Finally fixed my dados after a year of fighting them

I was getting tear-out on every plywood dado for like 12 months straight. Switched to a flat-top grind blade set last week and my first test cut was perfectly clean. Anyone else dealt with that annoying fuzz on the edges?

3 comments

3 Comments

tyler624d ago

Oh man, the plywood fuzz fight is REAL. I spent a whole weekend once just sanding every single edge on a built-in cabinet because my old blade was shredding the veneer. Switching to a proper flat-top grind was like night and day for me too. That fuzzy, hairy edge just vanishes. I also started using a zero-clearance insert on my table saw and it helped a ton with the bottom edge tear-out. The combo of the right blade and a tight insert is basically a cheat code for clean dados in plywood.

matthews2123d ago

Actually, just a small thing - flat top grind (FTG) blades are great for rip cuts and dados, but for crosscutting plywood they can leave a rougher edge. You want a combo blade with a triple chip grind (TCG) or an alternating top bevel (ATB) for crosscuts. The ATB gives you that clean, sheared edge on the face veneers. I learned that the hard way after buying an FTG blade thinking it was the universal fix.

patricia31723d ago

Start by checking your fence alignment too. An off fence can make any blade chew up plywood worse than it should.