Spent 6 months fighting with my dado stack before a guy at the supplier fixed me up

I kept getting tearout on my plywood dados no matter what I did. Changed feed rates, tried different blades, slowed way down. Last week I stopped by the hardwood supplier in Portland and the old timer working there asked what arbor size I was running. Turns out I had a 5/8 inch bore stack on a 30mm arbor, wobbling like crazy the whole time. Cost me $15 for the right bushing and now my joints are clean as can be. Has anyone else had a simple fix like that slip past them for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

jadep4129d ago

Did you check the arbor size right away or did it take a while to figure out? I did something similar with a table saw insert plate a few years back. Kept getting snipe on every cut and thought my saw was junk. Turned out the insert was warped from sitting in a hot garage over the summer. A flat, $12 replacement fixed everything and I had wasted months blaming the wrong thing. It's humbling how the smallest hardware mismatch can wreck your work. You feel smart for chasing feed rates when it was just a bushing the whole time.

kai60229d ago

Totally disagree, sometimes it really is about feed rates and not just a bushing.