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

i set the set up for 3/4″ dado in plywood and it was a perfect cut no chipping

No telling how may MILES i have used this setup and it keeps on plowing away. A little dress up after the cut but that is to be expected.

Good product did exactly as it says. I should have went for the 8″ stack it would have been better for my needs, but the 6″ works perfectly

Very quick delivery as received the next day. Super sharp and has various spacers to het exact dado width required. Only negative, I am in Australia and we are metric and this Dado set is imperial. Easy to convert required blade setup and cut ever so clean. Very well made. very good buy and well worth the money

Dado set cuts a clean, square bottom. The set arrived wicked sharp and of a consistent diameter.

The blade design nests adjoining blades which produces a clean cut across the width.

The set arrives in a sturdy cardboard box with a foam insert that keeps the carbide tips separated during storage. A metal box would be a worthwhile upgrade as this set will last a lifetime.

The shims are the only area where I have a problem. There is absolutely no slack in the internal shaft diameter. They are an absolute bear to get on and off the arbor of my Jet table saw. I find that I need to use a chipper blade to push/pull the shim on/off the arbor.

Other than the shim hole diameter being a touch too tight, this is a great value.

This is the third dado set I’ve bought over the years. The Freud that I’d used for well over five years needed replacing.

I bought the Oshlun after thinking about it for a while. I liked the Oshlun full-blade inner cutters. My previous versions had vane cutters on the inside with two carbide chipper points separated by 180. Aligning the Freud stack required an inner chipper arrangement from experience to preclude nick-cuts and occasionally reshuffling the inside blade saw spindle balance. No knock on Freud … the dado was worked hard and lasted a long time.

My first project for this Oshlun was on 14 4×6″ half-lap joints. The Oshlun dado is noticeably heavier – more blade, more carbide tips. Noticeably tighter tolerances on the saws 5/8ths shaft. The tighter tolerancing extends to flatness. The blades arrive lightly oiled and oddly joined with a tight vacuum weld between the uber-flat blades.

The dado cut at max thickness was like a hot knife through warm butter.

Much better than expected. It’s the best dado set I’ve owned.

I bought this 6″ set that did good clean cuts. My first was of course a test cut that I adjusted for my final workpiece cuts. I did a 3/4″ for some track in my router table.

If cutting the same width then the cut will be very smooth on the bottom but if cutting a larger width cut that requires repositioning then no it’s going to have some ridges that can be sanded, no problem. I was pleased with the test cut and the final I did one my workpiece.

If cutting a 1/4 that requires just the two blades (according to the instructions), it will require some shims because the blades are undersized, hence doing test cuts. The chippers are exact 1/8,1/16, 1/32. I have not used the shims yet.

I would recommend this set over those that only have 2 blades on the chippers, either end. This set has 5 and made a nice even cut for me. I think the 5 blade chipper makes for a better distribution of cuts.

Definitely looking forward to utilizing this set for more things. And this is my first dado set!

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.

Having used this set for a few months, including just minutes before writing this review to make a decorative dentil molding for a furniture piece, I feel it is a great value for the money for an amateur hobby enthusiast like me. The accuracy is very good, the set easy to configure with pretty clear instructions, and it produces a pretty clean cut. I don’t give it five stars because it leaves some very mild ridges at the bottom of the cut (not enough to affect the fit of any joinery made with it), and the packaging, consisting of a box with a heavy stack of blades separated by thin sheets of foam, makes it a little more difficult to take the blades out for use and find the ones needed to make a curt of the desired width, but these are relatively minor points of concern to an otherwise pretty satisfied customer.

I have read several reviews for Dado stacks, and I thought I would give this one a try. A few reviews on other unnamed products are that the cut is uneven, the blades are all over the place and wobbly to grooved cuts and no repeatability. I am running this on a dewalt dw7345 contractors saw which is a 10″ I opted for the 6″ blade because I really don’t see hte point in getting an 8″ set for 20 bucks more when dado’s are usually no more than 1″ deep in extreme circumstances. the blades are dialed in on a micrometer and measure exactly what they claim, the shims are super accurate nad enable you to really dial in thicknesses to the micrometer. For the money this is a super sharp set up and has so many variations. I have shown one thing which I believe to be true on any saw blade single rip or dado. First cut was with no zero clearance image number three with all the tearout, and keep in mind this was baltic birch 1/2″ plywood across the grain, with the grain with or without zero clearance was fine, and the second set is with a simple piece of hardboard over top, ran the blade up through it and successfully created a killer locking box joint using the 1/4,1/4, 1/4 method. I would recommend this to anyone!

Ignore the comments about the packaging, The set I just received could not be packaged more carefully. It comes in a nicely made aluminum and plastic case with a handle and latch, Inside, the chippers are nested in high-density foam cut to their exact shape, except for a slot to get your finger in, and foam leaves, also cut to their shape, sandwiched in between. Another high-density foam insert lays on top of the chipper insert to allow for the larger outside blades, which are also separated by foam leaves. Perched on top are clear directions with excellent safety advice (e.g. leave the outside flange off on large widths if you are not showing at least three arbor threads after tightening) and a ziplock bag of laser etched shims that would make a gap gauge jealous. My arbor is plenty long to handle the full set.

I inspected all of the blades and found everything in order: no chipped carbide, no bad brazing, no signs of use. Despite the lack of awful smelling machine oil that usually coats new steel bits and blades, everything was clean and rust-free.

I built a finger (box) joint jig and was able to dial in a perfect fit for one-by stock with three of the included shims. I learned the hard way how sharp the carbide tips are when I tried to adjust one of the chippers and pushed a tip right through my thumb nail. With 42 tips on the blades, you have to be careful not to stack chipper tips against them. Balancing the chippers is a breeze with six tips each. The cuts are smooth as a baby’s butt and the anti-tear-out bat ears are imperceptible.

Because of the six-tip chippers, this is a heavy set. My cheapo Delta floor table saw gives out a screech when it starts up but it cuts red oak with ease. Despite the anti-kickback angles of the blade tips, it still kicks back if you try to rip too deep. I thought, “if it can cut a 3/4″ box cut through oak with ease, why not a 3/4” deep rabbet. Fearing for my life after two tentative pushes, I dialed down the depth and the rabbet came out perfect in two passes, leaving only a 1/16 strip intac

This is my first dado set, so understand I have nothing else to compare it to dado wise, but for the price I couldn’t be happier.

I wasn’t sure how often I would use this set, but I bought an incra ibox jig and wanted a dado stack to go with it. Some of the dado stacks available are frighteningly expensive, this doesn’t put me off, I like quality tools, but considering my initial lack of use I was reluctant to spend 100’s of $$ for a tool I might use occasionally.

I found this Oshlun set with good reviews my only choice being 6″ or 8″? I have to send this to Australia and the postage was $25 difference before the cost of the goods, obviously not an issue for some people getting free postage. I also read a few reviews on 6″ sets and the consensus was nobody seemed to need the extra cut height the 8″ model added. So I purchased the 6″ and put it straight to use with the ibox after a few test cuts.

Firstly the box everyone complains about…..? It’s fine. It’s a crappy cardboard box with foam to separate and support the plates. Mine arrived all the way to Australia without so much as a mark on it. Will it outlast the dado stack? Of course not but it’s actually usable as a storage device until i make or find something else. Much better than some other packaging this stuff arrives in and none of that terrible unopenable Chinese plastic! I can see this helps keep the price down.

First few cuts to test the width and it performed flawlessly. The instructions are clear (easy to follow, no chinglish conversion) and a useful table to tell you which plates to use to achieve the desird thickness.
As noted on the amazon ad and instructions, the dado has a small groove on the outside edges of the cut to prevent chip out. This works well, the groove is slightly visible but only if you are looking for it and 2″ away from your eyes.

The height of the 6″ cut may be a concern for some, if you are using this with timber directly on your table saw it would be fine for the DIY/hobbiest work I do, but In this case I used the ibox jig which lifts the workpiece 1/2″ or so off the table. So you loose 1/2″ cutting capability. This worked for the box joints I was making but could be an issue for some.

Over all I am very happy with hone 6″ set, I would buy it again but if you don’t mind spending a few extra $$ (and get free postage) the 8″ set does give a deeper cut should you need the maximum capability. In my limited use, first dado set and higher shipping costs the 6″ was a perfect option which gave results exactly what I was looking for.

Happy customer!

I can’t write much about the cut quality because I’ve barely used the blades (although so far it looks good). I’m primarily writing this to mention that Oshlun has apparently listened to the complaints about the packaging. I bought this set strictly because of the positive reviews about cut quality. I assumed I would need to make my own case. To my surprise it arrived in a nice plastic and aluminum case with hinges and a latch. It’s not a premium quality case, but it is quite nice and it resolves the only complaint most people had about this dado set. Kudos to Oshlun for fixing this problem.

UPDATE: After making numerous cuts in plywood and MDF, I’m very happy with the quality. I get very little chip out when cross cutting plywood, but I use a zero clearance insert which helps. The bottoms of the dadoes are completely flat with only very minor bat wings in the corners. One thing to note is that the set comes with an instruction sheet that includes recommendations for different dado sizes. Those recommendations are nothing more than a starting point. I set up for a 23/32 dado per the instructions, and the resulting cut was more than 1/16 undersized. This is common for any dado set, but make sure you take some test cuts and use the included shims to dial in the exact size you want. I’ve begun adding notes to the instruction sheet that include what blades and shims I used to achieve a particular dado size.