Review on 🔪 Freud SD208 8-Inch Premium Dado Blade (No Longer Available) by Sean Copeland

After much searching and searching for a groove set I finally settled on the Freud SD208. Remember my personal kit for the last 30+ years has been the Craftsman Kromedge 8" Satin Edge groove set, which wasn't too bad at all. still saw plywood, but the hardwood looked as if I would cut my dado with a torch! We had a nice 10" Freud set in our shop but I'm retired and no longer have access to them. My top priorities when choosing a replacement were: 1) good carbide, 2) good clean cut and flat bottom, and 3) affordable price. Obviously, the last point rules out 10" sets, and even if you can find a decent price for a 10" set, chances are you're going without carbide and/or cuts. As for my intended purpose, now that I've retired, I only make cabinets, bookshelves, and woodwork for family, friends, and entertainment. So my budget was less than $150. The first thing that struck me when removing the blades from their case was how large the carbide teeth were on the main blades. The alternate teeth are big, but the main chopper looks huge. When installing the blades, the shaft hole fits snugly but doesn't snag like some of my old blades. Gaskets require some patience as the thinnest ones can get caught in shaft threads, but in my experience these are just facts of life. Cuts effortlessly, cleanly and smoothly. Overall I'm happy with just two small issues. First, the smallest slot you can cut is 1/4 inch (with just a blade), making the bottom of my drawer a little messy. I need a small gap for the expansion but this is too much. I have tried using a single blade chipper as they are thinner but they are not designed for that and the wood will splinter. This obviously has more to do with modern plywood sizes, but dado makers know the industry trends. Second, as long as there's a good range of spacers for a variety of widths, I'd like to see a 1/16" chopper in the kit. I have one in my old kit and it seems like I've used it in almost every setup I've come across. I don't know if they come in more expensive sets or maybe they're a thing of the past. And I know that shims offer an almost infinite variety of widths. But after over 30 years of use, this blade has become my favorite. I consider these minor inconveniences and the positive factor of the hefty carbide teeth outweighs my problem with the tight indentations clearly a bad experience with Freud, that's a top notch com panic. I still use resharpened 20 year old Freud blades in my shop!