Identifying a GOOD, used radial arm saw

[Paul Grothouse]

The old dewalts are the very best you can buy. Make sure you look at unit carefully before buying. Run your hand down the inside of the rail where the bearings run. It should be smooth, no bumps or uneveness. This is expensive and requires machining to repair, $$$$$$. Wiggle the head, it should be firm, if there is play something needs fixing. Many times a simple adjustment of the idler bearing will fix it, be careful not to overtighten the bearings (This is common, it pays to bring tools when you go to look). If the bearings are overtightened the head will not roll smoothly. The bearings can be replaced, they are about $100/ea and there are 4 of them, so it is easier buy a saw that doesn't need bearings.

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT buy one of the ones with the CONCAVE bearings, they are no longer available and you will never be able to resell it.

If you look around they can be had pretty cheap, and there are a lot of them. I would recommend a 3hp single phase model if you have 3 phase you can't beat the 5hp 16" models, I swear by them and have 5 of them. Expect to pay $500 or less for the smaller unit, and $700-1200 for the larger industrial units.

[Van Huskey]

Paul, not trying to argue at all, but do you think they are better than an Original Saw 22" Super Duty or the OMGA 1100/7 like below?

[david brum]

I doubt you'd be disappointed with a vintage DeWalt, Delta or newer OMGA. Chances are pretty good that you'd have to do some restoration work on an older saw. Untold numbers were manufactured in the '40s through '60s, and they are available for a song. You might have to replace some bearings and clean up some congealed grease, but no big deal.

The important considerations IMO are horsepower and width of crosscut. The size and weight of a good RAS increases exponentially when it needs to make a longer/deeper cut. For instance, a RAS that makes a 12" crosscut weighs around 100lbs. An RAS that makes a 24" crosscut is something like 500lbs. Likewise, lots of the earlier saws for home shops had somewhat undersized motors, around .75 actual HP and can bog down in a heavy cut. The bigger saws often have 3+ HP and can cut through anything.

Another consideration is whether you want your table saw blades (except the rip blades) to fit your RAS. Then you're looking at saws which have a 5/8" spindle, which narrows the field somewhat.

[John Coloccia]

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT buy one of the ones with the CONCAVE bearings, they are no longer available and you will never be able to resell it.

What do you mean by concave bearings? Is there a simple way of checking for this without taking the saw apart? I'm assuming that a concave bearing is like a screen door bearing.