The answer is 1, theres no support at all for dado’s in this saw.
yes, one of our shortlisted models for replacement is a more american style cabinet saw. if we get the grant we will be looking at hammer brand models.
Because its a sliding panel saw, the fence has to be ‘lopsided’ ie you cant have much/anything on the left hand side where it sits on the rail. some aftermarket fence solutions account for this and have multiple mounting locations. It cant have that left hand support because thats where the slide is.
Sure, its just that a the table saw requires more than just the rip fence to be accurate, so while it might be convenient to have the dro there, theres lots of other places in the saw you have to get correct for that dro number to also be correct. For example, we have a very accurate 90º stop we machined for the saw, but because the pivot point is loose/unconstrained, its not an easy repeateable 90º. If the sliding fence is wrong, then the rip fence will be wrong if you’re using them in tandem.
I’m not against dro’s, normally i’d be an advocate for it. I just know how much work the saw has been, and how fragile it is, hence my hesitance to spend money on it.