The DD208 is a Home Depot exclusive item. It is the same as the SD208 which comes without the perma shield coating. The perma shield coating reduces the friction between the blade side and the wood, reduces the pitch buildup and is supposed to help dissipate the heat from cutting. The reduced friction helps on table saws that have a weaker motor, such as the Ryobi BT-3000 / 3100 table saws.
I have a DD208 and am very satisfied with it. The cut is clean with square bottom. All of the cutters are carbide tipped.
I was using a craftsman 8 inch stacked dado head cutter. There are several things that I do not like about it. First, all of the cutters are high speed steel, no carbide. Second, the chippers are about 1/32 shorter than the cutting blades which leave an unsightly ridge in the middle of the dado or rabid cut.
Freud does not mark the widths of the shims. Using a micrometer I was able to measure each shim and with a felt tip pen write the thickness on the shim.
Over all I am very pleased with this dado head blade.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I am on my third Diablo dado set and have yet to find the two cutting blades the same diameter. Stacking the two cutters should yield a 1/4″ wide dado with a FLAT bottom. All of the blade sets I have tried give me a split-level bottom indicating that the blades are of slightly different diameter. I’m about to go to another brand.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Wow, I am surprised at the quality issues that you have had with the Freud Diablo dado set. For mine both blades are of the same diameter and produce a nice clean square bottom cut. You might consider contacting Freud’s regional customer service office and see if they can help you.