I don't use my dado blade set much because it feels inconvenient to switch out the blades, but it really only takes a few minutes. The dado set makes cutting half laps and making picture frames a breeze. I made some test cuts on a scrap piece to dial in the height of the blade to cut exactly half way through the board. I use the fence as a stop to make sure the length of the half lap was exactly the same as the width of the frame pieces.
I chose to cut the half laps on opposite faces of each board, so that one board would overlap the next board around the frame. This gives the frames a more unique look as opposed to just two of the boards overlapping the other two boards.
Spray lacquer really brought out the spalting patterns in this white oak. I'm really pleased with how these turned out and they look great in my daughter's room. I'll be using my dado blade set more often for other projects now.
