Which blade is specially designed to cut wide grooves partway through a board?

Which blade is specially designed to cut wide grooves partway through a board?

• A. Crosscut blade
• B. Dado head (blade)
• C. Rip blade
• D. Toothless blade

Answer: (B)

A dado blade is built specifically to remove material from a board to create a wide, flat-bottomed groove that runs partway through the thickness. By stacking blades and spacers, you can dial in the exact groove width, and you set the depth to cut only partway through the board, leaving shoulders on either side for a joint or shelf. This makes it ideal for dado joints, where a mating piece fits snugly into the groove. Other blades are meant for different purposes: a crosscut blade is used to cut across the grain to shorten a board, a rip blade cuts along the grain, and a blade with no teeth isn’t used for cutting wood. So the dado head is the correct choice for cutting wide grooves partway through a board.

A dado blade is built specifically to remove material from a board to create a wide, flat-bottomed groove that runs partway through the thickness. By stacking blades and spacers, you can dial in the exact groove width, and you set the depth to cut only partway through the board, leaving shoulders on either side for a joint or shelf. This makes it ideal for dado joints, where a mating piece fits snugly into the groove. Other blades are meant for different purposes: a crosscut blade is used to cut across the grain to shorten a board, a rip blade cuts along the grain, and a blade with no teeth isn’t used for cutting wood. So the dado head is the correct choice for cutting wide grooves partway through a board.