OT - Anyone Still Using A Radial Arm Saw

[projectnut]

Finally finished putting the saw back together today complete with a new 36'x 48" top for the table. It took nearly as long to make the adjustments to square the saw head and table as it did to put all the mechanicals back together. It's amazing how much sap/rosin, crud, and saw dust can accumulate over 45 years.

After a few test cuts I cleaned up my mess and put away all the tools. Now that the saw is finished I'll move onto the next in a long list of must do's so I can navigate through the shop without stumbling over parts and pieces of current and past projects. Some of the projects that seemed pressing at the time I started them have sat so long I can't even remember why I started them. If the cool windy wet weather stays around for the whole next week as the weather man predicts I should be able to finish those that still seem relevant and discard those that no longer need completion.

 

[7milesup]

For what it's worth, I am a pretty good woodworker. I have a Bosch compound miter saw. Wouldn't have anything else. I even have a wood stove but still wouldn't have a RAS. Pretty much worthless unless you are doing rough carpentry, or you just like old machines that are somewhat dangerous. Yeah, I know that covers pretty much all of our machines.

My friends call me "The Wood Butcher".

The first picture is a jewelry armoire that I made for each of my daughters (3 total). The third and 4th picture is a little jewelry thingy I made for our foreign exchange girl. It now resides in Germany. The last picture is a stereo cabinet I built probably 30+ years ago.

 

[gerritv]

You clearly haven't owned one then so your opnion is just that. I always find it best to keep an open mind, and after getting an old Dewalt RAS wouldn't be without it. Doing some tuning is very beneficial. The only thing I haven't done is ripping, I have a cabinet saw set up for sheet work. In fact with a RAS you could have made those raised panels. My RAS is superior to a my compound mitre saw for precise work, esp. with a properly setup table. And yes I have a mitre saw as well, for framing and deck building only because it is portable.

Mr. Sawdust

Home of Master The Radial Arm Saw — by Mr. Sawdust, Wallace Kunkel — Master Furniture-Maker, Teacher & Founder of the Mr. Sawdust Schools of Professional Woodworking.

www.mrsawdust.com

 

[7milesup]

You clearly haven't owned one then so your opnion is just that. I always find it best to keep an open mind, and after getting an old Dewalt RAS wouldn't be without it. Doing some tuning is very beneficial. The only thing I haven't done is ripping, I have a cabinet saw set up for sheet work. In fact with a RAS you could have made those raised panels. My RAS is superior to a my compound mitre saw for precise work, esp. with a properly setup table. And yes I have a mitre saw as well, for framing and deck building only because it is portable.

Mr. Sawdust

Home of Master The Radial Arm Saw — by Mr. Sawdust, Wallace Kunkel — Master Furniture-Maker, Teacher & Founder of the Mr. Sawdust Schools of Professional Woodworking.

www.mrsawdust.com

Of course it is my opinion. Clearly, you don't know what my experience level is. What I didn't mention is my F-I-L had one, which is where I learned most of my woodworking. His was an old Craftsman.
The only way you could make those Roman Ogee raised panels on a RAS would be to install a moulding head on it. Yeah, no thanks. I know of guys doing that, but not very smart. Good luck keeping your fingers, guts or walls intact while doing that.

 

[projectnut]

Obviously there are different opinions as to the usability and safety of any machine. I've had my machine since about 1975, and it's done everything I've asked it to do. The majority of it's life it has done more utilitarian work, but over the years it's made several pieces of furniture and trimmed out a couple houses.

The bulk of the work has been "rough carpentry" and even a bit of masonry work. It's built several decks, made enclosed screen porches, cut 6'x 6"s for framing, and even lap joints for landscape staircases. In it's earlier years I adapted a cooling/lubrication system from a masonry saw and cut bricks for a patio.

It has been used for just about any cutting task imaginable. The toughest by far however was ripping 2" x 6's and 5/4" treated lumber for the decks. The lumber was so wet that rather than creating saw dust the "dust" was more the consistency of mud. It was no easy task to rip a 16' board. Everything had to be fixtured from end to end to get square and straight cuts the entire length of a board.

The screen porches were another challenge. Rather than use standard lumber the projects were done with 2" square aluminum extrusions. With a non ferrous blade the saw didn't even blink.

It's more than earned it's keep over the years, so a few dollars and a little time to bring it back to original condition was well worth it. Before starting the rebuild I did an intensive search to see if there was a machine on the market better suited for my needs. I wasn't hung up on pouring money into this particular machine, I just wanted something of comparable quality. I found dozens of different iterations and sizes of compound miter saws. They were interesting, but as mentioned seemed designed more for portability. Personally I like the larger footprint and solid construction of my current saw.

I decided to disassemble my current machine and see exactly what would be needed to bring it back to life. If worse came to worse at least it would be in small enough pieces to take it to the recycling center. As it turned out I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't need all that many new parts. Some were available through eBay and I had to make a few others. The biggest part of the project was to clean off the years of crud.

As for the quality of this machine vs Craftsman of the same vintage there is really no comparison. At the time I was looking I knew several people who had Craftsman saws from the 1950's and 60's. The arms were cast iron and and columns were heavy steel. They seemed well built for the money and sufficient for my needs. However when I went looking for a new one I found the construction had changed drastically. The arms were now aluminum, and the columns were thin wall (by comparison) tubing. They weren't nearly as substantial as the earlier models. I quickly passed on the Craftsman brand and looked for something more substantial.

This machine should meet my current and foreseeable needs. My interests have changed over the years, and woodworking/ carpentry is a small part of what I do today. The vast majority of my time in the shop is now spent with the metal working machines.

 

[7milesup]

Pictures?

 

[Barncat]

The quality of a lot of tools today just doesn't compare. I bought a 12"dewalt compound miter saw about 8 years ago from home depot. Returned it immediately after opening it because the (non-adjustable) fence wasn't flat, it was so bad you could see it on a straight edge, at least a 1/16" gap. If you cut something and flipped it to the other side, it wouldn't even come close to lining up. They let me open two more in the store to check before I found one that had a flat fence I could buy. I have been looking for a large RAS ever since, and if my department ever decides to get rid of the one from the picture in my earlier post, I will be the first in line at the auction to buy it. It can do things other power tools just can't do.