I've only had it a few months and not used it very much in that time. It's my first drill with a brake, or any woodworking tool with a brake for that matter. Driving screws, I can envision a use for the brake so you don't go too deep, but I've never had any problem with the brake-less drill when removing screws. I suppose I'll get used to it in time.
I can't speak for Steve. I speak for -MIKE-.
Yes, it's kinda like that. :-) After running that Makita in a table (and by hand) for so many years, going to a router without a brake was annoying. And I *knew* I wouldn't like it because I've also had many occasions to use my buddy's router table (and he mine) with the Porter Cable 7518, and discovering that it (the Big Bad Boy of table routers!) didn't have a brake was a disappointment to us both.
The other machine that I *really* wish had a brake (and you can probably relate to this -MIKE-) is my recently acquired Eighties vintage Craftsman 10" radial arm saw; it takes *forever* to spin down. My Dad has the bigger 12" model and it *used* to have a brake, but then it quit working and you can really tell the difference.
Yep. I think it would be easy (relatively) to design an after market brake. It could be a couple of rubber(ish) rollers on springs that would clamp the blade like brake shoes. When power is turned on, an electromagnet would pull the rollers off the blade.
I know the regular brakes work using the existing motor and brushes in some way and would probably be a bear to retrofit.
You know, I actually wondered how hard (or unsafe!) it would be to mount some kind of bicycle brake arrangement to the RAS blade...
The mechanics of a bicycle brake is what I had in mind when think of it. It doesn't take that much pressure to stop it and there is surprisingly little torque on a (free) spinning blade. (don't ask how I know) :-)
Heh - I was just imagining something like that trying to get a grip on my old wobble dado blade... 8-)
...or my 10" sanding disk. ;-)
Seems like a bike disc brake is exactly what you need - as long as it has the reach to get over the teeth.
Does anybody run a wobble blade or dado in a RAS anyway? I know I don't but then over here in the UK we're not allowed to have dado blades anyway, even on table saws, because they are too big and scary.
Apparently.
I have one of those. There would be exceptions, certainly. :-)
Sure. Also a moulding head, a sanding disk, and a drill chuck - but not all at the same time. :)
Reminds me of the lathe I learned on - an old Coronet Major - with a table saw mounted to the other side of the main axle - where a bowl turning head would go.
You had to think about your elbows, especially if you ran it with the guard removed and the fence tucked out of the way...
"PCPaul" wrote
I don't have a radial arm saw presently. But have had several over the years. Besides their obvious advantage for cutoff work, I used them extensively for dados cuts. I cut thousands of them. I have had projects where I have cut hundreds of dados.
Now I can cut a nice dado with a guide and a router. The difference? The radial arm saw is so much quicker. So for production, it is great for dados.
Don't have a RAS.
Was given a wobble dado.
Used it once in a table saw, threw it in the trash.
Damn thing scared me to death and cut a lousy dado which may have been my fault.
Lew
I very well could be mistaken, but I thought the European "prohibition" on dado blades was due to a short "spin-down" time requirement that was difficult or impossible for a high-inertia dado blade to meet.
If I'm wrong, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to be corrected, but if my understanding is correct, perhaps some sort of brake could shorten the coasting time enough to bring dado blades within the regulatory requirement.
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Craftsman radial arm saw heads have been recalled. Some heads can be retrofitted with an effective blade shield others can't. Those that can't be fixed can get a $100 REFUND in leiu of repair. You have to send the motor in for disposal.
Look up the recall on either the SEARS.COM web site or do a google search.
Dave Nagel BTDTGTR
Already installed; thanks.
Been done, Dave. Thanks, though.
But, they didn't send a brake with the recall. :-)
I really don't know why, and since I have a cupboardful of routers it hasn't really been an issue - but I can see how for lots of jobs a RAS with a dado could be a very quick solution.
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