There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago. I did a little more
experimenting and updated my site to include this set. I am a little
chagrined at my earlier, somewhat glowing, comments because I found the HF
set to be considerably poorer than the Forrest.
One picture shows the HF to have a lot of tearout and one of the chippers
was cut too large in diameter. The HF is on the left and Forrest on the
right.
http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dado9big.jpg
For the whole enchilada see
http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dadocomp.htm
Larry
--
Lawrence L'Hote
Columbia, MO
http://home.mchsi.com/~larrylhote
http://home.mchsi.com/~llhote
To add my voice to your Forrest chorus ... I just built shop cabinets and
cut ... hmmm 4*2*5 upper and 4*2*4 is 72 rabbets and dados in_melamine_ No
prescribing, no taping, just a zero clearance insert and no chipout at all.
That impressed me, saved me the expense of a special melamine blade, and
this was by no means a new dado set either. I'm hoping I didn't take too
much life off the Forrest set, but the last dado was as clean as the first.
--
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com/woodshop
"Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:5YWbc.178413$1p.2124395@attbi_s54...
> There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
> Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago. I did a little more
> experimenting and updated my site to include this set. I am a little
> chagrined at my earlier, somewhat glowing, comments because I found the HF
> set to be considerably poorer than the Forrest.
> One picture shows the HF to have a lot of tearout and one of the chippers
> was cut too large in diameter. The HF is on the left and Forrest on the
> right.
> http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dado9big.jpg
>
> For the whole enchilada see
> http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dadocomp.htm
>
> Larry
> --
> Lawrence L'Hote
> Columbia, MO
> http://home.mchsi.com/~larrylhote
> http://home.mchsi.com/~llhote
>
>
"Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:5YWbc.178413$1p.2124395@attbi_s54...
> There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
> Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago.
I bought a HF dado a while back, none of the blades and chippers were the
same size!! It looked like I cut the dado with multipe passes, adjusting the
hight every pass.
Greg
"Henry Bibb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Regarding the chippers for the HF (and other dado sets) not leaving
> a flat-bottomed groove: It may be the saw. On mine, the threaded
> portion of the arbor is *ever so slightly* smaller in diameter than the
> spot where the normal blade seats. So I sometimes have trouble
> with the bottoms of dados cut with a stacked set.
I have a Delta contractos TS, the arbor threads are flat on the top, same
size all the way across. The blades and chippers fit tight over the threads,
barely able to get them on and off! It is the dado set!
Greg
"Eric Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mmmm. Well, this is more like the usual Harbor Freight comments. I
> was hoping for a miracle.
>
>
I checked with a local sharpening shop today. It may be a dumb idea, but the
gent said he would charge $15 to measure all the blades/chippers and grind
them all to one diameter. I think I will give it a try. I am not going to
buy a $200+ Forest, and the $100 Freud may find it self a hame with me, but
in the mean time I think I will toss $15 more into the HF dado and see what
happens!
I should just return it, but I have had it way over their return policy.
Greg
"Eric Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Man, it looks like the experiences are all over the map!!!
>
> If you got yours for $20, could you give me the catalog number for
> your #44566? Harbor Freight has different prices for the same thing.
FWIW I believe the slightly larger size of the one chipper I used in my
testing can be 'adjusted' with a little judicious abrading. True, buying
from Harbor Freight is somewhat of a crapshoot. I've returned stuff..like a
$200 sheet metal brake that had been dropped....they seem very willing to
take stuff back. Sorry, I don't know the sale number for the #44566(sale
price $40) but I'm sure , if you've ordered from HF before, a catalog will
come your way with the thing on sale again.
Larry
http://home.mchsi.com/~larrylhote
Someone was actually trying to compare HF to Forrest? Seriously I thought it
was a joke thread until I read it.
Jim
"Jim K" <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just used mine today before I read this. Here's my experience with
> some covered particle board. I think with HF there's a certain luck of
> the draw when you buy stuff. As far as I can tell all the chippers on
> mine are just right. Dados I've cut in regular 2x4s are dead flat
> across the bottom as well. The groove in the picture is 3/4" so all
> the chippers but the thin one are on the stack.
>
> http://www.avercy.com/knothole/dado/dado.htm
>
> On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 16:44:49 GMT, "Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
> >Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago. I did a little more
> >experimenting and updated my site to include this set. I am a little
> >chagrined at my earlier, somewhat glowing, comments because I found the
HF
> >set to be considerably poorer than the Forrest.
> >One picture shows the HF to have a lot of tearout and one of the chippers
> >was cut too large in diameter. The HF is on the left and Forrest on the
> >right.
> >http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dado9big.jpg
> >
> >For the whole enchilada see
> >http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dadocomp.htm
> >
> >Larry
>
Jim Kountz responds:
>
>Someone was actually trying to compare HF to Forrest? Seriously I thought it
>was a joke thread until I read it.
It wasn't? My first impulse was to answer, "There is none." So was my second
impulse.
Charlie Self
"It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
In rec.woodworking
[email protected] (Charlie Self) wrote:
>Jim Kountz responds:
>
>>
>>Someone was actually trying to compare HF to Forrest? Seriously I thought it
>>was a joke thread until I read it.
>
>It wasn't? My first impulse was to answer, "There is none." So was my second
>impulse.
What a couple of jerks. Either that or idiots. When Forrest has the nerve
to charge #250 for a dado that can be had for HF for $20 on sale, it is a
perfectly valid and intelligent question to ask, "What is my money getting
me for 12X as much?"
"Bruce" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
<cut n' paste...>
> When Forrest has the nerve
> to charge #250 for a dado that can be had for HF for $20 on sale, it is a
> perfectly valid and intelligent question to ask, "What is my money getting
> me for 12X as much?"
>
Depends. If $250 is pocket change to you, then it may be valid but
certainly not intelligent.
> What a couple of jerks. Either that or idiots.
Maybe they're not looking to optimize cost in this equation.
Mmmm. Well, this is more like the usual Harbor Freight comments. I
was hoping for a miracle.
"Greg O" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:5YWbc.178413$1p.2124395@attbi_s54...
> > There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
> > Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago.
>
> I bought a HF dado a while back, none of the blades and chippers were the
> same size!! It looked like I cut the dado with multipe passes, adjusting the
> hight every pass.
> Greg
Man, it looks like the experiences are all over the map!!!
If you got yours for $20, could you give me the catalog number for
your #44566? Harbor Freight has different prices for the same thing.
They use catalog part numbers to differentiate the sales price from
the standard price.
Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I just used mine today before I read this. Here's my experience with
> some covered particle board. I think with HF there's a certain luck of
> the draw when you buy stuff. As far as I can tell all the chippers on
> mine are just right. Dados I've cut in regular 2x4s are dead flat
> across the bottom as well. The groove in the picture is 3/4" so all
> the chippers but the thin one are on the stack.
>
> http://www.avercy.com/knothole/dado/dado.htm
>
> On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 16:44:49 GMT, "Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
> >Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago. I did a little more
> >experimenting and updated my site to include this set. I am a little
> >chagrined at my earlier, somewhat glowing, comments because I found the HF
> >set to be considerably poorer than the Forrest.
> >One picture shows the HF to have a lot of tearout and one of the chippers
> >was cut too large in diameter. The HF is on the left and Forrest on the
> >right.
> >http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dado9big.jpg
> >
> >For the whole enchilada see
> >http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dadocomp.htm
> >
> >Larry
"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<Ho5cc.183354$1p.2172202@attbi_s54>...
> YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR WITH HF!!!!
>
> I tried out for the first time a set of non-wobble HF dados and really felt
> screwed. The bottoms of my cuts were worst than your photos with respect to
> different sized chippers but the most frustrating part was to have to use a
> 0.020 shim in the set up to get a 3/4 dado. I checked the width of the
> cutting teeth and the width of each individual blade and found differences
> of up to 0.010 for each blade. The whole set ended up in the trash can.
> They would have gone back but I couldn't find the receipt and the local HF
> store has a no receipt no return policy. Back to my Fruend's we go.
The Freud SD208 is a great all around dado set. For hard and softwood
(not ply or manufactured products), the SD308 is best. I bought one
at Freud's suggestion for the problem of blowing out splinters when
you exit in crosscut. The SD208 (because of the negative hook) pushes
the back out (blows it out). The positive hook SD308 slices the back
and does not blow it out.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR WITH HF!!!!
I tried out for the first time a set of non-wobble HF dados and really felt
screwed. The bottoms of my cuts were worst than your photos with respect to
different sized chippers but the most frustrating part was to have to use a
0.020 shim in the set up to get a 3/4 dado. I checked the width of the
cutting teeth and the width of each individual blade and found differences
of up to 0.010 for each blade. The whole set ended up in the trash can.
They would have gone back but I couldn't find the receipt and the local HF
store has a no receipt no return policy. Back to my Fruend's we go.
What the glue line sharpening refers to is a way of sharpening blades
as to leave a small chase for glue to squeeze out of when clamping up . The
outside blades are a hair taller than the chippers as to leave a small vee
on the outside edges of the dado that the glue can flow out of.
Chris Melanson
BLH Millwork LTD.
>
> I have a question for those who have purchased the HF dado set. Have
> any of you had it re-sharpened at a saw shop? I ask because I use a
> dado set in my shop that is 60 years old (it belonged to my
> grandfather, and he bought it in the early 1940's). When I have this
> set sharpened, I'm always asked if I want it sharpened for a flat
> bottom or glue line. With the glue line set, it leaves very small
> ridges in the bottom of the dado, which, I presume, increases surface
> area for gluing.
>
>
> --
> makesawdust
Regarding the chippers for the HF (and other dado sets) not leaving
a flat-bottomed groove: It may be the saw. On mine, the threaded
portion of the arbor is *ever so slightly* smaller in diameter than the
spot where the normal blade seats. So I sometimes have trouble
with the bottoms of dados cut with a stacked set.
I can tell it's the arbor, because the first blade goes onto its seat
with essentially no perceptible play whatsoever. The chippers,
and outside blade, which sit on the threaded portion of the arbor,
have a barely perceptible play when I'm putting them on. Swapping
them one at a time for the inner blade proves the problem is the
arbor, not the holes in the chippers and outside blade.
I suppose I could pull the arbor, and either have somebody make
a new one, or weld some metal onto this one and re-machine, but
so far, I've been able to live with it.
YMMV,
HB
I just used mine today before I read this. Here's my experience with
some covered particle board. I think with HF there's a certain luck of
the draw when you buy stuff. As far as I can tell all the chippers on
mine are just right. Dados I've cut in regular 2x4s are dead flat
across the bottom as well. The groove in the picture is 3/4" so all
the chippers but the thin one are on the stack.
http://www.avercy.com/knothole/dado/dado.htm
On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 16:44:49 GMT, "Lawrence L'Hote" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>There seems to have been a lot of interest lately in the Harbor
>Freight#44566 I mentioned here a while ago. I did a little more
>experimenting and updated my site to include this set. I am a little
>chagrined at my earlier, somewhat glowing, comments because I found the HF
>set to be considerably poorer than the Forrest.
>One picture shows the HF to have a lot of tearout and one of the chippers
>was cut too large in diameter. The HF is on the left and Forrest on the
>right.
>http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dado9big.jpg
>
>For the whole enchilada see
>http://home.mchsi.com/%7Elarrylhote/dadocomp/dadocomp.htm
>
>Larry
I have a question for those who have purchased the HF dado set. Hav
any of you had it re-sharpened at a saw shop? I ask because I use
dado set in my shop that is 60 years old (it belonged to m
grandfather, and he bought it in the early 1940's). When I have thi
set sharpened, I'm always asked if I want it sharpened for a fla
bottom or glue line. With the glue line set, it leaves very smal
ridges in the bottom of the dado, which, I presume, increases surfac
area for gluing
--
makesawdust
On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 22:20:34 -0500, "Greg O" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Eric Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Mmmm. Well, this is more like the usual Harbor Freight comments. I
>> was hoping for a miracle.
>>
>>
>
>I checked with a local sharpening shop today. It may be a dumb idea, but the
>gent said he would charge $15 to measure all the blades/chippers and grind
>them all to one diameter. I think I will give it a try. I am not going to
>buy a $200+ Forest, and the $100 Freud may find it self a hame with me, but
>in the mean time I think I will toss $15 more into the HF dado and see what
>happens!
>I should just return it, but I have had it way over their return policy.
>Greg
The $15 sharpening job on my HF el-cheapo ($5 on sale) saw blade made
it a very nice cutting blade. Still not as good as a real blade, but
it does a decent job for most work. If your local sharpening shop can
get it concentric and you don't mind messing with oddball widths it
sounds to me like a winning solution. Of course I'm using the old
Craftsman Kromedge dado set I got from my dad that he bought back in
the 1970's.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com