Oshlun SDS-0842 8-Inch 42 Tooth Stack Dado Set with 5/8-Inch Arbor

I have turned some very expensive wood into sawdust and regret. Surely with this tool I can do so at a much faster pace. I have never used a stack dado set before but some would-be-wood-worker-guys on YouTube make it look pretty easy, and most of them have their fingers. So how hard can it be? I threw away the instructions ‘cause, who needs those? When you have 3lbs of steel spinning at 6,000 rpm who cares about that? The center hole for the arbor is extremely close tolerance (and for good reason) which made installation and removal a bit challenging but when installed, very very secure. The instructions indicate the blade stack and shims are “under rated” or “under sized” to accommodate the nominal thickness of various woods. So I took them at face value and installed the 3/4” setup. Now, let me be clear, I have NEVER used a dado set before. I took out my calipers and measured the stack installed and tightened. Just short of .75” as promised. So far so good. Used a square to measure cut depth. So far so good. Set up the fence to center the cut at 4” from the desired edge. So far so good. With nervous anticipation green button, on. Soft start up, check. Dust collection, on. All seems to be going to plan. No noises. No vibrations. No issues. Time to put the wood to it! The cut quality was PERFECT! No tear out, no truly discernable ridges in the cut. The chippers made relatively clean cuts the whole distance. My first dado cut was 25” of pure success. The fitment of the dado was near perfect as far as I could tell. I glued it up, threw in a screw or four and all is well. I wiped the blades down as they had plenty of oil to protect them. The shipping/storage box is not pretty but adequate to protect them. Would recommend to anyone needing the occasional dado cut.

Product was shipped and delivered promptly after order was placed. The blade set I received was in the aluminum case with heavy foam support around perimeter and foam sheets in between all blades. I am a weekend hobby woodworker and never used dado blades before the purchase. These work great for me! All the blades and shims in my set came clearly marked and I found it easy to make slight adjustments and dial in the exact width of cut I needed. I have a 15+ yr old JET JWTS series contractor saw and the blades and shims went on and off my factory 5/8" arbor with no problems. I will say that the shims can be a little tricky as they tend to find their way down into the arbor threads so be careful with that. All the blade teeth were complete and sharp (no nicks or quality issues as some other reviewers have cited). I have used once so far making many dado slots in MDF. The cuts were clean with a smooth, flat bottom. As the manufacturer clearly explains in the included literature the outer blade teeth are angled and slightly deeper intentionally to cut a crisp clean edge and bottom with minimal tearout. The minimal bottom corner groove produced by the outer blade teeth is barely noticeable and not a concern for me. Another positive for me was the full chipper blade design. I was down to this set or the similarly priced set from Freud. I had read a few reviews that indicated the partial chipper blades in the Fred set were not so easy to align and hold in place when installing on the arbor. That was a key factor in my choice of the Oshlun set. I have to say that even with the full chipper blades, aligning multiple blades for wider cuts can be tedious, especially if you need to use a few shims. I am very glad I went with the Oshlun in that regard because I understand now how much more difficult it would likely be with partial blades. Overall I am 100% happy with my purchase and I highly recommend to anyone considering.

I could not be more satisfied with the superb performance of this dado set. The cuts were super clean with a perfectly flat, even, clean bottom of the cut. The shim set lets you adjust thickness to the closest 5/1000 of an inch. And since different lots of wood can vary slightly in thickness, using a digital micrometer on your wood tells you pretty closely what adjustments, if any, you need to make with shims. But in the end, you still need to do a test cut using some of the same wood, checking joint fit, and tweaking the cutting width if needed. Totally worth the investment.

Bought this as my first dado set. Out of the box, the blades felt extremely sharp, and cuts were very clean, with almost no visible blade marks, even with multiple blades. It's been 3 years since buying these, and they're just as sharp. However, as they note, the outer blades create "bat ears" at each side of the cut. I was skeptical at first, but have grown to like this 'feature'. I find the small channels significantly help keep the boards flush with each other, making for an overall better fit. Though not sure whether it helps with tear-out, as they suggest, since I've never used any other dado stack. However, I also intended to use this for other joinery like rabbets, box joints and general cleanout on half-lap/bridle joints, something this set is not suited for. For example, if making a half-lap, you end up with bat ears in random places throughout the cut (depending on how many passes you make and where), which means you end up having to clean up the joint like you would with a standard combination or ATBR blade. If doing box joints, you end up with bat ears in every finger, meaning you either have to fill them in or have an unsightly joint. Rabbets aren't quite as bad as long as you set the stack width wider than your rabbet, so you only end up with one bat ear on the inner corner. It's definitely a quality set of blades, but your options with the kind of joinery you do is quite limited. Looking at other dado sets, it seems they all pretty much do this. I'm not disappointed in buying the set since it has its uses, but if I were to do it over, I'd have just bought a 10" flat kerf/rip blade instead.

This dado set was on my Christmas list - and Santa delivered! I researched quite a bit and narrowed it down the the entry level Orange, Freud, and the Oshlun. The Oshlun won out primarily due to the low price point. Many woodworking forums indicated the quality was comparable to the more costly competition. I'm not a tool snob and don't really care if my tools are made in Asia, Germany, or on the moon, as long as they last and function as intended. I've used the blade several times now, cutting 3/4 slots with and against the grain in softwood. So far I'm impressed. I haven't used the competition, so I can't comment on how it compares. I have a large saw with a powerful 240v motor, so I can't comment on how practical this dado would be in a small table saw. Pros: High tooth count, decent manual, smooth cut, flat bottom (see note about edge scoring) and big chippers Con: Box - many dados come in a box that doubles as a storage case, not this one. The cardboard and foam is adequate for shipping, but not suitable for storing. Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes Note: All dados claim to leave a flat bottom. That does not mean that the entire bottom of the cut is actually flat. It does mean that the bottom will be flat except for a fine score at each edge of the cut. Each edge of the cut will leave a very fine score line to minimize tear out. If the cut is just one pass, the bottom looks perfectly flat, the score lines are quite a non-issue and difficult to see. However, if used in multiple passes to remove larger amounts of material, such as in making tenons or larger slots, the outside edges of each cut will leave a fine line that is easily seen. Don't confuse "flat bottom" advertising to indicate a true flat bottom and smooth cut. A truly flat bottom cut would likely come with a bit of tear out. If you absolutely must have a true flat bottom, stick to a router.

Update: I have now used the dado blade set and I can say without a doubt this is a really quality set of blades. I recently built a new table for my bandsaw and I included T-tracks to increase the versatility. I used the Oshlun dado set to cut T-track slots. The table top has a melamine surface which is highly prone to chipping and tear out but these dado blades sliced right through cleanly and I couldn't be happier with the performance. The blades were super easy to setup and use compared to the set they replaced. From all aspects just a really quality set of dado blades. Original review: I haven't had a chance to use these blades yet but I will soon for an upcoming project and when I do I will be back to update this review. In the meantime I can say I am really impressed by the quality of these blades, the craftsmanship seems excellent. I an attest to how sharp the blades are when, even after being very careful, I managed to get a cut but the blades are so sharp I didn't even know I had been cut until latter. The one issue I have with this dado set so far is the case which is really just a box with a plastic handle. To solve this issue I found an inexpensive case that fits the dado set perfectly (see photo). If your interested it can be found here on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9MCD2Y2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Excellent value, quality dado set. This has a good complement of chippers and shims to make nearly any width groove you want. The chippers cut smoothly with little to no vibration. The top-bevel teeth on the scoring blades (outer) do make a slightly deeper corner cut as described and as is the norm for this style dado. This dado set has much less tendency for chip-out compared to a router bit, and much improved resistance to burning compared to a router bit. Oshlun Customer service is excellent. I received one shim with a slight manufacturing defect. Oshlun customer service provided a complete replacement shim set promptly upon identifying the problem to them. Be aware that the shim set is manufactured to a tight tolerance fit to the arbor, as are the cutting blades. This can make removal of the shims and blades a little slow, but you are assured of good centering of the blades and shims on the arbor. I don't regard this as a defect. I am very pleased with this dado set and recommend it. I also have an 8-inch Oshlun box joint saw set that has also pleased me. Amazon Prime delivered very promptly and delivered pricing was excellent.

I have an early 1950's vintage Craftsman table saw. The 6-inch Oshlun dado blades worked fine until I tried using the shims supplied with the set. No matter how much torque I applied to the arbor nut, the blades or chippers on either side of the shim remained loose. When I removed the blades I noticed that the hole in the shim was deformed. Then, I discovered that the shim was dropping down into the root of the arbor thread, thereby jamming and preventing proper tightening. I solved the problem by placing the shim precisely over the hole in the blade (or chipper) and taping it in place with scotch tape before mounting it on the arbor. As far as I can see, no other reviewers have had this problem. The thread on my arbor is very coarse. I suspect that modern saws have a finer arbor thread so this is not an issue for most users. Therefore, I will not fault the dado set for this problem which apparently is unique to me and a few other owners of old Craftsman saws. A few other comments: 1. As several others have noted, the arbor hole is a bit snug, especially for the shims. I plan to take another reviewer's advice and sand the shim holes (using sandpaper around a dowel) to slightly increase the hole diameter. 2. Contrary to another reviewer who reported a wide discrepancy between the marked value and the thickness of his shims, mine were right on the money when measured with electronic calipers. 3. The cuts that I have made so far are nice and clean with a flat bottom. Be aware, however, that I am not an experienced user of dados and have only an ancient Craftsman set for comparison. 4. The case is great! Incidentally, I love my old Craftsman table saw. It was made back in the days when Craftsman was a high end tool. I am 70 years old now and I remember my dad using it for innumerable projects when I was a little kid. After my dad passed away, I used it for innumerable projects of my own. It still sings with old-fashioned quality every time I turn it on and that nostalgic sound takes me back 60 years to the warmth of my dad's workshop. I also have his 50's vintage drill press and wouldn't trade either for anything.

Excellent set of blade options and very accurate

I am a new wood working, and getting into some of the interesting projects. never used a dado prior to this one, and I honestly did not know what to expect. all of the previous dado's Ive done were made using my router or the single blade table saw. alot of feedback and lot options out there, however I can say, the oshlun blades came in well packaged ( cardboard box), but the blades were organized and separated by a foam like disk with the little washers for spacers. I purchased on the 8" set the cut is clean, and I say clean and not only because I havent tried other sets from other vendors, but watching many youtube videos I can see that the quality of my blades is better . accurate and true. I havent found a need to use the spacers, but I am sure I will at some point. I believe they are priced well, made well, and gave them a 5 stars because they performed flawlessly I am not sponsored by this seller nor any one else. straight shooter all around. I recommend this product.

Excelente lo que se publicó, es lo que recibí.

OK, I haven't used this set yet so I can't tell you how it performs. Based on various woodworkers reviews I have no doubt it will work perfectly. The blades are heavy, clearly marked, and sharp. They have more teeth than the competition which should therefore give a cleaner cut and more balanced operation. The set was well packed for transport but comes in a cardboard box unsuitable for repetitive use so I made a tougher one with multiple slides to carry the blades. Am I happy with the purchase? Absolutely. A well made tool at a great price.

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