Just bragging on a tool that usualy gets a bad rap

[Aaron Berk]

So about 2 yrs ago I bought a Craftsman RAS at a yard sale for a whopping $5

I knew I didn't really have "allot" of use for it, but come on $5

So in the past 2yrs I've used it on 3 major projects.

1st was a retail tenant improvment

2nd was some custom shelving 14" deep and mitered.

3rd (tonight) is a commission for 100 display cases.

Well tonight I fell in love with this RAS all over again. Breaking down 312 liner ft of 1x material into 12" and 11.5" pcs
I just wanted to give a shout out to all you RAS haters (or to be more PC, all you RAS disapprovers)

[Van Huskey]

I actually loved all three of the ones I have had. Is yours one of the recall saws? If so they will send you a new guard and new table.

[Mike Cutler]

An RAS is a very valuable tool if you have the space. The bad rap is usually associated with folks unknowingly installing the incorrect type of blade, not using it properly,and the problems that Sears/Emerson created by design.

[Aaron Berk]

Yes, and I already did the guard and table recall.
I also have a nice negative hook blade and replaced the slide bearings and rails.

It takes a bit to get aligned, but it purrs right through the cuts and leaves a cut that rivals my WW2 blade on the TS

[fRED mCnEILL]

I had a RAS that I sold when I got a slding miter saw. How is a RAS better than a slider?

[Rick Potter]

Way to go Aaron.

I have a 12" DeWalt 7790 permanently set up for crosscuts, that I use all the time. I recently bought a really clean Sears RAS just like yours, that I keep on a mobile base. This is my $200 dedicated dado machine. It will run dado's up to 16" wide, and is perfect for stuff like shelving units, and closet organizers. It is also much quicker than doing them on my tablesaw (with a Jessem slider). Takes about two minutes to drop a new fence board in, make your first cut through it, and you have a guide to line your dado's up EXACTLY where you want them.

Rick Potter

[William Lai]

What are some good ras to look for? I see them so cheap, and I have some bookcases and cabinets to build, might pick one up based on what you guys are saying, instead of a scms.

[Mike Heidrick]

I'll neener. I had the infamous digital readout craftsman. It worked great. I sold it so I could justify the one I really wanted some day. Two years later I found one at the end of 2009. You might hate RASs but this one has a motor bigger than most of your cabinet saw motors and a blade the size of the pizza your family ate last and will take two full 12" dado stacks if you want it too. It's 29" inch crosscuts trims up all but the biggest panels for me. I love it. I way overpaid compared to many of your RAS deas (1K) but it needed virtually no overhaul'n and is single phase so it was plug and run. I love it and thats all I care about. Forrest @ Amazon gave us big RAS owners gifts last year too - 16" forrest WWI blades for about half a 10" WWII.

[lowell holmes]

Try doing cross dadoes on a bookshelf on a slider or table saw.

For ripping, the work is up at a height that is easy to control and see.

[Mike Harrison]

Gosh Lowell, Ya mean cutting lengthwise?

Some would have heart failure, but I use mine for ripping a straight edge on ruff stock. Its the easiest way for me to do it since I have the RAS and miter saw on a combination table of some 16'. My first RAS a C'man, that served me well, and later on got a 12" Delta turret saw. There are times I'm really thankful to have a RAS, great tool.

[lowell holmes]

Proper use of push sticks, safety glasses, and the anti-kickback pawls makes it a relatively simple task. I always have the guard in place. Long boards are easier for me on the RAS because I have wings that I can put up to provide a 9 foot long ripping table.

Now a wobble dado set will wet your britches. I only tried it once.

I've never launched a missle on the RAS, but I have on the TS.

I mostly rip in the bandsaw these days and then joint the edge. I feel safer doing it. Although, short 3/4" rips are good on the TS.

[Bob Aquino]

An RAS is a very valuable tool if you have the space. The bad rap is usually associated with folks unknowingly installing the incorrect type of blade, not using it properly,and the problems that Sears/Emerson created by design.

For 5 bucks, you cant argue with a tool that gives you good results. Not taking anything away from the OP, I'm glad that he has a good saw that has paid for itself many times over. From my own experience with a 60's vintage craftsman, the issues with the sears saws was that the machines would either go out of adjustment or if you swung the arm and then tried to return to 90, it may not be back at 90. This was mostly the result of "value engineering" on the part of sears and everybody else trying to get one of these saws in everybody's garage or basement by mostly lowering the price. And we all know you cant lower the price without giving something up. You can readjust it back to 90, but who wants to do that for every cut?

The other factor in many cases was that the table was not flat and level (really perpendicular) to the blade. This was due in large part to the fact it was just one sheet of chipboard or MDF and that has no stability, especially if its a wide board. Way back in the 50's, a guy named Wally Kunkle (Mr. Sawdust) came up with a design that used two layers of board (plywood, mdf, etc) and sandwiched in some flat steel bars in the middle to provide some long term rigidity and stability so it would remain flat and level over time. A later variation of this is to use some U-channel that is available at the big boxes called Unistrut to run perpendicular to the main supports under the table and provide a very straight and flat structure to support the wooden surface. Both methods appear to work equally well.

As for which saw is best, conventional wisdom goes with the old Dewalts that were mostly cast iron in the columns and arms and the turret style Deltas and their predecessors, the multiplex designs. There are other designs out there as well, like an old Monarch or Walker Turner, but you are unlikely to run across any of those at a garage sale. I've had an older (60's vintage) sears saw as well as a Dewalt MBF and now a Delta 30c. I cussed at the sears saw for all the same reasons many folks cussed at them, and it took about 10 years before I went back to the MBF on a whim. I upgraded the MBF to the 30c because I wanted a larger and more powerful saw. I would have gone bigger than that but don't have the space for it.

So that you understand why these old saws are the better design, here is the column from the MBF, you can see its one solid piece of machined cast iron, with the stops for 90 and 45 milled in.



Here you can see how the arm locks down to 90 or 45 on either side. It also has micro adjustments to dial it in once you get the fence clamped in to the table. It is a solid piece of cast iron with some very nice machining for the carriage to slide in. If you look down on the carriage, you will see how you can adjust the saw motor angle to the table:



This is a Mr. Sawdust style table gluing up:


Here is a picture of a saw (not mine) with a table using unistrut perpendicular the the main support bars:

[Don Bullock]

Your Craftsman RAS looks very similar to a Montgomery Wards (Yep, that's where he bought it) RAS. Unfortunately when my parents moved I didn't have room for the saw and it was sold in s garage sale. I sure wish I had it today for projects like the one's you described. Back when it was available in his shop I used that RAS for all cross cuts and dados. It did an admirable job.

[Mark Ashmeade]

I had a RAS that I sold when I got a slding miter saw. How is a RAS better than a slider?

Induction motor. Brushes will never wear out, because it doesn't have any! MUCH quieter operation than a SCMS.
Can run a dado stack, and does so from the top so you can see what's happening - unlike a table saw.
Can perform rip cuts.
Can perform cove cuts.
Can run on 220V (most of them)

Now to turn the question around, what can a SCMS do that a RAS can't?

[Aaron Berk]

Yeah, this RAS isn't the crown jewel like the ones Mike and Rob posted. It takes allot of tweaking at times and doesn't like to be moved around the shop.
But when duty calls, it's available and willing.

The first time I used it for rip cutting I was breaking down 4x8 sheets of 3/4" ply into 11-3/4 wide strips. 3 sheets of it, I was really amazed at why some folks would consider ripping an obsolete function for these tools.