dewalt 7740?

[samson]

Any thoughts on a Dewalt 7740 radial arm saw? I can pick one up for 45 bucks.

Thanks,

S.

[Joe]

No thoughts on the saw itself, but how wrong can you go for $45? Pick it up and give it a try. ;-). If you don't like it give the next guy almost as good a deal as you got.

jc

[samson]

That's what I'm thinking.

S.

[Jerry V]

If it is anything like the 740 model I would go for it. I bought a 740 new back in the early 70's and have used is very often. Still works like a champ.

[tiredofspam]

Hmmm. and you didn't buy it already.

I bought a Crapsman for $40 and sold it for $75. You can't go wrong at that price.

sams> Any thoughts on a Dewalt 7740 radial arm saw? I can

[samson]

I bought it. It doesn't have a blade or a table, and it's pretty dirty all around. But it looks like it will clean up nicely, the parts move, and it runs well, so it should be a nice project to get going.

I've never used a RAS before. What are the major benefits over my CMS and my TS?

Thanks

S.

[J. Clarke]

Should have a longer stroke than the CMS. Does dadoes. Blade can be adjused to a horizontal position. Fence is a throwaway--you can make special ones for different purposes.

Two books you want. "Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes (hard to find right now--Jon is supposed to have a DVD out this year that includes it, and no, you can't have mine ) goes into great detail on setting up a radial arm saw--to get the most use out of it you really need to go through the procedure. "How to Master the Radial Arm Saw" by the late Wallace Kunkel

tells the basics and some advanced techniques for using it and also covers setup, but in less detail than Eakes.

Crosscutting is lovely. Ripping is scary. Don't be afraid to throw away a fence and make a new one.

[John Horner]

Dados in long wide boards such as the sides of a bookcase are an excellent use of the RAS. Now that I have my miter saw mounted on a nice stand I rarely use the RAS except for that one application.