radial arm saw

[jeff oldham]

Well thanks to alot of good info on here I finally got my radial arm saw cutting square (craftsman),,but even at that I did notice that the farther you go into the wood it wants to push the wood to the left as it completes the cut,,but the results are square,,I do the same on a sliding miter saw pushing it thru the wood and it never moves,,am I doing something wrong or is it just the way a craftsman cuts, ,I have never owned a dewalt or rockwell so I was thinking maybe it's just the saw itself,,,any comments would be helpfull,,thank you

[Barry McFadden]

I've had a Craftsman 12" Radial Arm Saw for over 30 years and have never had a problem with it cutting square....

[Rick Potter]

Maybe you can find a RAS owning fellow creeker near you to take a look. It just doesn't make sense to me. I can lay a 6" long 1X2 scrap against the fence and cut it in half easily without holding it in any way, and it doesn't move. I wouldn't dare do that on my chop saw, even with a zero clearance fence, which the RAS has.

Do you have a really slippery fence? Mine is melamine, and still no problem.

My 12" DeWalt 7790 crosscuts 16 1/4 or so, squarely. It has only been adjusted once in the almost 20 years I have had the table/fence setup I now use. That time was because a contractor 'borrowed' my saw to cut 4x6 posts, and didn't notice it had a 100 tooth blade on it with a blade stiffener that limited the cut to about 2 1/2". He tried to force it through the kerf, and knocked everything out including the sacrificial strip I use.

I would start a new thread, asking for creekers in your area, owning (and using) a RAS.

[Matt Day]

Your saw is still not adjusted properly. The carriage can rotate from crosscut to rip; make sure it's rotated totally square to fence. I had similar cut issues and the until I realized the carriage was slightly out of square.

You have a great resource at ncwoodworker to find someone to help.

[Tom M King]

Did you get all the slop out of the rollers on the arm with the eccentric center bushings in the bearings??

[Craig Regan]

Its the saw. Most Craftsman radial arm saws are plastic and stamped metal. You can adjust all day and it will never be square. Older cast iron saws from the 50's will hold tolerances much better.

[Tom M King]

My 12" was bought new in 1974, and it still cuts perfectly square. It was one of the first big tools I ever bought. I remember adjusting it the last time in 1991. I only use it for accurate 90 degree cuts, like tenon shoulders, and regular square cuts. It's pretty heavy, with cast iron arm, and replaceable steel runners. I don't know anything about any other Craftsman models.

[John TenEyck]

If it's pushing left I think your saw blade is pointing to the right and the back of the blade is pushing it. Cut a piece 6 - 8" wide stock, but stop when the lead edge of the blade just cuts through the front of the piece. Now put your trusted square on it. Do you see light at the back of the cut but not the front? If you do, the blade is not parallel with the carriage.

John

[Barry McFadden]

Its the saw. Most Craftsman radial arm saws are plastic and stamped metal. You can adjust all day and it will never be square. Older cast iron saws from the 50's will hold tolerances much better.

My Craftsman is from the early 80's and as I stated earlier ....I've never had a problem with a square cut. I think your "it's the saw" statement is made without real knowledge of the issue..

[Ken Combs]

Well thanks to alot of good info on here I finally got my radial arm saw cutting square (craftsman),,but even at that I did notice that the farther you go into the wood it wants to push the wood to the left as it completes the cut,,but the results are square,,I do the same on a sliding miter saw pushing it thru the wood and it never moves,,am I doing something wrong or is it just the way a craftsman cuts, ,I have never owned a dewalt or rockwell so I was thinking maybe it's just the saw itself,,,any comments would be helpfull,,thank you

I posted this in one of your earlier threads, but it may have gotten overlooked. And, I'm almost certain this adjustment is the source of your symptom.
"Try this: lay your square in place, then elevate the front as high as possible. while holding it against the blade, with the guard removed. I'll bet you will find the blade is not square to the direction of travel. Just adjust the eccentric bearing on the carriage to align the blade and provide the correct fit. If too tight it will be hard to move, too loose and it will 'wiggle' on the arm. It'll likely take more than one iteration to get it on the money, but it can be done. " Actually,I said 'square to the direction of travel" when parallel is more accurate.

[Roy Turbett]

It may be that the arm isn't locked. The Craftsman has preset detents that are basically a spring loaded ball bearing that drops into a hole. You have to giggle the arm a little to be sure the ball drops all the way down and then remove any play by putting slight pressure in one direction and then locking the arm in place. The arm will move during a cut if you don't remember to lock it by pushing the lever on the top of saw to the rear.

[Myk Rian]

You have to giggle the arm a little.

Do you have to tickle it to get it to giggle?

[Robert Engel]

Three adjustments on a RAS are
1. Square vertically to table
2. Square horizontally to fence
3. Parallel to track

It sounds like the tracking is off.

You're going find a saw like this very hard to keep in alignment as others have said.

Once you get it set 1)check it often and 2) don't bump it!