Skil Table Saw Dado Insert

Why I reached for this insert

I use my portable worm‑drive table saw for a lot more than ripping 2x stock. Cabinet carcasses, shelving, and drawer parts all benefit from clean, consistent dados and grooves, and I prefer doing those on the saw when the job calls for long, repeatable cuts. That means a proper throat plate that safely accommodates a dado stack. The stock single‑blade plate isn’t designed for that, so I picked up the dado insert built for this saw and put it to work.

Fit and compatibility

This insert is purpose‑built for the SPT70WT. Mine dropped into the table opening cleanly and locked in place like the factory plate. The fit is snug without any rattle, and it sat flush to the table once I checked the edges. If you’ve ever dealt with generic plates that sit a hair proud or low and catch your workpiece, you know how much a flush fit matters. With this plate in, the fence and miter gauge still travel freely, and nothing about the saw’s 25‑inch rip capacity changes—exactly what I want from an accessory that’s supposed to disappear into the workflow.

As with most portable saws, you’ll remove the guard and riving knife for dado work. The opening on this insert is wide enough to clear common chipper configurations, but it’s not a zero‑clearance throat. If you’re chasing the crispest top edges in tear‑out‑prone veneer, plan on a backer board or painter’s tape. For general cabinetry in hardwoods and pre‑finished ply, I had no problem getting clean shoulders with a sharp stack and a steady feed rate.

Setup: the little things that matter

The insert ships with a combination washer for the arbor. That might sound like a throw‑in, but it’s actually critical. On this saw, the outer flange and nut arrangement for a single blade isn’t ideal for clamping a stack; you want a washer that supports the outside plate evenly without bottoming on the arbor shoulder. The included washer has the right thickness and shoulder profile so the nut engages threads properly and the stack is captured securely. I tried a couple of configurations out of curiosity, and the combo washer was the most confidence‑inspiring setup—solid, no vibration, and easy to torque down without fear of distorting the outside plate.

Stacking to width is straightforward. The saw accommodates stackable cutters up to 1/2 inch, which covers a lot of furniture and casework. With a 1/2‑inch stack installed, I measured a maximum depth of cut right around 2‑5/8 inches at 90 degrees, which aligns with the spec and is more than enough for through‑dados and deep grooves in common material thicknesses. If you’re used to 3/4‑inch plywood dados cut to a true 23/32, plan on a two‑pass approach or sneaking up on the fit with shims and a fence shift. That’s not a limitation of this plate so much as the saw’s rated dado capacity, but it’s worth knowing before you plan your workflow.

One tip from my setup routine: wax the plate and the table around it. A dado cut puts a lot of tooth contact on the workpiece; a low‑friction surface makes it easier to maintain a smooth, consistent feed without push‑stick gymnastics.

In use: stability, vibration, and cut quality

With the insert in place, the saw felt like itself—no extra chatter, no singing from the stack. The plate’s opening is ample, so offcuts from step‑dado operations don’t get trapped. I appreciate that balance between clearance and support: the workpiece has enough bearing near the cutter to stay flat, but there’s no interference when nibbling or cleaning out a shoulder.

Cut quality comes down to three things here: a flat table around the opening, a square fence, and a properly tensioned, sharp stack. The insert did its part. I ran a series of 1/4‑ and 3/8‑inch dados in maple and Baltic birch; shoulders were clean, bottoms were acceptably flat (as flat as a typical chipper‑based stack leaves them), and there was no tendency for the plate to lift or deflect under pressure. On long shelves, I used a featherboard ahead of the cutter to keep the stock tight to the table and fence—another case where a sturdily seated insert prevents tiny height shifts that can telegraph as ripples in the dado floor.

Because the opening isn’t zero‑clearance, you will see a touch more breakout on fragile face veneers if you feed too aggressively. That’s normal. A strip of sacrificial tape and a steady feed cures most of it. If I’m doing exposed joinery in finicky veneer, I’ll often switch to a dedicated, homemade zero‑clearance plate and plunge the stack through to match the exact width. For everyday casework, this insert’s factory opening is perfectly serviceable.

Capacity and limitations

• Maximum dado width: up to 1/2 inch. That’s the ceiling, and I stuck to it. The motor had no trouble driving a full 1/2‑inch stack in hardwood as long as I kept the feed rate reasonable.
• Maximum depth with a dado stack: about 2‑5/8 inches at 90 degrees in my tests. Bevel dadoes aren’t something I do often on a jobsite saw, and the practical depth drops quickly with tilt, so I treat this as a 90‑degree solution.
• Rip capacity: unchanged at 25 inches with the insert in—useful when housing dados in the middle of wide panels.

If your work routinely calls for wider dados (for example, fitting a solid 3/4‑inch tongue in a through housing), you’ll need a different tool or a different technique. In the portable saw category, 1/2 inch is a common, conservative limit.

Build and durability

The plate itself is robust for a portable accessory. It doesn’t flex when you press near the opening, and after several sessions in a dusty environment, it still seats cleanly without grit binding in the recess. The retention mechanism mirrors the stock plate, so there’s no learning curve or fiddling. I like tools and accessories that let me focus on the cut, not the setup, and this one behaved that way: drop in, verify flush, get to work.

Long‑term, the leading edge of any dado plate takes abuse from workpieces and miter gauge runners being slid on and off. After a few weeks, mine shows normal cosmetic wear but no deformation, and it still registers flush. If you’re rough on gear, consider a quick check with a straightedge every so often to make sure nothing’s riding proud.

Safety and workflow

A few practical notes from my time with it:
- Use the included combination washer and confirm the nut fully engages the arbor threads with your chosen stack configuration.
- Remove the guard and riving knife as required for dado work, and add auxiliary safeguards: featherboards, push blocks, and a stop to prevent over‑travel into the fence.
- Because the opening is wider, small offcuts can drop through near the cutter. Keep the cavity clear, and don’t fish around near the blade with the saw plugged in.
- Mark your fence offset. When you’re making two passes to widen a dado for odd‑sized plywood, a pencil line on the fence face helps you repeat the offset precisely.

None of these points are unique to this insert, but a good insert makes them routine rather than risky.

Value and who it’s for

If you own the SPT70WT and want to run a stackable dado set, this insert is the straightforward, correct path. Third‑party options for this saw are limited, and fashioning your own blank that locks in as securely as the factory design isn’t trivial. The included washer simplifies setup, and the specified capacity matches what the saw can comfortably handle.

If you need a true zero‑clearance opening for the absolute cleanest veneer work, you can augment this solution with a shop‑made plate for select tasks. If you need wider than 1/2‑inch dados routinely, a cabinet saw or a router setup may be a better fit. For jobsite and small‑shop work where 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2‑inch dados cover most joinery, this insert does exactly what it should.

Recommendation

I recommend this dado insert for SPT70WT owners who want a safe, no‑nonsense way to run a stack. It fits correctly, maintains the saw’s working capacities, includes the right washer for secure clamping, and supports clean, repeatable cuts up to a 1/2‑inch width with a measured depth of around 2‑5/8 inches at 90 degrees. It’s not a zero‑clearance solution and it won’t expand the saw’s dado capacity beyond its design limits, but it makes the saw’s existing capability easy to access and use with confidence. For portable‑saw cabinetry and built‑ins, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.