Blades for radial arm saw

It appears things have changed drastically since I’ve bought blades for my radial arm saw. In those days about the thinnist carbide blade you could get had a kerf of .125”.

Newer blades are now down to as thin as .059”. They’re not as tough as the thicker ones so you have to use a little more care when using them. I only wish they had been available years earlier.
 
Hook angle with modern (carbide tip) blades is lower than with steel blades, because the teeth are more brittle, likely to chip
if sharpened acutely. A general purpose blade, in carbide, is likely to be satisfactory.
The usual reason for using a radial saw, is crosscutting, and it feeds funny if the hook angle on the teeth is high; Diablo (for instance)
https://diablotools.com/products/D1072CD saw blades are available with negative hook angle, specifically for decking (Trex).

If you cut thick timbers, or green wood, avoid 'narrow-kerf' blades; a ten inch saw can do 4" deep cuts, stiffness can be
important.
 
It seems the control cut is not common.

Here is one on ebay, these work real well on RAS


www.ebay.com

Sears Craftsman Kromedge Carbide Tipped 10 Inch 12 Tooth Saw Blade 720-32486 VG | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sears Craftsman Kromedge Carbide Tipped 10 Inch 12 Tooth Saw Blade 720-32486 VG at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

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It has an 80 tooth Diablo now. Right after we got married I bought a little direct drive table saw and a used band saw. Right off the bat I cut the tip off my left thumb with the table saw, right thumb tip with the band saw. Not a long term injury. Been careful ever since.
Nice thing about radial arm saw is that at least one hand is at the controls and safe.
 
Use a negative hook blade, they are not inclined to self feed. Stiff arm the motor as you feed for more control. Don't use a fine tooth blade, fewer teeth are better, will run cooler and not bind-up as much. As for the power claims on Craftsman tools, mostly pure BS. You can't get 2.75 hp out of a 120V wall outlet! The breaker will pop! Wet lumber is always a problem, use a worm drive Skill saw. Don't try to rip, or use a "molding head" on a radial arm saw, very risky! The heavier and more powerful a radial arm saw is the safer it is but none are totally safe.

I was a woodworker all my life and still have all my digits. I started with a Craftsman radial arm saw, I wouldn't again. I came by an old DeWalt 5hp, 16", made in the '40s that served in my shop for years. Leuco blades, & dust collection.
 
CJ5Dave said:
It has an 80 tooth Diablo now. Right after we got married I bought a little direct drive table saw and a used band saw. Right off the bat I cut the tip off my left thumb with the table saw, right thumb tip with the band saw. Not a long term injury. Been careful ever since.
Nice thing about radial arm saw is that at least one hand is at the controls and safe.
Click to expand...

What took you so long?
You know they cut wood, aluminum, brass, why'd you wait until after 2 digits were cut off to be careful?

Just busting Dave, your wording allowed me to make a play on them.
 
I agree with Woodchucker and Larry$, Use a negative rake blade, same as for a sliding miter saw.
 
I have a radial arm saw, a table saw, and a compound miter saw. The one I fear the most is the compound miter. Especially making miter cuts, there is no good way to secure the work without having your fingers dangerously close to the blade. When I was a teenager, I had forty stitches from a run-in with my Dad's table saw. I am extra cautious using one as a result. For close work, I wrap my fingers around the fence for security and use a push stick with the other hand.

My first saw was the radial arm and I am actually much more comfortable with that saw. As stated by Dave, one hand is on the control so it's out of the way. The work is stationery and secure against the fence and I make sure that the other hand is well away from the path of the blade. True, it can grab but good hand control can control that.

All my saws have 10" blades and I use them interchangeably on the three saws. They are all carbide with tooth count for 36 to 50. I have a lot of old carbon steel blades for specialty work but I haven't used one in more than forty years.

Each of the saws has its own use. Try to accurately cross cut a 10' board on a table saw. The radial arm is my weapon of choice for cross cuts. OTOH, you can't cut a sheet of plywood in half on a radial arm saw; the table saw is the tool. When cutting trim, the necessity of changing adjustments for each piece make the compound miter the tool and there really isn't any other convenient way to actually make a compound miter cut . It is also easily portable so it is easier to move to the job site.

Another consideration is the reference surface. A radial arm saw references the side away from the cut so when making a dado, the thickness of the remaining work is constant. OTOH, a table saw references the front side of the cut so a dado cut is of constant depth. This can used to your advantage , particularly with lumber that is less than perfect regarding thickness or straightness.
 
I have a Craftsman 10" RAS that I've been running for over 40 yrs, much of it when I was a contractor, and have run many thousands of feet of material through it. I've always run it on 220V, which seemed to make a big difference over 110. When I first got it I had a lot of 2x material to rip, and it kept popping the thermal switch. I bypassed it and figured if it burnt up so be it. It's still running just fine today (have to assume the thermal strip was poorly calibrated). I have replaced the rail bearings once, and keep them adjusted. Like RJ, I find it less intimidating than a table, or chop saw, but use both for certain operations i.e. trim, siding, and large sheet work. One has to always be careful with any rotating machinery, and have ALL of your attention focused there. Mike
 
Freud LU83R010 is a very commonly used "cheap" RAS blade. It's thin kerf which is good for consumer grade saws.

Tenryu makes some nice medium kerf blades if you want something a little nicer without jumping to the Forrest price level.

I have a Delta 40B that swings a 14" blade which can be a little intimidating sometimes. The nice thing about a RAS though is you can build jigs and hold-downs into your table to make work-holding hands-free if needed. I put a t-track parallel with the blade path and about 3" to left of it.
 
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