Radial Arm Saw Evaluation/Recommecdation Needed

[jack forsberg]

now all you hear over on this side of the pond are the Delta or DeWalts . The better US saws are the Porter and monarch unipoint But the best vintage every made has to the from Thomas White in Scotland .





like joe's saw though these are not RAS there what are callled straight line cross cuts saw . bearing cartage are way wider at least 3 time as wide as a RAS cartage .

White also made a swing type saw (seen German makers with the same ) but with a back arm to keep the blade level with the table for trenching cuts

Stenner made a good saw to with the pivot point right over the fence slit and a dust shoot under the table




as was said the Unipoint is the best american saw but is not a RAS as you can see



many of the big old clunkers are just not capable of the operation of the typical RAS and can not configure in as many arrangement . This is what the Dewalt is know for. As these saw were around before the claim that they were invented by Dewalt .


and one for Darcy



now i think that all the bad about the old saws is there old and knackered . some like the Delta can be brought back by part replacement but the old dewalts with all those bearing most likely need the arm re-machined to get them up to sniff. the old Delts when rebuilt do cut clean and accurate work

[Darcy Warner]

Wish I could find a festo.

[John TenEyck]

A very nice looking 10" Rockwell/Delta was just posted in the Classifieds here.

John

[Larry Edgerton]

Nice little saw for the money. Limited reach of cut would be a problem for me, but not most. I bought my OMGA partially because of the 27 inch cut, more than most. That is a small version of the Delta I sold.

[jack forsberg]

Nice little saw for the money. Limited reach of cut would be a problem for me, but not most. I bought my OMGA partially because of the 27 inch cut, more than most. That is a small version of the Delta I sold.

27 is a pretty long cut . My 18 inch Wadkin CC is 30 inch and the reason I like that is because it swings to 60° on one side and still cuts a fairly decent width . But by far what I love the most is it's inch and a quarter spindle with 6 inches under the nut . And of course the huge massive ABEC 5 angular contact bearings. It's basically built like the old direct drive tenoners . Same Motor as the PK that could be special ordered for trenching heads . Carriage bearings are about 24 inches apart if you can believe it . It was actually made in a mobile base option that ran on the railroad track. Some of the old-school trenching heads are terrifyingly beautiful

[John Gulick]

I recently picked up a 50's or 60's vintage Dewalt 9" for $200.00. It's single phase, not tons of power but enough. There are many available up to 16" 5 hp. Can you tell I prefer used? Generally under $1.k, some may require a little work but the older iron has more guts, my .02

[Rick Alexander]

Boy I sure do wish you lived close to me (GA). My dad passed in January and has a late 60's vintage 12 inch Craftsman that cuts every bit as good as my late 40's vintage 14 inch Dewalt - just less power. It's breaking my heart trying to let this thing go so cheap due to the later vintage saws ruining Craftsman's reputation for RAS's. His is certainly one of the good ones - I just don't need it.

As you can see - I'm on the vintage band wagon. Plenty of those old Dewalts out there approaching 100 years old for a reason. If you want a new Dewalt - Original Machine is the modern version of Dewalt - pretty much the same design of mine too. Very expensive however. Turret style is the way to go if you want angles.

[Larry Copas]

some like the Delta can be brought back by part replacement but the old dewalts with all those bearing most likely need the arm re-machined to get them up to sniff. the old Delts when rebuilt do cut clean and accurate work

I brought home a 1954 Dewalt GA with the 24” arm. It was cheap and my thinking was the base would make an interesting shop table. It sat forever and I got a job where I can use it so I decided to restore the thing. The carriage bearings were wore so it was hard to tell how much wear was in the arm. I pulled the arm off and cleaned it up good. Than with good light and a magnifying glass I could see the wear. The saw must have been in a lumber yard cross cutting 2 X 6's its whole life. Wear in the arm was from the column out about 10” than hardly any wear to the end of the arm. Put new bearings on the carriage and adjusted them tight. I've yet to do the final alignment but it may be a saw only suitable for rough work with the arm wear.

From my little experience I think in the field its going to be hard to determine if the saw is good or an anchor.

[Larry Edgerton]

I brought home a 1954 Dewalt GA with the 24” arm. It was cheap and my thinking was the base would make an interesting shop table. It sat forever and I got a job where I can use it so I decided to restore the thing. The carriage bearings were wore so it was hard to tell how much wear was in the arm. I pulled the arm off and cleaned it up good. Than with good light and a magnifying glass I could see the wear. The saw must have been in a lumber yard cross cutting 2 X 6's its whole life. Wear in the arm was from the column out about 10” than hardly any wear to the end of the arm. Put new bearings on the carriage and adjusted them tight. I've yet to do the final alignment but it may be a saw only suitable for rough work with the arm wear.

From my little experience I think in the field its going to be hard to determine if the saw is good or an anchor.

That was the problem with my 18" delta. It was a lumber yard saw, so it had that uneven wear in the casting close to the fence so even with new conical bearings it was tight/loose depending on where it was in the stroke. No one around here could remachine the arm so I bought new. The OMGA has replaceable ways and the bearings have a lot of surface and are quite far apart. So if it ever does get worn I can easily fix.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I just recently bought a 50's Dewalt GA as well. Sadly, I just realized last night as I went to adjust it that it has fairly similar wear to Larry's... There's a little bit of side-to-side play in carriage/motor assembly, and it's coming from the bearings in the arm. There's play for the first half of the stroke, but no play toward teh end of the arm... which can only mean wear to the machined ways. I can't feel any variation or steps in the ways with my fingers, so it's pretty subtle. But I really really wish I had caught this issue before I bought the machine.

I was able to adjust the bearings such that the play is almost imperceptible, but I can still hear it when I hold my ear to the arm and wiggle the motor. I'm hopeful that further adjustment will resolve it, but the only way to remove the slop for the first half of the travel is to make it pretty tight for the last half of the travel. Fingers crossed, because I was really looking forward to having this machine, and I just dropped $500 on it.

So, to the OP, while I'm sure it's true that these saws are really accurate assuming they aren't worn, I strongly recommend doing your due diligence before buying one. Inspect the heck out of the ways, making sure there is no play whatsoever... or if there is play, make sure it's consistent along the full travel of the motor.

[Roy Turbett]

The Original Saw Company builds new made in America industrial saws that are based on the old round-arm DeWalt design but with better motors.

[jack forsberg]

I just recently bought a 50's Dewalt GA as well. Sadly, I just realized last night as I went to adjust it that it has fairly similar wear to Larry's... There's a little bit of side-to-side play in carriage/motor assembly, and it's coming from the bearings in the arm. There's play for the first half of the stroke, but no play toward teh end of the arm... which can only mean wear to the machined ways. I can't feel any variation or steps in the ways with my fingers, so it's pretty subtle. But I really really wish I had caught this issue before I bought the machine.

I was able to adjust the bearings such that the play is almost imperceptible, but I can still hear it when I hold my ear to the arm and wiggle the motor. I'm hopeful that further adjustment will resolve it, but the only way to remove the slop for the first half of the travel is to make it pretty tight for the last half of the travel. Fingers crossed, because I was really looking forward to having this machine, and I just dropped $500 on it.

So, to the OP, while I'm sure it's true that these saws are really accurate assuming they aren't worn, I strongly recommend doing your due diligence before buying one. Inspect the heck out of the ways, making sure there is no play whatsoever... or if there is play, make sure it's consistent along the full travel of the motor.

This is the reason I never recommended the dewalts . I only recommend the Delta And the Wadkin Bursgreen as they both have drill rod for the Ways that can be rotated to accommodate ware . So it's not a matter of having to find out in the field it's a matter of it being a better design .

[Phillip Gregory]

I am trying to help my brother find a replacement for a Craftsman that he says is a piece of ####. Well you know.

He is looking at this one (OMGA RN 450) which I am not familiar with. Any thoughts or recommendations are much appreciated. The saw is used in a production environment. Is this a good choice? Anyone have this saw that can offer user experience?

Can be purchased here: http://www.hermance.com/Industrial/N...Radial-Arm-Saw


Thanks for your help.

The 1950s and some of the early 1960s Craftsman units were not too bad, but the later on ones were/are awful. I have used a late-1970s unit which was not that great and a late-1980s unit which was even worse.

I have never used an OMGA or seen one in person, so I can't offer an opinion beyond others have said they are decent saws.

The old larger Delta turret arm saws as well as the cast iron arm DeWalt saws (round arm GA and GE, and the later square arm Super Duty saws) have an excellent reputation. The Original Saw Company sells new versions of the old DeWalt saws and they are excellent as well, but are every bit as pricey as the OMGA units. The Northfield Unipoint is also a very highly thought of saw and even more expensive than the OMGA or Original Saw Company units.

I would recommend getting an old Delta or DeWalt in good condition. The biggest thing to look for on the DeWalts is the condition of the machined ways in the arm, if the arm is worn unevenly, it would need remachined (doable but $$$.)

I have a 7 1/2 hp 3 phase medium arm DeWalt GE that can take up to a 20" blade if you have the correct guard (otherwise it can take a 16") and can crosscut a one-by piece of stock 27" wide with a 12" blade installed. My saw cost $300 and had not been used all that much after its original arm had been replaced with a different one that had been remachined by Wolfe Machinery in Iowa, so it was an excellent buy and is a very accurate saw.

I've heard good things about OMGA. You can definitely find good used ones out there. Buying new would be absurd. I echo what the others say about a DeWalt or Delta. I got my 18" 7.5HP 3PH Delta for $350. I only put a 15" blade on due to the cost of an 18". Any of the mentioned ideas will be much better than the Craftsman.

Attachment 367977

Attachment 367976

That looks like a CMT 219 15" 100 tooth blade, which is the same one I have on my GE. It is a little thin on the plate thickness but otherwise a nice and very economical blade for these saws.

I just recently bought a 50's Dewalt GA as well. Sadly, I just realized last night as I went to adjust it that it has fairly similar wear to Larry's... There's a little bit of side-to-side play in carriage/motor assembly, and it's coming from the bearings in the arm. There's play for the first half of the stroke, but no play toward teh end of the arm... which can only mean wear to the machined ways. I can't feel any variation or steps in the ways with my fingers, so it's pretty subtle. But I really really wish I had caught this issue before I bought the machine.

I was able to adjust the bearings such that the play is almost imperceptible, but I can still hear it when I hold my ear to the arm and wiggle the motor. I'm hopeful that further adjustment will resolve it, but the only way to remove the slop for the first half of the travel is to make it pretty tight for the last half of the travel. Fingers crossed, because I was really looking forward to having this machine, and I just dropped $500 on it.

So, to the OP, while I'm sure it's true that these saws are really accurate assuming they aren't worn, I strongly recommend doing your due diligence before buying one. Inspect the heck out of the ways, making sure there is no play whatsoever... or if there is play, make sure it's consistent along the full travel of the motor.

Make sure the ways are clean and all of the bearings roll before you check the ways. Sticky bearings and built up crud in the ways can make it seem like there are problems that do not exist, and can hide problems that do exist.

[jack forsberg]

guarding on the old saws is not the greatest so i made my own .

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXwIR9Dn...nglishmachines

I must say I am quite disappointed in regarding the Omga guard as on top as it appears to be similar to the Dewalts old style. They do offer some pneumatic hold downs as options so perhaps that's why .
two other things that I find a little on the light side is that the stand is only stamped metal and the column only a small case base that bolts to it . At least the older deltas had a cast-iron sub base on top of the tin base so that at least there was a foot support further out so saw wouldn't flex the tin . Secondly appears For extended arms no support for the table is given by larger bases and the wooden table simply cantilevers off the front ? They do provide a motor break but any old three phase saw with the VFD can have a break lickety-split . The bearing drill rod and bearing assembly is a time old proven designed and wise of them to adopt . Lastly only the rise and fall of apeers to be upfront and one has to reach behind to make any other adjustments for the saw . It is made in the US though and not too overly priced at five grand

[Andrew J. Coholic]

I have an Omga RM 700, replaced a 18" delta with it, Hands down better saw than the old iron. Has served me well for 20 years and never broken. there are 8 bearings in a cross pattern running on replaceable SS ways. a much better system that the conical bearings on the old Delta. I needed the extended reach as well as needed the accuracy, and it did what I wanted.

Comparing a junkyard CL saw to an OMGA just shows a lack of knowledge.

I also have an RM 700 I bought new in late 2010, and is used daily by the three of us in the shop as both a break out saw and a finish cutting saw for all our solid wood stock (door and drawer components, framing etc.) I bought the saw new when setting up the new shop as I cant be bothered trying to locate anything used in decent shape where I am. Plus I needed to get the shop operational ASAP.

Anyhow, it is a good saw. If one hasn't used one for anything more than a few cuts than how can you reasonably say it's is good or bad? I have just the Maggi 14"/4.5Hp RAS to compare and it was similar. Nice, powerful.

The Omga has a break that stops the 14" blade within a second, rather than winding down for 2 minutes. Very nice feature when you are doing a lot of cutting.

I also have mine set for 9o degree cuts only. With 1/4" steel rod and turnbuckles. Awesome as it stays accurate year round and you cant bump it out of square.

Might not be everyone's first choice but it certainly works for us.