craftsman excalibur 8" dado ???

[Scaramouche]

fellow woodworkers,

i'm well aware that a great deal of you really do not care much for
craftsman, and that's cool, we're all entitled to our opinion. i was just
wondering though if any of you had any first hand experience with the
craftsman excalibur 8" adjustable dado blade. i was holding out for the
freud 8" super dado which sells for about $169-$189 online, however, sears
has its own excalibur on sale for about $70. i do most of my dado work with
my router and would mostly be using this blade for box joints. sears claims
it's adjustable from 1/4" - 13/16".
what do you think...is it worth the money ?

thank you,
rick

[D. J. Dorn]

You can buy a Freud SD208 which is one of their 8" dado stacks for about
$90. My advise would be to hold out until you can spend the extra $20.
While it's been awhile, there was a posting here about someone getting the
Sears model and didn't like it. There is also something in "Shopnotes" at
www.newyankee.com about the same thing. Save yourself the aggravation -
hold out for one of the cheaper Freud's, they work great.

D. J.

Scaramouche <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[Lew Hodgett]

"Scaramouche" writes:
<snip>

> i was holding out for the
> freud 8" super dado which sells for about $169-$189 online, however, sears
> has its own excalibur on sale for about $70. i do most of my dado work
with
> my router and would mostly be using this blade for box joints. sears
claims
> it's adjustable from 1/4" - 13/16".
> what do you think...is it worth the money ?

The short answer, "NO".

The long answer, NO".

It's only money, do it correctly the first time. <W>

The Freud is nice equipment, I bit the bullet and own one. Worth every
penny.

A so called "wobble dado" is a disaster waiting to happen, IMHO.

Basically a piece of junk waiting for the opportunity to hurt someone.

You asked for an opinion, you got one. <G>

--
Lew
S/A: Challenge (Under Construction in the Southland)
Visit: <http://home.earthlink.net/~lewhodgett> for pictures
There are no problems, only varying degrees of challenging opportunity

[Patrick Ritz]

Junk!!!

You set it for size, you tighten the nut, you check the size, you loosen
the nut,
You set it for size, you tighten the nut, you check the size, you loosen
the nut,
You set it for size, you tighten the nut, you check the size, you loosen
the nut,
You set it for size, you tighten the nut, you check the size, you loosen
the nut,..................

But anyway if you insist on one of these, I'll make you a heck of a deal on
one of the Excalibur 8" dual blade dado blades, only used once. How about
$50 for blade and shipping?

Buy any kind of stacked dado before even considering a wobbler.

if cost is an issue, Harbor Freight has a nice 8" Carbide Stacked Dado set
for $20, I know you may say Harbor Freight carries a bunch of junk, however
this dado set is one of their exceptions, it is actually pretty decent
quality wise, a lot better than my other $60 Craftsman stacked dado set
(which I don't believe they carry any more)

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40745

it shows up for $39.99, but if you want it for $19.99:

Click on "Order from printed catalog"
enter the item number 40745-4KZA

you will get it for the "sale price"

Make sure you order at least $50 worth of merchandise to get the free
shipping.

PJ Ritz
Rit...@earthlink.net

"Scaramouche" <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[John Bailey Bobbitt]

I bought one about 4 yrs ago. I tried, hard. And often. I didn't give up
easily. But I couldn't make a descent dado, rabbet or groove. Buy the
stack dado.

BETTER YET: buy my Excalibur. Aside from a couple dozen test cuts, its
almost new. Cheap too.

-JBB

"Scaramouche" <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[Ed Kirstein]

Just one more perspective on the subject. My delta contractors saw came
with a delta wobbler (adjustable dado). It is pretty much useless also
because the cut is so uneven. In otherwords, the depth of cut is different
from one end of the cut to the other. Maybe that's why they call these
"adjustable". That's the result rather than the process. I will someday
get a stacked blade as well.

Ed

"Scaramouche" <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[Bob]

I have owned one of these Excalibur dado blades for quite a long time...
Its a GREAT Blade...you should see the amount of dust it "collects"....

Honestly I used it once...set it aside waited a few years used it again...set
it aside
and have never used it again...

Bob Griffiths

[Tom B]

I have one, I used when building a deck where I had a lot of half lap & dado's
involved in the chippendale railings. Since I was using pretty green PT SYP, I
wasn't too concerned about really tight fits since they'd move as it dried
anyway. And every joint had construction adhesive & screws in it.

It was okay for that. If you're going to make furniture though, it does leave
a rounded bottom, that gets rounder as you widen the dado. The sides are also
just off 90 degrees because of the angle of the blades (kind of a dovetail with
a very small angle). I think for a dado joint in a cabinet or book shelf
you're going to quickly spend $20 or $100 of your time cleaning up the dados
for a good fit, and I'd get a chipper style (which use for that purpose) to
save you time and get a much better fit.

[Bob Lewis]

I bought this along with my saw. I had lots of trouble with it. It seemed
to change width on the fly. I've got a Freud stacked dado set and I like it
much better.

"D. J. Dorn" <djd...@heartlandtel.com> wrote in message
news:rqHJ6.8805$Os.12...@cletus.bright.net...

[Kelly F. Hickel]

Lew,
The Excalibur is NOT a wobble dado. I have one, I've used it.
It's OK, not great, but OK.

-Kelly

[Wile E. Coyote]

one more thing - I had one of them, was satisfied with it until it
needed sharpening. Couldn't be done. No provision to take the two
blades off to do a proper job. They bent mine trying, thereby ruining
it.

I did get a stack dado after that, but since I use a Craftsman
contractor's saw, it won't cut a flat bottom dado. I understand this
an arbor problem.

Whatever it is, the result is that I use a router to make dados, even
though sometimes the TS is would be more convenient.

[Scaramouche]

then it's settled.
i'll wait until i can purchase the freud 8" super dado. thank you all for
sharing your comments.

rick

"Scaramouche" <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[Duane Osborne]

I've got one. I don;t remember for sure but I think I used it once. If
you want t use it for box joints, why not use the router? I do all my
box joints,( a bunch) on the router table with a simple shop made jig.

http://community.webtv.net/ddopao/DuanesSpace

[Tom Wicke]

Generally most anything that is "adjustable" like this makes me think of the
phrase " universal " which means it won't work with anything. Or " one size
fits all " which means it won't fit anyone right. I have a systematic stack
dado, which I bought before they sold out and the quality went into the dumper.
I also have a dewalt wobble set and it has been used to try to chase possums out
of my garden. If I ever hit one it should work quite well.

Just my.02

Tom in Oregon

[William Felix]

Scaramouche wrote:
>
> then it's settled.
> i'll wait until i can purchase the freud 8" super dado. thank you all for
> sharing your comments.
>

Be careful. I have the 8" freud super dado and discovered that I can't
lower it completely on my Craftsman contractor table saw. I starts to
bite into the plastic dust collector beneath the table. Going with the
6" would have been better for me.

Bill

[Greg]

Not even close!
I bought one a year ago, returned it the next day! It made worse dados than
the el-cheapo wobble dado I have!
Greg

"Scaramouche" <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[Wile E. Coyote]

I use an 8" Delta Dado from time to time, (even though I don't like
it) and have no problem lowering it in my Craftsman contractor's saw.
However, I have no dust collection system on it, so it's free to lower
as far as the machine allows.

[Robert J. Hoppe]

I bought it, used it once and took it back... Three letters describe it.
P...O...S.... I ordered the Forrest stackable 8", and have NEVER looked
back. Cuts as smooth as my WWII and for a bit more thant Freud. I use
Freud blades for day to day cuts, and the Forrest for when I am using good
wood.

Rob Hoppe
Copperas Cove, TX

Scaramouche <e.qu...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:tdHJ6.1143$S91.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...

[kdka]

On Mon, 7 May 2001 21:45:00 -0500, "Greg" <goo...@email.msn.com>
wrote:

I would advise you to save your money and buy the Freud. I bought the
excaliber and found out soon after using it that it makes a rounded
bottom on a dado. It would be totally worthless for making good box
joints. I bought the Jesada 8" simply because Freud was out of stock
at the time. My 2 cents worth. kdka

[Fred Paxton]

Is it worth the money ?---Nothing craftsman sells is worth what it sells
for ! Buy your freud.

[conr...@gmail.com]

Great information and opinions here, unfortunately nearly every posting is referring to another blade. The Craftsman Excalibur is not a wobble blade, its a stacked dado.

[Leon]

On 6/27/2014 12:07 AM, conr...@gmail.com wrote:
> Great information and opinions here, unfortunately nearly every posting is referring to another blade. The Craftsman Excalibur is not a wobble blade, its a stacked dado.
>

No telling how old this post is but FWIW, the Craftsman Excalibur IS a
Wobble Blade.

http://www.searsoutlet.com/Excalibur-Dado/d/product_details.jsp?pid=11788&mode=seeAll

[Leon]

OFWW <OF...@who.me> wrote:

> If I am not mistaken that is a dual blade designed to open like a
> "V" adjustable to your width. Good old Norm used the same type of
> Dado blade in a 10" size. I've been looking for on for years. It
> appeared to make clean cuts.
>
> It was my understanding that a single blade set off camber was a
> wobble blade.

Yes a single blade set is a wobble dado blade. A two blade set like the
Excalibur still wobbles, just about half as much. Regardless of how many
blades if the flat side of the blade is not perpendicular to the arbor
shaft it is going to wobble. Whether this blade makes clean cuts or not
will depend on your definition of clean. Because this blade and all other
wobble blades exaggerate the wobble as the blade is adjusted to cut wider,
the wider cuts will result in a more rounded, deeper at the center, not
flat, bottom. Basically the blade or blades cut deepest in the center of
the cut, as they wobble out to the sides of the cut the cut is shallower
forming the rounded bottom.

[no...@none.com]

On Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:24:28 -0500, Leon <lcb1...@swbell.net> wrote:
>Yes a single blade set is a wobble dado blade. A two blade set like the
>Excalibur still wobbles, just about half as much. Regardless of how many
>blades if the flat side of the blade is not perpendicular to the arbor
>shaft it is going to wobble.

I'd add that a wobble dado blade has noticeably increased vibration
and sound over a regular table saw blade ~ at least they have done so
in my experience.

[Larry Kraus]

On 6/27/2014 10:31 PM, OFWW wrote:

> If I am not mistaken that is a dual blade designed to open like a
> "V" adjustable to your width. Good old Norm used the same type of
> Dado blade in a 10" size. I've been looking for on for years. It
> appeared to make clean cuts.
>
> It was my understanding that a single blade set off camber was a
> wobble blade.
>

I have the 10" adjustable (twin blade) Excalibur. I'd consider it a
wobbler. The dado bottoms it creates are not flat, but curved, so glued
joints are weaker and it leaves a gap if the ends of the dado are
exposed. It is nearly impossible to set a repeatable (or precise) width,
as it changes with the tightness of the arbor nut. I'd suggest you
quit looking for one and get a real stacked dado set.