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Thread: Identifying a GOOD, used radial arm saw

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil Brooks View Post
    Sorry. I think I missed one.

    I think THIS one is way too much $$$: "DEWALT VINTAGE RADIAL ARM SAW - $250 (SHELTON, CT)"
    Thanks for your advice. I just responded to him and offered $100. I guess that's fair based on what I'm reading. We'll see what happens.

  2. #47
    John... I'm late to the party, but I have to cast a vote for an Omga. I have their "bottom end" RN-450, and I've been very pleased. The bearing/carriage design makes for a very solid motion, and there is virtually no play between motor and arm. If I found one in my little ol' Denver market, odds are there's a few floating around the much more populated northeast. In the world of plug-n-play RASs, there are few choices. Mainly, you have your $300-400 restored deWalts. For that much, I jumped on the new-ish Omga, not a project saw or a saw I knew nothing about the restore quality.

  3. #48
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    Hey, I just got an e-mail. It's still available. Should I go for it?
    That's an MBF from the mid to late '50s, for sure. It's in beautiful condition, but the price is high unless they're rare in your area. I paid $75 for mine, although it needed some work. I agree that you have to count on replacing bearings, at least.

    The MBF is a great home shop size saw with around a 12" crosscut. It is almost unbelievably well made, from an era before disposable appliances. The only real weakness on these saws is the .75hp motor. They struggle with deep cuts ( 2"ish) in hardwoods and are limited to an 8" blade. If you're working with smaller stuff though, they're a pleasure.

    I retrofitted mine with a newer, bigger motor, but that's a different story.

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by david brum View Post
    That's an MBF from the mid to late '50s, for sure. It's in beautiful condition, but the price is high unless they're rare in your area. I paid $75 for mine, although it needed some work. I agree that you have to count on replacing bearings, at least.

    The MBF is a great home shop size saw with around a 12" crosscut. It is almost unbelievably well made, from an era before disposable appliances. The only real weakness on these saws is the .75hp motor. They struggle with deep cuts ( 2"ish) in hardwoods and are limited to an 8" blade. If you're working with smaller stuff though, they're a pleasure.

    I retrofitted mine with a newer, bigger motor, but that's a different story.
    These are my thoughts as well. Honestly, I really don't want to bring anymore large machinery into the shop. Ideally, I'd like to bring in a Hammer combo machine later this year, and get rid of some machines to free up space. Most of what I'd be cutting with it is 1" and less, but the cuts need to be precise. I'd like to be able to break down 8/4" lumber, but I can continue doing that on my table saw if I have to (and these cuts can be sloppy...it's just getting rough lumber down to manageable sizes).

  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    Thanks for your advice. I just responded to him and offered $100. I guess that's fair based on what I'm reading. We'll see what happens.
    I paid $100 for mine, and then had to restore it.
    That saw is advertised as being in better shape than mine was, but that's objective.
    It has the table, legs, and dirty papers. A one owner machine? That is always a plus.
    If it's really in good shape, and ready to use, $200 would not be TOO unreasonable.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  6. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    Hey, I just got an e-mail. It's still available. Should I go for it?
    John, for $250 you could get a chance to try it out and see if the concept will work for your specialized needs. Its close and if it works and you decide you want a better one [OMGA!] you will not lose any money when you sell. I say try it. Better to try it on the cheap than to invest a lot and find it does not work for you.

    But please do not try to rip with one of these! That is how most accidents that I am aware of happen.

    Larry

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    I'm possibly looking to bring in a good, used radial arm saw. How do I identify the good ones from the bad ones? I need this thing to really be dead nuts accurate and to stay that way. I know the old ones are good, but how old? Which ones? How do I identify them? What's a fair price? LOL...I know I know, but I'll take any help I can get.

    I'm just spending too much time fiddling around with my "spare" contractor saw, currently relegated to some slotting operations. It seems like I'm always adjusting it. I really need a tool I can rely on. I've already wasted half a day trying to find the latest gremlin, not to mention all the time spent compensating for imperfect performance after the fact.

    Thanks for any help
    this is a good review of what to check on
    a used RAS:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKSkZ...eature=related

    and although they are generally not well regarded by a lot of woodowrkers (who believe only dewalt and delta built soild RASs), i wouldn't give up my c-man RAS unless i had to. it is an older model from the mid to late 60s, so it has a CI overhead arm, column support and column. once set up, it has held it's settings just fine. it does not, in my experience though, like to ve moved around, nor is it particularly fond of changing from 90*. however, they can be had for between $75 and $150 and, if you catch a bum unit, the motor can be turned in to emerson electric for $100, so your downside risk is minimal.

  8. #53
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    So I picked it up. Everything on it is TIGHT. It looks hardly used. The there is some play in the arm that looks like it's coming from where the post mounts to the base. Either the base is flexing a bit or the post needs to be tightened up. Either way, it's nothing that can't be made solid. The important part is the arbor is solid and everything else is solid with no bearing work needed. Not bad for a weekend's worth of looking.

    Thanks again, everyone. The advice was invaluable.

  9. #54
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    The only thing I can't figure out right now is this annoying play in the arm. It seems like it's rock solid from the tip of the arm to the base, but that the base is flexing somehow. Is that normal? Should the base be bolted down to something to get rid of that play? It's only about .010" or .020 at the end of the arm, which isn't too bad I suppose, but it seems like I should be able to get rid of that. considering that everything seems to mechanically be tight. There's some hysteresis to it so something is shifting on something else, not bending, but it's not coming from the column/post.

    Overall, I'm pretty happy, and a bit impressed, at how nice even the lower end tools were back in the 50's....those guys didn't fool around!

  10. #55
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    You aught to check out the DeWalt RAS Delphi forum. On the intro page is a link to their FAQ section. Every imaginable detail of how to properly adjust these saws is discussed by guys who take it seriously. Great info.

    You've probably heard this before, but the classic manual on how to use a DeWalt for all of the possible types of cuts (there are many), plus a detailed description of how to construct a proper saw table (a requirement) is the Mr Sawdust book, written by Wally Kunkel.

    You'll also need an RAS specific blade. Some of the guys really like the special WWI TCP blade from Forrest. I tried one and hated it. My current favorite is an Onsrud negative hook blade. They are available in 8.5" for ridiculously cheap on ebay. The Freud LU83 is supposed to be good also, although I haven't tried it.

    Enjoy your saw.

  11. #56
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    Um.

    I don't see YOUR photos, so ... you bought no saw.

    Hypothetically, though....

    Sounds like you're going to become intimately familiar with the gibs and bolts/nuts at the base of your column, if I'm understanding you right, about where the play is. Be liberal with penetrating oil, and gentle when you break stuff free. Often, nobody's touched the hardware for decades.

    I happen to think that the combination of Kunkel's book AND Jon Eakes's book (might be available, free, through the Yahoo DeWalt RAS group, if memory serves; cheap, otherwise) is the winning combo. Different approaches to tuning the saw. I read through both, and synthesized them, mostly, but -- generally -- found Eake's just a tad more to my liking.

    [cough]pics[cough, cough]

    Congrats. You've just had your first dose of yet ANOTHER highly addictive drug: old DeWalt RAS's
    He's no fun. He fell right over !

  12. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post

    Overall, I'm pretty happy, and a bit impressed, at how nice even the lower end tools were back in the 50's....those guys didn't fool around!
    Nice saw, John. Looks really clean in the CL photo. That saw really wasn't low-end back in the day. I went to vintagemachinery.org and looked up the MBF price with a stand in 1958. $275. That translates into $2,156 in 2012 dollars. Not cheap at all.

  13. #58
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    My Internet us down at the moment, so I'm stuck with this stupid phone thing. Anyhow, I think I figured it out. When you tighten the gib, it loosens the column adjustment. You really need to play with them a bit to get it right. Now I'm down to +\- .010 at the very end of travel with no hysteresis. That's when I'm trying to knock it off line, so I'm happy. It should be dead nuts if I just let it cut without intentionally trying to mess it up.

    These old machines really are impressive. The guy I bought it from said, "oh, I'll just carry it out for you...I'm in pretty good shape". I just giggled and asked him if he was sure. After the first try, we both carried it out. Heavy sucker. Lol. We had a good giggle about that.

    And photos to come when I have an Internet that works again.

  14. #59
    Van, can you explain to me how the VFD (variable frequency drive)???? actually works with these saws?

    thanks
    Quality by Design! nuff said....

  15. #60
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    So as promised, here it is in person.



    This thing really is in quite good shape. We can't seem to find the wrenches for it, but it's really not necessary. Certainly not for tightening, and for loosening there's a way of banging the wrench on the table to get the nut to release...but the wrenches would be nice I did have to take it apart to the get the lock for the tilting mechanism undone...it was jammed in there solid. I tuned it up and everything is silky smooth.



    He tossed in this table that was welded up for it. I have all the paperwork too.

    I made some test cuts tonight, and it works beautifully, so I'm happy

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