Are Radial Arm Saws Simply Out Of Fashion?

[Jason White]

If I had the space, I'd keep one set up strictly for 90 deg crosscuts and dadoes. Would be a luxury, not a necessity. Jason

Well, I did it. I finally put my RAS up for sale on craigslist. For many years, it was my only "real" wood working tool, a 10" Craftsman that I bought new in 1980. I hate to part with it, but it never gets used anymore, and I sure could use the room. Then I watch the latest episode of The New Yankee Work Shop online, and there is Norm, once again using a Craftsman RAS. This time with a dado blade making tenons. Now, my saw is one of the dangerous saws that are on the recall list. Someone was thoughtful enough to list a warning on craigslist warning buyers of these saws, and scolding sellers for trying to sell something that belongs in the trash. Interesting though, is the blade guard looks almost exactly like a DeWalt RAS we have at work. No one ever seems to have a problem with the DeWalts, in fact they are the RAS of choice. So, it got me wondering, have radial arm saws just gone out of fashion? John

[Myk Rian]

OK, so back to what I previously thought -- a RAS can do things the miter saws can't...and they are things I consider very useful and important.

Anyone got an old DeWalt or other good RAS they want to sell? Does anyone sell restored ones?

Every now and then a restored, or restorable saw will pop up here, a site devoted to DeWalts.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/

[Joe Jensen]

I have a 1970s 14" Dewalt / Black and Decker, 3HP 1PH. I have it set as a dedicated crosscut station for 90 degree cuts. When I purchased it Biesemeyer sold a crosscut fence system for RAS saws. I have 9ft to the left of the blade with the hairline pointer and 8 ft to the right. I dialed it in with the 5 cut method when I installed it 18 years ago and then I tightened up the column screws to effectively lock it in place. I checked for square a year ago and still a perfect 90 with the 5 cut method. With the Biesemeyer fence I have a hair line pointer on the fence and I can super quickly set and cut precisely. Here are some cluttered shop pics of the RAS and fence setup.

[Dave MacArthur]

Nice setup, is that a copy of Norm's RAS cabinet?

Somehow I just didn't picture you tooling around on a Razor with that helmet on...

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

Would it offend anyone if I said I didn't know what a RAS was until 6 months ago?

No joke, I was talking with my father in law who was talking about using one on a make shift job site. I had never heard of one before, although I admit after looking it up online I recalled seeing them on some job sites.

[Neal Clayton]

Would it offend anyone if I said I didn't know what a RAS was until 6 months ago?

No joke, I was talking with my father in law who was talking about using one on a make shift job site. I had never heard of one before, although I admit after looking it up online I recalled seeing them on some job sites.

they were advertised as 'portable' at one time.

here's the original sales brochure that came with mine, around 1948-1950...

i suppose it's portable with two people carrying it like that, but it's about 300 pounds so i think the portable claim is highly dubious at best, at least compared to modern 75 pound 10" miter saws .

[Shawn Cavaretta]

i have a 10" craftsman electronic radial saw for 1984. i use it all the time. i dont care for miter saws. just today i was using the RAS to rip wood for about 6 hours then switched to making cross cuts. i could not live with out this saw. true some cman saw are junk but this is one of the few that is good. it has a digital read out of the angle of the arm and the bevel of the head. it also has a motorized height adjustment you just punch in the height you want the arm at and it will set it self.

i do not own a table saw never have and never will. i can do just about everything i need with the RAS and what i cant do with that i can do with a skill saw and a jig

i use this saw to make doll houses

[Greg Plowman]

I threw a mahogany table leg across my high school shop class with a RAS years ago. They are probably safe if set up correctly however I haven't used one since.

[Loren Hedahl]

they were advertised as 'portable' at one time.

here's the original sales brochure that came with mine, around 1948-1950...

i suppose it's portable with two people carrying it like that, but it's about 300 pounds so i think the portable claim is highly dubious at best, at least compared to modern 75 pound 10" miter saws .

I do have one that is portable. It is a 9 inch C-man with an aluminum arm.

Of course, it is no match for accuracy that a Delta Turret or vintage DeWalt, but for framing or building decks it is a lot more versatile than a compound miter saw. For example; notching posts and putting the top bevels on posts are done quickly and accurately.

One thing I never do is swing the arm. It always stays in the cross-cut position. After moving it to where I want to use it I check the alignment and if an adjustment is needed, I prefer to shim the fence as needed. For cutting miters I have what is the equivalent of a table saw sled with accurate fences for the 45 deg angles.

For ripping, be sure the blade guard is almost touching the wood and use a push stick made for a radial arm saw. It is just a piece of sacrificial scrap long enough that I can push the piece I'm ripping all the way through the blade.

For cross cutting negative or low angle hook blades are nice, but not entirely necessary if you are aware how the saw self-propels itself through the cut. For ripping, I just use a decent rip blade.

I maintain my table in good order. Some don't like my method of using Bondo regularly to fill and remake the cut slot and fill the previous rip divots, but it works for me.

I also have a 12 inch Delta turret that is a tighter, heavier machine and nicer to use. But really, I could get along just fine without it. Cut accuracy is more a factor in how one uses the saw as it is saw tightness in a RAS where you are moving the saw through the wood. This is not so for a table saw, where any looseness in the arbor, for example, makes it impossible to get a good accurate cut.

My main complaint with a RAS is dust collection, especially for ripping. I just give up and seldom use it anywhere but outdoors.

So, while the RAS has gone out of fashion, I am not interested in disposing of mine anytime soon.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I threw a mahogany table leg across my high school shop class with a RAS years ago. They are probably safe if set up correctly however I haven't used one since.

Anyone can have an accident with any machinery. Apparently you were not shown the correct procedure. I have never had an accident with an RAS in my 36 years of woodworking