Why are RAS so unpopular?

[dgadams]

Yeah, Semi-skilled covers the situation just about right.

D.G. Adams

[Puckdropper]

"Lee Michaels" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I'll stand up and say I like Radial Arm Saws. I don't have room for a RAS, nor do I really have need for one (my cuts are usually well within the range of other saws) but I still like them.

I wonder if the compound miter saw marked the downfall of the RAS. Think about the time you needed to cross cut a board (not plywood) bigger than

6 inches or so. That may have been a while ago, right?

Puckdropper

[Rumpty]

B.S.

[David]

It took you long enough to find this thread. :)

Is that all you are going to contribute?

dave

[CW]

[Michael White]

A RAS will make that 90 degree cut without a problem, assuming it's not a worn out piece of junk. There are three areas you need to check out. First, is the arm physically damaged? If damaged, the saw head probably will not roll smoothly or straight. This sort of damage would be difficult to hide.

Second, worn bearings. This will show up as slop in the motor head in -any- dimension. For a two year old saw, this definitely should not be an issue, unless the bearings were never adjusted properly in the first place.

Third, slop in the positive stops. Some designs are better than others, and sometimes the slop can be worked around. Again, for a two year old saw, this -really- should never be a problem. If there's slop in the stops, avoid that saw, and probably all saws of that model.

You may have to build your own table, which is not a major undertaking, as the ones shipped with most saws are garbage.

A RAS, once set up, won't need much more maintenance than any other saw. Maybe just an annual check to make sure everything is still square. I personally prefer them, because I can see where the cut is going better than a table saw. It also makes a half-decent jointer of large pieces of wood, and I've never had a problem ripping on one.

As you can tell from the other responses in this thread, it's more of a preference than anything else. I do nearly all of my saw work on a RAS.

[CW]

[Charlie Self]

How recently? My brother was using one in '68 in Westchester County, through about '79 or so when he went to CA, from whence he came to VA. I don't know if he used one in California, but I know for sure he used on in NY and VA. They were popular on almost all construction sites in and around Westchester and up in Albany back in the mid-60s through '72 when I left to go to Wisconsin. From about '73 to '77 I saw many around Orange County, Sullivan County, etc. In '77 I moved down here, and not long after that the power miter box started to take over, though RAS sightings were still frequent. I don't recall seeing one on a job site in 20 years, though, here or elsewhere.

Part of that may be the fact there are now only two makes out there. In the bad old days, B&D, Craftsman, Delta, Monkey Ward, and others had one or more models, and 20 years ago there were several little 8 or

8-1/2" versions from Ryobi, B&D and, I think, Craftsman. Today, the only ones I see are Craftsman and Delta. Somehow, I have it in my mind that Emerson made a Ridgid for Home Depot for a few years, but that may be wrong.

Of course, there are still the old, old DeWalts, the Original Saw and the big Delta saws, but none of those are portable. IIRC, my buddy's Delta 14" weighs about 700 pounds, which definitely takes it out of the job site category, while another friend has the 12", lighter but not light enough for travel.

[George]

If the board has been ripped to two parallel edges, twice the normal can be done pretty easily by flipping it. Imagine the laser types would be even better at the job, allowing a clamped, rather than fenced second cut in line with the first..

[Charlie Self]

Flipping works with the RAS, too. Consider the 14" Delta: 29" crosscut at 90 degs. Flip and you've got 56". Enough for most of us, but you sure won't cart that tool with you.

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I'm not in the habit necessarily of driving around town looking at what contractor's are using (although that is usually a good indication of what works!) and I'm in an area that has little construction going on (Corrales) but it seems what I have seen, is most are using the SCMS's. I still agree that a RAS has it's place and is still a versatile tool. And you are right, Semi-skilled....to say the least! Cheers, cc

[JJ]

My 1974 house was definitely built using a large RAS (NOT a Craftsman). I visited the jobsite daily and witnessed it personally. The contractor had it mounted on a small trailer.

-jj

[Duane Bozarth]

...

Re: the subject question, I never knew they were _so_ unpopular until reading the wreck...seems to me there's a much higher perception of the users here of the opinion than I observe in the "real" world...

That they're not as popular as a TS or the CMS or chopsaw has more to do w/ cost, size and general purpose of the tool for the type of user who typically is seen here rather than anything else...

imo, ymmv, $0.02, etc., ...

[B a r r y]

Same here...

[JJ]

Actually, "simian-skilled" might be more accurate these days. :)

[Lee Gordon]

You are correct. They did. I recall seeing them in the stores as recently as last year but it appears the Borg no longer stocks a Ridgid RAS. The only two RAS models they sell now are Deltas and those are available only through their catalog or online, not in the stores.

Lee

[Rob Mills]

I worked for Sears during the 50's - 70's. While I didn't keep any exact it records it seemed to me that the radial arm saws showed up in shop for repair 20 or more times to maybe 1 for table saws. The table saws hardly ever came in for repair. It seemed to me as the brush/commuter type motors just didn't hack it compared to the induction type as most repairs seemed to be burned out armatures and field coils which are very expensive repairs.

Think I'll stick with my TS, RM~

[David]

Careful, Rob, Rumpty's gonna go ballastic!

Dave

[ATP*]

I started working part time about 1971. Framers here (LI) tended to work light. Everybody didn't own a truck or an SUV in the 1970's and individual carpenters would usually arrive in a car. Contractors had trucks but there was usually no room for a RAS. In most cases a tool like that would not be left on an insecure jobsite anyway. IIRC Rockwell came out with a chopsaw way back, which my boss had, although it was probably out of reach for many. Carpenters were expected to be able to make pretty precise cuts on the site with a circular saw. Later, in the remodeling business, I bought one of those Ryobi's, thinking it would be a great timesaver, but with the exception of cutting soffits, it was a disappointment. The best carpenters I've seen come to the job with a few basic tools and still run circles around anybody else. Those were usually the old time union trained guys.

[Layne]

My grandfather had a RAS and used it often for crosscuts, dados, lap joints, miters, etc.

If I could fit a Delta or Rockwell ten incher in my "apartment workshop" I would...

Layne