That whole 'dado stack ban' thing in Europe is overblown

I was talking to a guy from Germany at a trade show in Chicago last month and he told me they still use dado stacks all the time, just with better dust collection and push blocks. Everyone online acts like Europe outlawed them and you'll get fined just for owning one. I've been using a Freud 8-inch stack for 3 years on my cabinet doors and haven't had a single issue. Has anyone else actually run into trouble running dados overseas, or is this just internet fear-mongering?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_johnson1628d ago

Figured the same thing until I actually watched a German woodworker's video on YouTube breaking down their safety regs... turns out it's not a ban on the stacks themselves but on certain types of saws without proper guarding. Changed my mind when I saw how common they still are in professional shops over there with the right setups.

julia_patel26d ago

Yeah, that matches what a buddy of mine saw on a job site in Frankfurt a few years back. @sean_johnston16 is right on the money with that video - it's all about the guarding and the saw type, not a total ban on the stacks. He was working on a custom furniture build and their table saw had a riving knife and splitter that would stop the kickback dead. Still used a stacked dado for the dados and tenons without any hassle from the inspectors. Made me realize how much of the fear around em is just bad info from people who never looked into the actual rules.