Are Radial Arm Saws Simply Out Of Fashion?

[John McClanahan]

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

[jack duren]

Use mine all the time. But I have a Delta 12". My Dewalt slider is parked under the bench where it stays almost all the time...

[Joe Jensen]

I have a 14" Dewalt and it's fantastic. It's highly accurate. I set it to a perfect 90 18 years ago and it's still a perfect 90. The old RAS my grandad had was nothing like this.

I think relatively inexpensive sliding compound miter saws that are pretty accurate have made similarly priced RAS saws obsolete as they are not nearly as accurate. My Dewalt is more accurate than even the Festool SCMS and it cuts wider too. But it's like 600lbs and expensive.

[Rick Potter]

I have two, a DeWalt 12" 7790 that I use ALL the time for crosscuts up to
16". It hasn't needed realigning for at least 6 years. The other is a 1973 Craftsman I recently bought just for doing dado's in shelving. Works fine and is quicker than any other method I have tried. I call it my $200 dedicated dado machine.

Rick Potter

[Jason Hallowell]

About a year ago I got my first RAS for free from a fellow creeker. It's a c-man that looks like it's from the 80's, and was in pretty poor shape when I got it. I planned on just using it for crosscutting long pieces when my miter saw is away at a job site, but after tuning it up I found all sorts of uses for it.

I think the RAS is misunderstood, and if more people knew how to properly set them up and use them, they'd still be found in almost any shop. Properly tuned I feel a good RAS is more accurate and precise than a SCMS, and I think it's a great compliment to the tablesaw. I'm not fond of using them for ripping, but they're great for short dados, cutting tenons, miters (especially large ones), and gang cutting parts to length.

This morning I picked up an old Dewalt RAS and a few other tools at a local swap meet all for $80. I'm really looking forward to getting it cleaned up and using a "real" RAS instead of the freebie I've been using. I need to check the serial # on the c-man, as I may end up getting paid $20 to upgrade to the Dewalt! If so Bill has some more cigars coming his way for giving it to me.

If anyone's interested in the set-up and use of RAS's, do yourself a favor and pick the sawdust mans book, which I think is titled "How to Master the Radial Saw". Just the plans for the table are worth the price of the book.

[Peter Quinn]

So, it got me wondering, have radial arm saws just gone out of fashion?

John

Not in my shop. My DeWalt 14" is both fashionable and functional. When my father retired last year, he offered me his Craftsman 10", and I declined as I already had the dewalt in service, but I did offer to help him load it in a dumpster! The difference between his craftsman RAS and my dewalt RAS is considerable. Hardly even the same tool category frankly. One is a cast iron behemoth, the other a rickity stamped steel pos. Its like the difference between a solid cabinet saw and one of those plastic and aluminum job site TS's that lead to law suits.

So IMVHO, a good RAS never goes out of fashion, but some things posing as RAS's should be placed in the nearest dumpster.

[Bill Leonard]

My first power saw was a Craftsman RAS in the early 80's. I never really liked it, didn't trust it and frankly thought it was a waste of money. It wound up sitting in the corner. Several years ago I gave it away and started using a 10 inch SCMS. Several months ago I purchased an old Dewalt MB at auction on a whim for $40.00. I took the time to set it up correctly in accordance with Mr. Sawdust. Long story short- both SCMS are now put away and I love the RAS. More stable, more accurate, less space required. A good RAS is a great compliment to a table saw. Wish I had realized this long ago.

[Myk Rian]

I don't like the movements you go through with a CMS. It just seems unnatural. I had one, gave it to my son.
I just rebuilt a DeWalt MBF and that tool is my pride and joy. It just feels so natural to use it. And, it's accurate as all get out. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=138759

If you don't know how to tune one up, it's a useless tool. If you do know how, it can be the most accurate tool in the shop.
You need the book at www.mrsawdust.com

[Alan Lightstone]

Sold my Craftsman RAS on CL a month ago. I did use it, when I bought it in the 80's had to decide between a RAS and a tablesaw, and chose the RAS.

I do miss it for quick cross-cutting. Only ripped with it once (too scary). Wasn't too repeatable with its cuts, despite trying my hardest to calibrate it. The digital readout was sweet, though.

I never felt it was dangerous for cross-cutting. If anything, I felt it was safer than a tablesaw.

[Erik Christensen]

any would not part with either. My 12" delta turret ras is great for 90 deg cuts in big stock, production runs and cutting tenons/dados. The SCMS is much easier to change the angle on and perfect for single cuts - much better to start the shop vac every 5 minutes than my huge 5 HP DC.

I think the RAS fell out of popular favor due to the poor performance of the cheaper versions (and yes i must admit my 1st RAS was a crapsman) and the fact that most had cheap blades with a high hook angle making them scary to use.

IMHO - if the overwhelming majority of table saws sold over the last 50 years were cheesy contractor table top models with crappy 10$ BORG blades we'd see common wisdom saying "all table saws suck".

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I use mine all the time for crosscuts & miters only.....I might never give this one up, it runs like a dream and never requires adjusting.

[Clarence Miller]

I know that the RAS is kind of a space hog and that sliding CMS have stolen alot of their thunder but I still like having mine around. I set it up to share a fence with my miter saw (the sliding CMS I have is a Menards special that gets hauled around from project site to site so if it dies I can give it a quick buriel) I still love my RAS for cross cutting 2 x 12s. The danger part is the same as with any tool, use with caution and common sense

[scott allen]

My DeWalt MBC is absolutely the most accurate saw I have ever owned - spent an afternoon getting it dialed in, and now it can go from one position to another with dead-on accuracy. Used it yesterday to cut miters for a picture frame, and they came out perfect.

Radial Arms got their bad reputation thanks to the junk Craftsman began putting out in the mid-60's. The good part about this is that this reputation has made good-quality used radial arms a low-cost option for accurate woodworking.

On a DeWalt, things to look for would be an arm-raising mechanism at the top of the column, not in the middle or end of the arm - the round-arm machines are generally a safe bet. A cast-iron arm is a must as well.

The other key is the table/fence combination. Having an absolutely flat table surface is a must, as is a straight fence. Even the best-tuned machine will suffer if the table is poorly made. The renowned "Mr. Sawdust" table is a popular option, but recently tables made with "Superstrut" (available in the electrical section at Home Depot) have been gaining favor with a lot of users (myself included) for both their accuracy as well as ease of construction.

The blade is the last piece of the puzzle - you want to use something with a low to negative hook angle.

Scott

[Dennis McGarry]

Just a note for you, there is a site where you can check your model number on the recall list and if it is on it they will send you a new blade guard and table for it, free.

[Frank Drew]

Life as a cabinetmaker is entirely possible without a radial arm saw.

But once you've used a sliding table saw, life as a cabinetmaker is not possible, or at least not worth living, without one of those.