Hand tool Dado explained

Hand tool Dado explained

In this post, I’ll explain how I create a dado using hand tools. I prefer hand tools for several reasons. The main reason is the tactile experience of feeling the tool cut through the wood. This process is accompanied by the soothing sounds of smooth jazz in my workshop. It feels more creative compared to the loud, intense noise of power tools. The noise can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster ride with a sharp blade spinning at high speeds. It’s ready to catch something or cause an accident.

For this particular project, I used a veneer saw to cut along the edges of my marked dado. Then, I chiseled out the waste and cleaned it up with my Lie-Nielsen hand router. I enjoyed the music of Michael Bublé while working. It’s not that I dislike power tools; they have their place and are sometimes necessary. Nonetheless, if you’re skilled with hand tools, you can be just as efficient. This is especially true if you’re a hobbyist or a one-off furniture maker like me. In those cases, there’s often no need for most power tools beyond a bandsaw, table saw, and thickness planer.