Testing the Wobble Dado Blade - woodworkweb

This is a great invention, in my opinion. Thanks for explaining.

Bought a dado stack today off Kijiji. The man says "Wait, I have a bonus for you.: He handed me a Samco Tru-cut and says "Here. Hopefully you can figure out how this thing works." Well now I do. Thank you!

Sorry, I'm not impressed with this. I've used one of these for almost 40 years on my radial arm saw. It has its limitations, but the video fails to make them clear. It only briefly mentions the issue of the bottom of the data not being flat. What is key, and was NOT mentioned, is that these wobble dado cutters are designed to be flat at 3/4"! Go wider and the bottom of the cut will be deeper than the edged. Go shallower and the bottom will be higher. I would never recommend one of these for anything except right around 3/4". This is SO fundamental to this tool that not mentioning it pretty much invalidates the whole tutorial.
Watching the repeated adjustments was painful. Yes, I had an advantage using a radial arm saw as I didn't have to remove everything, but the approach used missed the fundamental idea of "bracketing the target". First, use a pencil to make the mark easier to see since you found it so faint. Use pencil marks on both sides to show where you lined up. If the first cut is too narrow, don't just tweak it wider, give it a more generous adjustment. You want the next one to either be right or too wide. Then you have two sets of pencil marks, and two dados, and you compare the fit of the two dados to pick where BETWEEN the two pencil marks to try next.

I have owned this wobble blade for 30 years. If you are doing more than 2 or 3 adjustments you are not doing micro adjustments. Plus it doesn't have the kick-back like a stacked dado set does. I find the hardest problem is getting the blade to it's farthest point to achieve an accurate width when making cuts on plywood for shelving.

Looks good 2 me. I'm a fan.

I have one of these and used it a good deal on my Radial Arm Saw, worked great. The iterative process of getting the dado exact is just as cumbersome with the stacked dado. Has to be another reason these were discontinued. My guess might be the vibration impacts of the wobble on the saw.

I have two of them i use all the time

I enjoy your videos in general, but this one is pretty funny. How many times did you adjust? I don't think I'll be looking for one of those blades, used or new. I'll just go with multiple cuts or a dado set.

I have a set of warrens. They were the originals

I've had one for years and like mine. You can easily correct for the undersizes that plywood now come as.

I almost wonder if one couldn’t set it horizontally by using a dial indicator on a mag base and spinning it 360 degrees to measure total runout.

This is all I used for years on my radial saw for lap joints, tenons and other uses. It's not the bottom of the slot that's the problem but the sides since there is a very slight dovetailing, which hasn't been a problem since I'm not a fine cabinetmaker and only built structural things. Now I'm starting into things like box joints so I bought an expensive dado stack. I've found that it's just as fiddily setting up the dado than with the wobble wheel, which I still use for some projects.

I'm so glad you posted this, highly informative. My saw came with one of those blades and I've never used it but now I have a better understanding.
Thanks so much

Wont fit on some direct drive motors, too wide.

I've had one still in its package for ten years now and I guess I'm finally going to get to use it in building a 8' 4 unit reptile vivarium...

I broke down tonight and ordered a Freud stackable dado set after using my "wobble wheel" -since I got my vintage craftsman table saw in the early 90s (how could that be vintage?!) Anyway, for precise cutting I'd have to had so many scraps around to insure I dialed it in correctly. I'm too old for that now. can't wait for the new set, I've been suffering for decades!

Cut quality seemed to be fairly acceptable but I'm thinking it would be alot harder to line up your cut as the blade is running at angle and constantly changing positions.

I have two of these that I use with my radial arm saw. One I have had for over 40 years; the other I bought new as recently as a couple of years ago. (I'll try to get the source information to you.) I will say that adjustment is a lot easier on a RAS than on a table saw, as well as being inherently safer in operation. I can remove the blade guard for test cuts snd adjusting, then reinstall the guard when ready to cut. I try to plan out work so that all dados of a single size san be cut with a single setup.

For a three quarter inch dado, how great would the maximum distance be between the arc created by a seven inch wobbling blade and the centre point of a cord across that three quarters of an inch? My math say extremely small.

I have a stacked and a wobble dado set. Never used them,

Yup, bought one brand new (Craftsman label) 38 years ago or so $49 brand new. Still have.. and still works amazingly well, but I tend to use router created dado joints where possible nowadays, because [wobbly] can indeed be fiddly to get just right. It can take a lot of tries - like you had to take in the video, but I guess I've been fortunate over the decades that prolonged tweaking has only happened a handful of times. Yeah, "real" dado blade sets are prohibitive in price - if you want the kind of quality that is in your typical "single" width blade. Thanks for reintroducing an old technology to today's woodworkers!

Mine has been collecting dust for 30 years. Now I remember why I put it away and got a stack.😅

I prefer a wobble blade over the stack dado. The stack doesn't cut a flat bottom the wobble does

I really liked the blad, if you get the adjustment right without to many readjustments it could certainly work..... can't find any to buy maybe the factory makes more money on "morderne" dado blade set's.
If anyone of you US woodworkers cam find and send to Brasil please give me a shout-out here and we can finde a way to get in touch...nice video never seen this type of blade before.

I got two and use them all the time

I used this technology when I was 9. My stepfather was a carpenter and he brought this thing. It’s fascinating to watch the blade go left and right. The reason you don’t get a square cut was because you wanted to run your would too fast. You had to go almost half the speed you are used to on regular blade-table setup. But once you allow every tooth do it job, it came out perfect! Thk for the vid!

Kind of fiddly but once you get it set up it seems like it would be good for production work. You're braver than me; I don't monkey with the blade unless I unplug the saw.

A tiny gap prefect for glue so it won't be glue starved......

Thanks Collin! I just discovered my Wobble Dado Blade while slowly getting my little shop back in order after many, many years of neglect. I was staring at it, wondering what it was (I had been gifted with a lot of stuff from various friends and family over the years). Now I know and I look forward to using it on my table saw. :)

It must be a challenge to sharpen it. 🤔

It's a damn kickback machine, that's what it is

I'm glad you made this. I inherited my father's wood shop and I've been repairing it and slowly learning the craft. No one could answer what this was. I was going to cut my first box/finger joints tomorrow and I think I would prefer to use the Wobble Wheel over the dado set right now. That crown/channel looks like the perfect size for a glue channel.

Who was the manufacturer of the blade? I have a table saw that does not accept a stacking dado set. Will this fit?

Wearing a black shirt while demonstrating black blades is not a good idea

Yes, I use these all the time and they work really well. as Juan says, you ran the wood over the blade too quickly. Run the wood a little slower or run it through a second time and the cut will be flat at the bottom of the dado. The one that I own can be adjusted while it's on the arbor. The two pieces that clamp the blade are cambered. Just loosen the nut, and using two adjustable wrenches, hold the inside piece while turning the outside piece. Then tighten the nut.

Thank you for video!!!

The only dado blade I've ever used is a 7 inch Hickory brand wobble dado that I bought at Sears around 2001. I've never used a stacked set & was wondering if I've been missing out on technology. It seems that I'm not from what you're saying. I looked at the Freud dial a width but my Jet Jtas 10 arbor isn't long enough. I'm thinking of getting a cheap Bauer stacked set from Harbor Freight.

Hello, What keeps the dado blade from moving off the setting you set it at for the cut, i have one i just bought at auction, does it have to be locked down or does it stay at desired setting. thanks

That is one seriously nasty looking blade, I do wonder what long term use of it does to the motor bearings. Useful though for sure in the right hands,in the wrong ones youll lose your hand....

thanks as I am given and not sure it works. I suggest adjust to min and max and you would be able to calculate rather than try so many times.

I actually have a brand new Delta wobble wheel - bought it oh, 25 years ago, and have never used it

If you go very slow, the joint will be almost perfect!

That was super helpful. I just got an older craftsman table saw with bunches of cool accessories, among them was this dado blade. Watched the video, and had it in service within a few minutes. It’s working and I’m cranking out cuts. Thanks for the video :)

Can anyone tell me? Is there 2 roll pins that holdit together, asmine only has 1 roll pin, but looks like it was supposedto have 2?

I used one in my high school construction class

Vermont American company still sells these

Something I learned years ago with my woodworking was to figure out how to accomplish something if I didn't have all of Norm's tools. No router, use a bead blade in hand plane as example of this. This dado was what I purchased decades ago and still use because I couldn't afford a stack. Thanks for sharing.

It's hard to believe you are having so much trouble getting it set correctly. I used one for years and I just set it to width I wanted and most of the time it was spot on

I’ve had mine for years.Sears sold them back in the day.

Mfg is Oldham