Anybody do any lumber ripping on their radial arm?

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Back in the late '50's all dad had was a Craftsman RAS. He used it for everything. He taught me to use it for everything. I taught my shop teacher how to use it for ripping accurately and safely. He had the attitude shared by some here--don't rip on it, it's too dangerous. I am in my 7th decade using a RAS. Sure, like all power tools, it is inherently dangerous. My first school shop had a drill press and a Wards RAS. Treat it right; use it right; it will do the job. The problem is more with the operator than the machine.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Before I graduated to woodworker from wood butcher I only had a RAS and I used it for everything. Other than it isn't near as handy as a tablesaw I did everything on it including ripping. The big drawback for me was the restriction on the size so cutting a sheet of plywood in half was -uuum--difficult.

[Phil Landwer]

Well, I just ripped my first piece of 16" wide purpleheart, in two, on the RAS. Went perfectly. Not a bit scary.
I can see doing a lot more of this on the RAS. Now I'm not in near the rush, to replace the table saw.
I hated ripping that nice piece of purpleheart....but I simply needed narrower stock for my application.
Thanks gang.

[Aaron Berk]

Well, I just ripped my first piece of 16" wide purpleheart, in two, on the RAS. Went perfectly. Not a bit scary.
I can see doing a lot more of this on the RAS. Now I'm not in near the rush, to replace the table saw.
I hated ripping that nice piece of purpleheart....but I simply needed narrower stock for my application.
Thanks gang.

yeah buddy!
How long was it? I've never ripped anything less then 16" on mine. Not saying I wouldn't, just that I never have.

A Radial Arm Saw is an invaluable tool in my shop. I'll never be with out one if I have the choice.

[Phil Landwer]

The Purpleheart was 30" long, but the Yellowheart that followed, was 10 feet.

[Aaron Berk]

Sweet, so wheres the pics of this RAS?

Every thread deserves a picture

[Ed Labadie]

I do quite a bit of ripping on my 16" DeWalt GE, works great! Would be quite different if it didn't have a powerfeeder.......

Ed

[J. Ed taylor]

I built my house with a 9" Craftsman RAS. I ripped #3 pine to size and used a molding head in the saw to cut all the millwork in the house. I later moved up to a Delta 33-267 that a friend sold me and added a RipStrate anti-kickback accessory to make ripping safer. I now use the RAS mostly for crosscuts and miters using a miter jig. I still occasionally use it for ripping.

[Carroll Courtney]

I did once yrs ago on my Sears,never again.Yes I was paying attention,sell your festool get a good TS----Carroll

[Jon Grider]

The RAS was the only saw I had for a decade or so. I ripped with it frequently with no complaints or close calls. I did change to a ripping blade when I had a lot of ripping to do.

[HANK METZ]

Unfortunately for the radial arm saw, it’s versatility is also it’s vice. All stations should be kept in good calibration to get maximum precision out of it. For rip cuts, which can be done quite satisfactorily, checking the heel and toe alignment is really no different than the same procedure as done on the tablesaw. Strive for 0/0 readings while sweeping along the width of the sawblade with a dial indicator mounted in a simple jig. These things can be had for about $15 and should really be in the woodworker’s measurement tool arsenal. I like to use the in- rip position as that is the function I use the most for rip work, it also takes care of the crosscut heel/ toe calibration as well, so two jobs are done in one.
Rip Start Indicate.jpg
Infeed position.

Rip Finish Indicate.jpg
Outfeed position.

Although reality says a couple of thou won't make any difference, strive to be accurate so it will hold longer.

Rip Begin Indicate.jpg

- Beachside Hank
Do not use remaining fingers as push sticks.

[ian maybury]

Must say that while i did some ripping of 3/4in white deal on it, the De Walt RAS i had was very marginal for that sort of work. It was (a) only just powerful enough to get the job done it seemed (always on the point of bogging - maybe a dedicated rip blade would improve the situation, although the hook tooth could cause other issues (?)), and (b) alignment was hard to keep in adjustment (it seemed to get knocked out by the tiniest bump) which didn't help at all.

A more powerful saw would have been a lot better, but that would have needed a much better fence and a saw much more resistant to getting knocked out of alignment - or the risk of kickback would have been too much.

No doubt it can be done with a well tuned procedure and a lot of care not to bump or overfeed the thing, and a much better quality/higher spec saw would no doubt improve the situation but it's definitely not my tool of choice. I sold mine after doing only a few hours work on it.

A band saw might be another option....

[ed vitanovec]

I did a fair amont of ripping when I had a Radial Arm saw, just be careful with which end to feed the wood. I use to move the table boards to get the fence repositioned to gain more rip capacity.

[Larry Edgerton]

I just have to say, everyone I know that had an accident on a radial arm saw was ripping. And accidents on radial arm saws are never small accidents.

Myself. Its not what the saw was designed for, its an incidental use that is used as a sales feature. I have a great radial arm saw, and a good one before this one, but I will rip on the tablesaw. This is just my opinion of course.

Larry

[Dan T Jones]

Hank,
Good info. Also thanks for your help on the DeWalt forum. Your pictures look like the 1400. I am getting a 1200 adjusted up.

Question, with a 8 1/2 or 9 inch blade do you think the 1200 can rip without the power issues others are noteing? I may do some occasional ripping or dado work in the rip position.

Thanks.

Dan