Another table saw... its a sickness.

MikeInOr

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I just purchased an Casidia EMA KC1400 5hp 3ph sliding table saw off of Craigslist for $500. So I am going to have to sell either my 10" Powermatic cabinet saw or my just finished 12" Powermatic 71 cabinet saw with new arbor bearings, new motor bearings and a newly manufactured elevation shaft. The EMA sliding table saw is a European design so it won't take a DADO stack.

My 16" Redstar radial arm saw has been the corner stone of my wood working shop for 20+ years now. I might have to give it up too if the sliding table saw lives up to its billing for incredibly accurate miter cuts!


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It is only a 4' table but that is all I really need. Any bigger and it wouldn't really fit in my 20' x 40' wood shop.
 
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Interesting about your radial arm saw. I had a friend many years ago who designed and built incredible artistic furniture. I asked him if he had a radial arm saw, he said “what would I use it for, I don’t have a wood stove”.

Implying it was only good for kindling.

But wow, a sliding saw...now that would be terrific.
 
I see no problem here :)
 
There are things that a radial arm saw will do that are difficult with a table saw. Like cross cutting an 8 ft. 1 x 8. A radial arm saw references the back side of the work while a table saw references the front. If you're making dados, that can be important. You can also see your cut with the RA. I can mark a cut line on a board and visually align the blade with the mark. Doing so with a table saw requires leaning over the saw, a rather dangerous endeavor.

They are different tools and each excels in different ways. I have both a cabinet saw and a radial arm saw and I use the radial arm saw far more
 
Growing up my father owned a 10" Delta turret arm radial arm saw and that is what we used for tons of different projects. I learned woodworking on that saw! Yes, we even ripped on the RAS, and that can be done safely with proper setup and careful procedure. So the first saw I picked up was a 10" Craftsman RAS. That lasted about a year and it was so disappointing after learning on my fathers turret arm Delta RAS.

After about a year I picked up this guy:
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I know it doesn't look like much or even all that impressive in the photos but it is a RedStar (Bought out by Rockell / Delta) and it swings a 16" blade with a 7.5hp 3ph motor. It is a BEAST and Accurate! The ~100lb 7.5hp motor has so much mass it is almost impossible for the saw to self feed like a little Craftsman RAS. It was built in 1947... and is my baby! People walk into my shop and there eyes get wide when the see the RedStar. Then they start to tremble when I push the start button.

I actually remember my first cut on this saw! I was also trembling with the huge 16" blade whirling away and the huge motor telling me it meant business. NOW I tremble when using a little 10" RAS as they don't feel at all sturdy... and kind of toy-ish (Even my fathers 10" Delta RAS). The one feature this RAS has that I have never seen on any other RAS (I am a bit of a RAS aficionado) is the whole table slides in and out on rails controlled by a lead screw. You will notice there is no wrist joint on the motor carriage. Even though the sliding table was meant to facilitate ripping it has come in incredibly handy over the past 20+ years.

It does take up a lot of floor space and I am (WITH A VERY HEAVY HEART) thinking of replacing it with my Dewalt CMS and the sliding table saw.

The thought of letting my baby go really hurts my soul!

Maybe I will have to sell my other $50 Walker Turner geared head RAS first. It resides in the metal working side of the shop so it doesn't really count against woodworking floor space through!

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There are things that a radial arm saw will do that are difficult with a table saw. Like cross cutting an 8 ft. 1 x 8.
Or even score a big retaining wall stone so it can be cleaved easy!

A radial arm saw references the back side of the work while a table saw references the front. If you're making dados, that can be important. You can also see your cut with the RA. I can mark a cut line on a board and visually align the blade with the mark.
Yes, I MUCH prefer a RAS for dados. And aligning the mark on a board with a RAS blade is second nature to me!

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I have had this Powermatic 65 (No, I did not mean 66) nearly as long as the Red Star RAS. I will probably shorten the fence and keep it and sell the Powermatic 71 (No, I did not mean 72) 12" cabinet table saw.
 
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I bought my cabinet saw some fourteen years ago when I made the cabinets for our kitchen. It is actually a Grizzly 10" hybrid cabinet saw. It worked well for machining the plywood panels, something I couldn't do easily with the radial arm saw. It is a reasonably accurate saw but I would like to add a sled for it. For doing the trim in the house, I bought a compound miter saw. While a radial arm saw will do the job, having to switch back and forth between left and right miters is a PITA. It was also nice to take the saw to the site instead of running back and forth between the site and the shop.
 
I got it home this evening. It will probably be this weekend before I am able to unload it. I have a lot of rearranging to do!

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The crank handle for the fence has been replaced by a vicegrip but they did have the original crank and they gave it to me. The handle for securing the fence so it doesn't move is a piece of buggered up plastic. It should be a fun project to make a new one.


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The strap was to keep the sliding table from sliding during transport.

I think I will put the table saw up on blocks (heavy duty pallet) so I can move it around with a pallet jack. Most of my bigger machinery are configured this way.


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The trailers was my fathers and has transported everything from a vertical milling machine (Jet clone of Bridgeport), Southbend 13x40 lathe, more than one table saw all the way to many loads of Sh|t (compost).
 
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Beautiful saw! I think you need to be looking outside for where you are going to add on to your shop to keep them all :)

I grew up on RAS as my Dad was a cabinet maker. I have no idea why I have my fingers. He had a big 5HP/3PH 16" cast-iron DeWalt saw - you could flip the switch on and off quick and have enough coast energy to cut through a 6" x 6". I'm scared to death to even turn that thing on now, but at age 12 it didn't scare me a bit.
 
My dad had a 12” Sears ras. I think it was late 60’s model.
I inherited it, but I have a Powermatic 66, when they still made in USA.
I do not lean over my table saw, I stand to the right of the saw blade and use push sticks and guides to push work thru.
I feel more comfortable with using a table saw than a ras.
 
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