optimism. In my weakness (or stupidity, they look alike sometimes) I bought a wobble dado thinking that one blade was better than stacking 2,3 or 4. However, like you’ve said, the bottom and sides were less than … well less, and it was impossible to tell where the silly thing was actually going to start cutting. And yet, in your generosity you have found a “plus side” to a wobble dado. My hat’s off to you.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

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scottb

3037 posts in 855 days


335 days ago

Plus – the bottom is actually an arc, not a flat cut. Ok for slipping in a 1/4 inch panel, but not ideal for wide dados… you have to either go deeper than you’d like (and add on edge banding to hide it, (and have a less than tight glue surface) or use a chisel or router to square off both sides of the groove. A good idea on paper… but a nightmare to measure accurately.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

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Dick, & Barb Cain

5372 posts in 828 days


335 days ago

I also have one taking up drawer space, but I have lots of drawers. I used it on my old radial arm saw,

but when the motor burned out, I tried it on my Skill portable saw, but the arbor wasn’t long enough.

It worked fine for making grooves for rough shelving.

I guess one reason I bought it, was because it was cheap, & when your shopping, a person does a lot

of impulse buying.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

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SPalm

737 posts in 410 days


335 days ago

I was the first one to post on the ‘worst tool’ that I owned one. I lied. I own two. I inherited one from my Dad. It scared the crap out of me when it would make this loud whir sound when I fired it up, and it did not have carbide teeth. So I bought a new one with carbide teeth; same whir, same scare.

You can fool me once, and you can fool me again.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

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DAN

3461 posts in 511 days


335 days ago

I confess to buying two wobblers. Figured there was something wrong with the first one. Second one just as bad.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

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Dadoo

1549 posts in 519 days


334 days ago

My Craftsman saw says not to use wobble type dado blades, so I used a 6” stacked set…but that set unknowningly came with a 3/4” shaft and once bolted on became a wobble (up and down real quick) blade! If there were any loose nuts on the sawcase, I went chaseing them. I finished my project with a router but that was real slow going. Later I figured that I might have installed the stacked dado set wrong, so when I reattempted it I then discovered the arbor size difference! So I put it on the “Tool Swap” forum for anyone to get for free. No takers yet. What tool came with a 3/4” shaft?

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

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GaryK

8541 posts in 517 days


334 days ago

Douglas

As ScottB said the bottom of the dado is an arc. The wider the dado the worse the arc.

Gary

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

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dalec

459 posts in 417 days


334 days ago

Luckly, I am new to woodworking or I would likely have a wobble dado. One can only imagine how many were sold and how many are like most of our tools, on a shelf because we can’t bring ourselves to toss tools, however bad.

Dalec

View Todd A. Clippinger's profile

Todd A. Clippinger

2655 posts in 628 days


334 days ago

Never bought one, never tempted. The whole idea just didn’t seem logical.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

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DocK16

446 posts in 615 days


334 days ago

My first table saw was a craftsman I bought at an auction for $50. I thought it was a great deal as I noticed the saw had a new looking wobble dado blade still on it. The dado blade was the greatest toothpick maker I ever saw. At least I got several years service out of the saw.

-- DocK, WV

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TomK

394 posts in 403 days


334 days ago

I agree with Todd. Just the thought of something that “wobbles” spinning at high RPM’s scares me.

-- North Texas

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Brad_Nailor

727 posts in 486 days


334 days ago

Sorry fellas, wish I could partake in this lively discussion, but I NEVER owned or used a wobble dado, OR a craftsman table saw!

-- Women love me.....trees fear me

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mski

263 posts in 508 days


333 days ago

I have never owed a wobble blade, (wobble at that RPM seems like danger and bearing abuse) BUT I do have a Craftsman TS with that yellow align cut plastic plug, I don’t have one complaint about the saw.
I do wonder what that align a cut gizmo is for?

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


333 days ago

I liked that feature. You make a crosscut with the miter gauge on both sides of the blade and scribe the end of the cut on the yellow disk with a pencil. This shows you the exact kerf position of the blade, allowing you to (repeat after me) Aline-A-Cut!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View lazyfiremaninTN's profile

lazyfiremaninTN

464 posts in 481 days


333 days ago

I had the good fortune to grow up helping my dad in the garage and the only thing he let into his garage was Craftsman. Monster table saw, digital radial arm saw, lathe, A Giant HEAVY thinkness planer, and Massive Jointer. SOOOOO, when I grew up and started buying my tools, I bought craftsman. I have to say that the quality is not what it once was but I still can’t complain except for the miter gauge and fence (wiggles). However, I will move up in quality as I move up in experince.

Adrian

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

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Grumpy

6517 posts in 379 days


332 days ago

Thanks for the tip fellas. I won’t bother to look for one!.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

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mski

263 posts in 508 days


332 days ago

Thanks Douglas
I always wondered what that was! I use zero inserts so I use that as a cut guide.
That is a good idea, though I still do not think wobble blades are.

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

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Blake

2206 posts in 403 days


332 days ago

Guilty.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

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Sawdust2

868 posts in 616 days


332 days ago

Somewhere in the far recesses of my mind I seem to recall that Norm once (maybe twice) used a wobble dadlo.

Or did I just make that up?

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


332 days ago

Okay, to throw gas on the fire, I finally looked up wobble dado on the internet, and the thing I have is not what I thought I had. This beastie has two blades, one perpendicular to the arbor and one on a mechanism that one can turn to widen or lessen the dado width. Not quite a Freud Dial-a-dado, but not just a single wobbling blade. Don’t worry, I’m not planning a relapse.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5345 posts in 594 days


332 days ago

Douglas I have a wobble and use it frequently. The thing that you have to keep in mind – to get a nice cut – is that you set if for a width slightly narrower than you need and for a depth of slightly higher than you want. After making your “wobble cut” you move the board over to your router table and finish the cut, so it will look like a proper dado. Of course you could bypass using the wobble (chop-a-matic) in the first place and just use the router table for your dado. All kidding aside – I do have a Craftsman Wobble that I’ve had for 30 years or more – I used it maybe twice and found out why people buy decent dado sets. It sucks – but if that is all you have, you can get by with it if you don’t mind cleaning up the finished cut.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

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lazyfiremaninTN

464 posts in 481 days


326 days ago

OMG….I almost fell victim to the smiling dollar sign. I was at the Big Orange Box and was looking at things and saw a saw blade for $29. I was like, woooooo. I saw dado, and was like, ahhhhhh. Then I saw the word WOBBLE, and I dropped it like it was a Cobra and ran outa the store crying.

Please forgive me Lord for almost breaking the 11th commandment. “Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado Blade”

Adrian

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


326 days ago

I’d almost pay good money to have witnessed that scene. Welcome back from the brink, Brother Adrian.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

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motthunter

1229 posts in 327 days


326 days ago

I have purchased a lot of crud in my life… More than I care to talk about… fortunately among the other miracle products I have purchased, a wobble dado is not one of them.

-- making sawdust....

View Myron Wooley's profile

Myron Wooley

164 posts in 424 days


326 days ago

I, too, succumbed to the siren call of the wobble dado. It was used on my first table saw- a Craftsman 10” contractor saw complete with plastic insert. Fortunately, it was not fireproof, and it burned up in the Paradise Fire of Oh Three. It was reincarnated as a Freud stack dado set.

-- Furniture Medic- the prescription for damaged furniture

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


326 days ago

The following piece is rated M for mature audiences.

Photobucket

A little historical background…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

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MsDebbieP

12249 posts in 689 days


326 days ago

hah oh so that’s how it all began :)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

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Russel

1307 posts in 467 days


326 days ago

Ahhhh … the call of the wobble. The hypnotic undulation that leads the weak down the path of disappointment.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

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Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


326 days ago

For Lo, how like a serpent’s tooth is the carbide points of the beast, full of sound and fury and signifying splintered lumber and broken promises…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

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Jamie

131 posts in 342 days


323 days ago

I have the Craftsman Excalibur and I have to say that it is the best dado blade I have ever used… NOT!!! It was given to me by my father in law and I should have thrown it back at him.. :)

I think for the box contest I am going to build a shadow box prison cell for my Excalibur so that I can ensure that no one ever uses it again!

-- Jamie, Kentucky

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Dusty

783 posts in 684 days


323 days ago

Being a good catholic boy and nearly collapsing under the weight of my own guilt I find I must purge my sins and pray for mercy on my soul.

I confess I bought a wobble dado.

I put it on my 3hp Delta Unisaw.

Something didn’t look right. It never really fit. I was concerned about clearance problems. It looked like a saddle on a sow.

I never turned the machine on.

Removed said wobbly war head.

Returned to the original packaging.

Ran out and bought the New Frued dial a dado, they had just come out.

Later that winter I had a “tool reduction sale” because I was building a new shop in the spring and wanted to clean up and reduce all the junk, crap, and excess inventory I had accumulated.

One guy who had bought several hundred dollars of small hand tools and had just begun his “retirement” woodworking years had been looking at the “wobbly dado” with a gleam in his eye.

He made the comment that he wanted to buy the blade but was looking at a few other things and was almost taped out of money for starters.

I told him if he bought the other items, I would throw in the “wobby dado blade”.

He did.

I’m still saying my Hail Marys as a act of contrition.

I”m sorry!

Every time I go to confession now I pack a lunch.

I know I will be their a while.

Every time I hear a siren now i wonder….

-- Dusty

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miles125

957 posts in 534 days


323 days ago

I suggest that anyone who purchased the wobbly dado AND an Ab-roller start their own repentance blog immediately.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

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Dusty

783 posts in 684 days


323 days ago

Miles,

How about I just chop off my arm?

And list all my tools for sale on “Craig’s List” for 15 bucks you have to haul them away.

That would be a lot less pain full for me and time consumeing than blogging my repentance.

-- Dusty

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Russel

1307 posts in 467 days


323 days ago

Dusty please say you did not buy an Ab-Roller …

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

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Dusty

783 posts in 684 days


323 days ago

Russel,

Oh come on with a gut like I am beginning to show this winter?

NOT!

Whew, got out of that one

-- Dusty

View rikkor's profile (online now)

rikkor

8365 posts in 403 days


323 days ago

One guy who had bought several hundred dollars of small hand tools and had just begun his “retirement” woodworking years had been looking at the “wobbly dado” with a gleam in his eye.

He made the comment that he wanted to buy the blade but was looking at a few other things and was almost taped out of money for starters.

I told him if he bought the other items, I would throw in the “wobby dado blade”.

He did.

I’m still saying my Hail Marys as a act of contrition.

It takes a lot of courage to own up to a sin such as that. You’re on the road to repentance.

-- Maplewood, MN

View Peter O's profile

Peter O

669 posts in 403 days


323 days ago

My wobble dado story: A man with a lot of decent woodworking tools passed away. Right away, people began eyeing the tools. You see situations like that where people get the tools way cheap because the widow doesn’t know the value. I didn’t want to see her get taken, so I inventoried almost everything in the shop and researched fair value based on the going rate on Craigslist and eBay. I gave her the list, and asked to buy several items. She sold them to me at the fair rate I had found.

She was very grateful for my efforts, and in some cruel twist of fate, from all the tools in the shop she selected the wobble dado as the item to give me to express her thanks. She then proceeded to sell everything else in the shop to other people for pennys on the dollar.

The wobble dado still sits in it’s box, a reminder that no good deed shall go unpunished.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

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dalec

459 posts in 417 days


321 days ago

Peter,

People who do the right thing may not always be appropriately recognized or rewarded, but those around you everyday know.

Great story.

Dalec

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


321 days ago

While I frequently use the aphorism “No good deed goes unpunished”, I try to live my life as if the opposite is true.
I suspect that good deeds are rewarded in the fabric of time. And I sleep better. Good job Peter.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

12249 posts in 689 days


321 days ago

lol lol laughing right out loud at that one, Peter..
ok.. now my sides hurt.. feels just like a workout on an ab roller! :)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

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Dadoo

1549 posts in 519 days


318 days ago

Well although I’m really E-bay shy, I did find a carbide stacked dado set from Irwin, unmarked and brand new, and I got it for $38.00 including shipping. I hope this was a good price…I’m assuming it is when seeing the same being offered elsewhere for $89.00. I have put it to use (on cherry and maple) and it cuts a nice flat bottom slot. So if anybody else is interested, I got it from “Cripesdistributing” on E-bay. He’s got more of them plus a bunch of other name brand goodies.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

View Peter O's profile

Peter O

669 posts in 403 days


318 days ago

Thanks for pointing that out Dadoo. I looked him up and it’s “cripedistributing”. Looks like some good stuff at reasonable prices.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

View Sawdustmaker's profile

Sawdustmaker

254 posts in 326 days


318 days ago

As a newbie to the list, I wanted to let everyone know from the begining of my past misdeeds so I listed my breaking of the 11th as follows: “My shop is AKA my two car garage (sans the cars and motorcycles). Here in Virginia Beach, most of us don’t have a basement because if you dig much deeper than 3 feet down, you are going to need a pump to keep your hole dry, so we use our garages for more important things like making saw dust. I have a wide variety of tools and before we go any further I guess I’ll give up the goods that I do own a Craftsman wobble dado blade and my eyes are downcast at the floor as I type this.”.....................
I feel better already.

-- Brian, Virginia Beach

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


317 days ago

Brian,
Admission of Powerlessness is the first step in the healing process. And as you can see, you are not alone.
Welcome to lumberjocks.com. Things will going better from here on out.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View Mike Kemper's profile

Mike Kemper

42 posts in 339 days


316 days ago

I know I’ll get a lot of flack from this but I think the Wobble Dado is getting a bad rap.
I have a Craftsman 7” adjustable Dado, I also have A Freud 8” Stack Dado.

Like so many of you I couldn’t figure out how to use this thing so in the drawer it went and stayed for a long time. One Saturday when I had nothing better to do I got this thing out of the drawer and was determined to learn how to use it. After spending a couple of hours with it I was amazed at the results I was getting. The cuts were clean the bottom flat and the matting part fit was tight. After I got the hang on using the adjustable dado I can make adjustments to the width of the cut with out taking the dado off the arbor several times to add and subtracting shims. With the Wobble Dado all I do is loosen the arbor nut and rotate the eccentric and It usually only takes me one adjustment and I have myself a nice tight fit for the matting part. I still use my stack dado for most of projects were I’ll be making a lot of cuts and I don’t Have to reset the width, but for those projects were you have to make several setups and don’t want to be fooling around with changing chippers and shims you cant beat the Wobble Dado.

Ok now I’m ready for your abuse.

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Russel

1307 posts in 467 days


315 days ago

Oh no!!!! You’re one of THEM. Come to tempt us with ease and accuracy. La La La La La La La ... I’m not listening.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

View rikkor's profile (online now)

rikkor

8365 posts in 403 days


315 days ago

Mike… denial is not a river in Egypt. There is help here. Just ask.

-- Maplewood, MN

View Dusty's profile

Dusty

783 posts in 684 days


315 days ago

Mike,

We understand you work for them and have to feed your family.

We are a accepting bunch here at Lumberjocks.

May I also suggest you spend less time in enclosed areas with heavy fumes?

-- Dusty

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Mike Kemper

42 posts in 339 days


315 days ago

Well guys like I said I’m when I made that posting I was prepared to take some flak, but just for argument sake I would like to know how long it takes you to set-up and adjust a stack dado?

View lazyfiremaninTN's profile

lazyfiremaninTN

464 posts in 481 days


315 days ago

QUICK…..SOMEONE CALL THE PRIEST AND TELL HIM TO BRING THE HOLY WATER !

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

View Peter O's profile

Peter O

669 posts in 403 days


315 days ago

Mike – Stack dado, maximum of one adjustment every time.

First, when you do a setup, make a cut in a story stick and write what chippers and shims made that width. The next time you set up, see if your story stick has the right width slot in it, and use your notes to set up.

Second, if you don’t have the right slot in your story stick, stack your dado a little too thick with shims and make a test cut. Put a scrap of the correct thickness into the test cut and remove shims from your stack and put them into the test cut with the scrap until it’s tight. Leave those shims out and restack your dado with the remaining shims. You’ll have a tight dado.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

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Mike Kemper

42 posts in 339 days


315 days ago

Hay lazyfiremanin, looks like some one got those clamps a little to tight,

View CaptnA's profile

CaptnA

90 posts in 341 days


315 days ago

I had the pope on the Lumber Phone. He said to love the sinner and forgive the sin…
Mike I just don’t know what else to say~ Time will help.
Its all a matter of personal choice. Do I use the wobble head, learn to work within my (it’s) parameters; or do I stop paying the cable for a year and save those dollars for a good quality stack set…
So many tools, so little money!
I’m impressed that one can not only endorse these little ‘wonders’, but actually do so in mixed company :)
j/k whatever works for you.
I DO have to say that I’ve seen skilled craftsmen do wonders with pitiful tools. And I’ve seen well funded ‘termites’ make mounds of sawdust and wood scrap with some of the finest tools on the market.

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

2708 posts in 592 days


315 days ago

I have heard stories that Yeung Chen, (protégé of James Krenov and College of The Redwoods graduate) began his career as a child with a bit of spring steel from a packing crate, sharpened on the concrete sidewalk. So I believe the Capt’s statement above is right to the point.

So here’s the thing (borrowing a phrase from Mr. Monk) — Next time a beloved and respected tool magazine does a tool test of stacked dado sets, I hope they will include an eccentric wooble dado blade as a baseline comparator. I would really like to know the whole truth here. Does the use of this tool booger up a TS, what are the outcomes of its use on hard and softwoods. Inquiring minds want to know. Besides, it might fill up the space with more information than the three hundredth iteration of how to cut a dovetail.

I am firmly in the camp of woodworkers that have heard the siren’s song of the many tools I lust after, and must prioritize my expenditures in order to pony up the cash for the next tool I must have ($250 plane, $200 plywood edging bit set, honk-a-daro handsaw, $499 DeWalt 788 scroll saw, Bosch Colt laminate trimmer…). Y’all get the drift. As to Mike’s forthright admission, I admire your bravery, Sir. I, as you have read above have gotten some utility out of my wobbler. I’m not saying I’m throwing that bad boy on my Jet contractor’s saw, but as it’s already a 1/16˝ or better off square to the miter slots who’s to say it might not fix the damned thing. I’m totally not looking forward to crawling around on the garage floor to fit my no longer svelte frame up under there to get after the front trunnions in the January weather here in Nebraska.

But nothing is going to convince me that there is anything slick about the Slick Plane… Nuff said.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

868 posts in 616 days


314 days ago

One of my bud’s is a Craftsman affectionado (he believes in them). And he has a Shopsmith. (But he does not have a large shop.)

I took a count – 9 Craftsman mentions, one Shopsmith and one Skilsaw (Why anyone would put a dado on a Skilsaw is beyond me!). Did I miss a Jet, a Delta, a Grizzly, a Powermatic, a General?

Setting aside the Shopsmith, because the wabbly was a freebie, does the correlation between wobbly and Craftsman mean anything?

And Doug has amply demonstrated why you should wear ear protection in the shop. Altho’ not many of us have our shop on a boat.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

View CaptnA's profile

CaptnA

90 posts in 341 days


313 days ago

that we’re an underfunded lot early on in our endeavors???

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

View DAN's profile

DAN

3461 posts in 511 days


310 days ago

no more … no more … will never own another wobbler … !

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

View lazyfiremaninTN's profile

lazyfiremaninTN

464 posts in 481 days


309 days ago

I still can’t see how something that is designed to spin “off balance” can be safe for you or your machine.

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

View Mike Kemper's profile

Mike Kemper

42 posts in 339 days


309 days ago

It’s called engineering

View matter's profile

matter

186 posts in 297 days


297 days ago

I grew up in a house where my Dad’s shop was a decrepit garage with a dirt floor. The wobble dado was never very far from the old CraftMaster saw- 71/4 blade, single belt drive.

A lot of good furniture came out of that shop.

I still have the dado, and it still scares the hell out of me.

I’ll take my $200 stacker any day

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

868 posts in 616 days


297 days ago

This last weekend at the Wood Show I noticed that Freud has a wobble dado.

I did not ask them how well they were selling.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

View gene's profile

gene

2132 posts in 412 days


297 days ago

OK! “I fess up”! Used this on a few projects early on. Its been hanging on the wall for about 15 years, gathering dust.
God bless

-- Gene, a Christian in Virginia

View Peter O's profile

Peter O

669 posts in 403 days


297 days ago

Sawdust, are you sure that the Freud was a wobbler? They have a “Dial-A-Width” blade, but it’s actually a stack that can be adjusted without shims.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

868 posts in 616 days


296 days ago

Peter, you are right.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

View woodman51's profile

woodman51

1 post in 303 days


295 days ago

.......OK guys..new here, but certainly not to woodworking…........am I the only one who has good results from the Excalibur blade???
It’s not a true wobbler, in that there are two blades, which align such, \/ , giving full contact, without the extreme arcing effect. We have a couple of them in the shop, set up on an old Unisaw, dedicated for dadoing, and the other we run on the Powermatic if more than one dado operation is required at thew same time. Granted, we do have stack sets, but for most of our work the Excaliburs work fine…...I do agree the bottom cut is a bit rougher than a stack set, but that isn’t an issue if the end of the dado id concealed.
Just my thoughts, not trying to start an argument….......

View Jim's profile

Jim

39 posts in 526 days


295 days ago

I bought one cheap on ebay didnt work on my saw resold it for more than I bought it for

-- Jim in Cushing Oklahoma

View Gofor's profile

Gofor

70 posts in 315 days


294 days ago

Have an old one (first dado I bought). Can’t get rid of it. Won’t gve it to a friend and don’t let those who aren’t in my shop.!! What a waste of good steel and carbide.

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730

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