Hi Murray:

?

Very kind of you to say that.

?

I do not find the bat ears to be a negativity and therefore have not tried to “hone them down”. They are big enough to see, for sure, and in fine furniture if the joint were exposed, you would definitely see them. But by definition, I don’t see many (any?) instances where an exposed joint of that type is compatible with fine furniture.

?

My main use for the dado is for grooving of drawer parts, machining lapped joints, even making tenons (even though technically that ought to be done on the shaper). For each of these three examples, the bat ears have no bearing and do not show (except maybe at the back of a drawer so there is that).

?

If a furniture design called for a full, open groove or trench, exposed for the world to see, then I’d explore a different machinery method – probably a router.

?

Bottom line, the bat ears are rarely a problem and if they are, there’s always an alternative. Personally, I don’t see the dado design to be a shortcoming. Those bat ears give me exceptionally sharp crosscuts (e.g. half-lap joints), and any “ears” from the nickers are hidden. If the cutter didn’t have those nickers, the crosscuts would not be nearly so clean – especially in cantankerous hardwoods like I often use.

?

Consequently, the dado cutter is perfect for my needs. I hope this is useful.

?

Dr David Luckensmeyer

?

I’m just wondering if there is any consensus on the significance of the “bat ears“ issue? Lucky, you do fine work, do you find this to be a problem? Has anyone honed ?the nickers, if so, how do you go about it.