Crosscutting Dados: Fence vs. Crosscut Jig

[steveKane]

some food for thought.....

In terms of length/width, at what point is it safer to use a sled or miter gauge instead of using the fence to make a cut?

For example, I had to crosscut a dado into the center (short axis) of a piece of 3/4" plywood measuring about 60" x 18". I did a couple of dry runs with blade down and saw off, just to get a feel of having the short end of the stock against the fence. One area of the table was a bit sticky...but after waxing the table surface, I felt that I could keep the piece squarely against the fence and move it though the dado blade. So, I ended up making the actual cut that way...no problems.

Would you have done the same thing, or was I tempting fate a bit too much? At what point would you have switched to a crosscut jig (miter gauge, panel cutter, sled)?

Now if this was a regular cut instead of a dado, then no question I would have used a crosscut jig....but I wonder again where the decision point is.

[jparson1]

From personal experience as long as you keep good pressure down on the workpiece and keep it tight to the fence you should be ok. it takes a little getting used to but go slow and be sure that you check the depth of the dado all the way down to make sure it is the same all the way down. you can handle it !!!!!!!!!!!!!