Dewalt 9" Radial Arm Saw

[John Bailey]

I really like my Craftsman 10" RAS, but, as it is 20 yrs. old, and cheap to begin with, it is getting harder to keep adjusted. I would also like to have a RAS that is a bit more acurate and maybe smaller. I've heard good things about the older DeWalt RAS's and was wondering if anyone has a 9" Dewalt. I've seen a number of them for sale. If so, do you like it? Is it acurate? Any pros or cons?

John

[Bob Wilkerson]

I've got a few Dewalt RAS's that run like a champ. If you're referring to one of the 9" MBF's you'll like it. They are quite accurate and durable but can be a bit low on power if cutting thick hard stock. Some of the guys on OWWM have one in use.

The Dewalt 7790 is a nice 12" RAS with electronic braking for a bit more power (3.5hp). When you get into the more industrial versions such as my 14" GA you need to check out the bearings and machined ways for wear before buying one. Just make sure that it doesn't have any play but still moves well. If they were used hard they might have worn the track which is a $500-600 re-machining job. The picture attached is the arm of my GA that showed no wear after 50 years - just a rub pattern!

Bob

[Ralph Steffey]

I have a good one I will sell you cheep but I don't know how to get it to you I am in south Florida

[Kevin Post]

I have a DeWalt MBF... one of the 9 inchers. I got it a few years ago, cheap and I'm happy with it. It's accurate... but I rarely (never) move it from 90 degrees.

With the various CMS and SCMS offerings, a RAS is hard to justify. I have a DeWalt 12" CMS so I rarely use the RAS. However, I can't put a dado head on my CMS. It's also nice to setup the RAS to make shoulder cuts on tenons while setting up the tablesaw with a tenoning jig to make the cheek cuts.

-Kevin

[Dev Emch]

The older DeWalts are what they are.... industrial machines. The 9 incher was designed for the hobby market and is to some degree a bit cheesy. Many have 5/8 inch arbors and run only four bearings in the head arm.

When you move up to say a GA, things start to get better. You find shafts going to 1 inch and you find the blade flasks interchangeable across the line. The larger models have 8 bearings in the head arm. The second set of four bearings riding the top flat ways to keep the head arm from riding up. The other four bearings are riding the 45 degree side ways.

I prefer the advark arms better than the newer models with straight arms. The newest dewalt RAS machines just kept getting cheaper and cheaper. Today, I dont like the offerings of the Original Saw Company at all. They are the residue of the original DeWalt factory out of Lancaster PA.

My DeWalt RAS is currently under a ground up restoration. I got it as total rust bucket pile of junk. But the castings are good and I was able to get the motor running again. The rotor had rusted to the stator and you could not rotate the motor with even a breaker bar. It took a bunch of basting with KROIL and several hours of work to get it apart. Rusty water flowed out of the stator housing when I removed the front and aft bells. I threw the rotor onto my metal lathe and did an eccentric cut to clean up the rusty 1/3. Rust tends to grow outwards and it grew into the rotor-stator gap thus freezing the motor. By cutting down the rusty section, I was able to avoid cutting into the good 2/3rds of the rotor thus increasing the gap and reducing my possible power output. I then polished up the remainder, baked out the stator windings in the kitchen oven and installed brand new bearings. It helps when your not married as you can use the kitchen oven for occasional motor work and powder coating

In taking apart my GE, I learned much about how this heavy duty DeWalt was designed and built. The older advark GE saw is one well made woodworking machine! I have acid dipped many of the remaining parts and will blast them with walnut shells to clean them up a bit before primer and top coat. The two photos I have included show the saw "In The Wild" as I found it. The second photo shows the bearing carrier and top portion of the trunion arm after cleaning and partial prep.

Some have come out and claimed that the RAS is obsolete and that it has been replaced with the sliding compound mitre saw. Well that is like saying that the cabinet saw has been obsoleted by the desk top portable makita or dewalt table saw. Your comparing apples to oranages. Portable they are not! But a well made and well tuned RAS is a real joy to use. It can do things that no compound mitre can do. Furthermore, it handle virtually all of your cross cut applications. If the RAS were obsolete, then why did Home Depot put a large DeWalt in virtually every store they have and sign a service contract with Wolfe Machinery to replace and maintain them?

And Dado blades are a pure joy to run on a RAS! Its quick and easy. I have a makita compound sliding mitre saw and it does a really nice job for the things its used on. Namely onsite finish work. But to compare it to a 7.5 HP DeWalt GE with a 1 inch arbor and its set of 12 inch to 18 inch blade flasks just does not make any sense. Esp. if your running 8 in to 12 in dado sets.

Once dialed in, you will find the older DeWalts a real joy to use. I have heard much about them. Both good and bad. But as I bring mine back to life, I have developed a much greater respect for them. I have also used the saws at a couple of home depots but dont tell that to the Atlanta headquarters folks. I have buddies who work part time there and I was helping get my order done. At any rate, I find them a blast to use.

The only downside that comes to mind on the smaller DeWalts is that the head tends to bounce a bit because the four stabilizing bearings are not used in the smaller models. As I recall, the GA is the first saw that uses 8 bearings but please dont quote me on that. As I said, my experience is with a heavy duty GE.

Hope this helps...
Good Luck....