Getting rid of a Radial arm saw

So there was a Recall of the Sears 10 inch Radial Arm Saw. Years ago they offered a price that wasn't worth it. But now they offered to give me $100 for the motor and carriage. I took it, sent in the unit at their expense. The check is in the mail toward me now. Those old saws took off many a finger and hand. And it only happens to those who are careful ????? Can't happen to them they say. My son thought that before he lost his finger to the blade. Scared me every time that I got my hand within

10 feet of that spinning blade.

In the mean time, I have had my eye on a small inexpensive table saw in the $150 - $200 range for replacement. Checked out several and planned to get a Skill Brand from Lowes store, near Christmas, when they went on sale. (they always do at that time of the year) Then came Thanksgiving and there came a 4 day sale with 53% off the price, shipped to the house at no shipping cost. So I now have a new table saw for only $69 plus tax, including the stand and carbide 10 inch blade. And can still use all my older special blades. The only way I could do better is if they offered to Pay me to take it.

Reply to
godsword
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I just can't figure out when you pull that saw to make a cut it doesn't walk out fast. Isn't the blade 'Climb Cutting ?

Jerry

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Reply to
Jerry OHIO

Which is why you control the travel with your arm. The use of a low hook blade is good too.

Reply to
dadiOH

Guess what? A table saw is every but as effective at severing digits as a RAS.

Reply to
dadiOH

godsword wrote the following:

Probably the reason is that many of the people who buy a cheap branded saw are not 'real' woodworkers, but are just homeowners not trained in using the saw. I am not a real woodworker, but when I use the saw (also a Sears 10") I treat it like I was defusing a bomb. My wife is advised not to interrupt or talk to me when I am in the process of sawing with it. Hmmm, maybe I should just keep it running all the time. :-)

Reply to
willshak

Same with me, I have a table, radial and trim saw plus a couple of portable saws along with a number of small sabre and foxtail saws. When I am making noise, my wife cannot talk to me loud enough to be heard, but she knows not to interrupt while I am cutting and stays away until the equipment is silenced.

I still have all 10 digits.

Reply to
EXT

"willshak" wrote

It is amazing how so many people feel it is perfectly OK to just wander into a work area with running machines. There is no awareness of the potential dangers. Apparently, for them, there is no such thing as danger.

I was working in a basement workshop many years ago, ripping a small piece off of a large piece of stock. It was a dicey cut, but it was the only way to do it. I had to do several cuts like this. So I positioned myself well to the side, far away from any potential kickbacks. And I was doing pretty well too. No kickbacks, so far.

I was carefully guiding my stock through the saw, making sure I did not get a kickback, when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was some idiot, wandering directly into the path of a potential kickback! If I stopped the saw, it would have ruined some very expensive wood. So I carefully guided the wood through the blade, pulled the big piece of stock away from the blade and just turned rapidly and hit the intruder directly on the chest with the bottom of my fist. I then turned of the saw.

He let out a yell as he was knocked onto his butt. And just before he hit the cement floor, the thin piece of stock kicked back. It flew across the room and hit the door. It made a dent in the door and ricocheted to the floor very near where he was sitting. His eyes got very big. He suddenly realized I stopped him from getting impaled. He started thanking me.

I never knew who this guy was. I yelled at him, brought him upstairs and found the person who brought him over to the house. I threw them both out and make it clear that anybody who would disregard basic safety rules like these guys, would get somebody hurt or killed. And they were banished from my house forever. I got a bit of a reputation after that incident. Nobody bothers me when I run any kind of equipment now. Good riddance.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

I had one of those. The only shop tool I was scared of. Sold it before the recall. I did not pull the blade, always pushed it. Never had a problem however. Much more satisfied with my Jet contractors saw. WW

Reply to
WW

Now I know I don't wan't one of those !!!

Jerry

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Reply to
Jerry OHIO

While I have no quarrel with the ability of a radial arm saw to cause injury, how is it different from say, a miter saw or table saw in that respect? I ask this as an actual question, rather than a rhetorical point. I am no expert. I was a butcher's delivery boy when I was a kid, so I can also vouch for the ease with which a band saw can cut through animal parts.

My Dad had a radial arm saw as his principal shop tool when I was growing up. Great for crosscutting; not as convenient for ripping, but it was what he had and was used for both. I can't imagine an easier way to cut dadoes for shelving.

Are they really more dangerous in some way?

Reply to
Greg Guarino

The difference that I see is this. On a Table saw, you have to push the wood into the blade in order to cut, it has a tendency to throw the wood out and back. While the Radial Arm saw has the tendency to pull the wood into it, thus one has to Hold the saw back so that the blade does not cut too fast and climb over the top of the wood being cut.

This tendency works the same way with our hands. On a table saw there is only a very small amount of blade available for cutting, assuming that the blade is only set high enough to just cut the thickness of what you are cutting. The Radial arm saw has at least one half of the blade available to cut at any, and all thicknesses of wood being cut.

With the table saw, you can only cut as deep into yourself as the height of the blade is set, but on the Radial Arm saw, you can cut up to four inches thick at any time, thus can cut all the way through a hand or wrist instantly. So if you have the table saw set to cut 1/4 inch material, that is the total depth that one can cut into yourself, but on the Radial arm saw, even if there is NO wood being cut you can still totally cut off a hand with one very quick pass. the table saw throws you out, the Radial arm saw pulls you in. And that is the biggest and most dangerous difference.

Now the miter saw or Chop saw is just as dangerous as the Radial arm saw because of how much of the blade is available for cutting and the waw that it cuts, also pulling the wood into the blade instead of throwing the wood out as on a table saw.

Each type of saw has its own plus and minus just as any tool can cause damage to yourself if not used properly.

Reply to
godsword

And there is always that large movable obstruction hanging over the work and the fact that the RAS blade can move back and forth whereas the table saw blade is stationary. I am a little more comfortable using a table saw or a miter saw than a RAS.

Reply to
willshak

Crosscutting on a RAS isn't too bad, but I've had mine climb on me. The real danger is in rips, something that's difficult to do on a miter saw. ;-)

Reply to
krw

With your arm dead center in the line of cut.

Reply to
Father Haskell

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