Can someone give me some insite on a RAS from J. D. Wallace & Co (circa
1940"s) out of Chicago, IL. Its still in pretty good condition But I don't know if the motor works because the wiring is shot. Just wondering if its worth the expence to fix and the availiability of parts. Any info is good info---thanks for your time.
Overall, you might get lucky, then again it's a long shot...but I'm guessing you knew that... :)
That image is labelled as a 1945 vintage machine which is WWII era... :)
I couldn't find anything even mentioned for them past early 50's (and absolutely nothing of any real use) so didn't count that as being significant for OP's purposes...
I don't think it'll help him any if he decides to bite on the RAS, iow... :)
Actually as a brand name they lasted a wee bit longer than that. Somewhere along the line they were bought or the machine line was bought by Indiana Machinery & Foundry Supply. In fact the saw below looks an awful lot like the Wallace.
UA100
------------------------------------------------------------- The Wood Manufacturing Technology program at Cerritos College here in SoCal has an old radial arm saw that they keep around just to show how dangerous the beast can be.
The only thing they use it for is to cross cut rough stock to rough length before proceding with finishing blanks to size.
IMHO, I'd cut it up and throw it in the dump, before I hurt myself.
Lew
First thing you want to do is google radial arm saw recall. Type in your serial number. If it's a match, you'll be sent a new blade guard and table that will make the thing much more safe to operate. If your serial number doesn't match, put it in the dumpster while you still have a hand. :-)
If the serial number does not match for them to send you the New Table and blade guard, they will offer to buy the beast, or at least the motor and carriage. They will send you the box to put it in, pay to come back to them and then when they confirm the serial number, they will pay you $100. I gave them my old one,a Craftsman, Got the $100 and bought a Table Saw. More people have lost fingers and hands with any of those old radial arm saws.
But if you really want to keep it, I have a book like manual that tells how to set it up, and how to do all sort of cuts and projects with it. If you would like a copy, email me at snipped-for-privacy@barr-family.com asking for the copy, and I will scan a copy for you.
Jack
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The RAS seems to bring out the critics here but imo they've mostly bought into fear-mongering instead of real issues...
Yes, a RAS can cause an injury if you put yourself in the path of the blade--otoh, if you put yourself in the path of the blade or a potential missile from a TS, surprise--the same thing can happen.
A RAS is particularly good for cutoff work of long material that is difficult or impossible on a TS; set up in a bench correctly they can also rip and miter and at compound angles sometimes more easily than a TS as well. Since the blade moves instead of the work except for ripping, it makes handling larger work less effort. For crosscuts there is the limitation of the length of arm that can be a disadvantage.
The only real problem is that one does need to learn to use one w/ some practice--it is possible to let the head get ahead of itself if one doesn't control the feed rate well as the proper crosscut is to start w/ the blade behind the fence and then move towards you to make the cut. As another noted, proper blade design helps here.
As for whether to keep this particular saw or not--depends. :) Some of the small Craftsman particularly vintage were built pretty well and are adequate machines; unfortunately there were quite a number that also used light round tubing that owing to the lack of heft are not very rigid and are, for that reason, nearly impossible to set up and keep in alignment and aren't really worth fooling with.
I'm spoiled as have an old Rockwell 16" beast built into a long bench--it doesn't get the most use but I'd surely not even consider parting with it...
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The first stationary power tool I had was a Craftsman RAS. Bought it about
20 years ago, still have and use it.I've never had it grab a piece of wood and shoot it. Not if it is used properly; i.e., wood against the fence, saw pulled forward (not pushed back as my dumbass former father in law was wont to do). It *can* try to climb up on the wood; that is mitigated by using a negative rake saw tooth (and by keeping your arm stiff).
They are good for crosscutting. They are good for that because you can see exactly where they are going to cut. Any saw blade I have ever had has one tooth that sticks out slightly more at the side than the other teeth (two sides = two teeth). I find and mark those teeth and line it up with where I want to cut.
If you want to make a half lap in a long piece of wood, it is easy on the RAS, PITA on a table saw. In fact, *any* crosscuting of long pieces is easier on a RAS. How easy is it to whack off a foot from an 8' x 2" x 10" piece of white oak is it on a TS? NP with a RAS.
You can crosscut wider than with a miter saw. If the RAS is set up well, you can crosscut double the arm travel by making one cut halfway across, flipping the board over and then cutting the other half. _________________
You can rip with them too but that is better done on a table saw...the table saw is meant for ripping. If you rip with it, there are two possible ways: One is called "in" ripping, the other "out" ripping. That refers to the direction in which the head is turned and in which the wood is pushed. Note that in both, the wood is fed into the blade *opposite* to that when crosscutting. Attention needs to be paid to setting the anti-kickback pawls properly too. People seem to tremble in fear when someone mentions ripping with a RAS; I suspect that may be because they didn't have it set up properly for ripping. ______________
The biggest nuisance with a RAS is getting it set up properly. There are numerous things that need to be done; all are explained in the manual so if you don't have one, get it. Once set up it works fine but if you turn, tilt or do anything else to the head things can get out of whack easier than with a TS.
IMO and IME, they are handy. I'd keep it.
One significant plus for a RAS is its accuracy, which really comes into play with cabinetry and the like.
On 10/12/2012 11:42 AM, HeyBub wrote: ...
_ONLY_ if it is solid enough to be so...unfortunately, many of the low-priced Craftsman and the ilk aren't...whether OP's is or not is indeterminate w/o knowledge of specifics of model.
Yep, a lot of the cheaper saws will cut accurately, if you do lots of setup and babysitting. And if you get it zeroed in, it can lose its setting very quickly.
Another factor I if it is accurate to begin with. Case in point, I borrowed the use of a RAS at a friend's house. It was dead on, total accurate 90 degrees. I cut some dadoes. I tried to test fit some pieces and found out that the dadoes were not consistently the same depth from front to back. I figured out that the dado actually curved up the further it got into the board. I pointed it out to my friend.
He apparently cut some aluminum on the saw and got a couple pieces in there that were much harder than the other stock. This bent the arm up. It did cutoffs just fine. The dadoes were what was screwed up.
Any time you use a RAS, always check for accuracy. The difference in the quality between various RAS becomes quite apparent very quickly.
Having said that, I have used a number of RAS that were just fine and did a consistently, accurate job.
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The problem w/ a lot of the inexpensive ones is that the arm and particularly the yoke are simply not stout enough to prevent movement during the cut.
I'd guess it was more likely the arm out of alignment w/ the table surface rather than actually physically bowed on the previous occasion. Although the arm connection and yoke is often a weak point, generally the arm itself is pretty solid and would take quite a lot to actually bend. OTOH, there were at least some that had basically just a round tube that I've not actually used one of--one of those might possibly happen I suppose.
The lighter saws also tend to come w/ nothing more substantial than a sheet of 3/4" particle board as a table. Speaking of which, for OP--after you've got the thing set up, if the original owner didn't, add a sacrificial surface to the main table--saves redoing the whole thing nearly as frequently.
The beast here has 2" beech as the actual table and I keep a 1/2" ply on it as the working surface that can quickly be replaced for precision work. For ordinary cutoff work that is its normal function it doesn't matter much so it gets pretty munged up w/ time...
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The sacrificial table in front of the fence also allows setting miter cuts without raising the blade as the blade is above the table when behind the fence. It can also allow not raising the blade for ripcuts if the inrip or outrip is set up without the fence and the saw head pulled all the way out with the blade just cutting a trough in the sacrificial top. Once this has been done, you just need to temorarily remove the fence while pulling the head to the rip position.
Hi Steve, Radial arm saws are great for general utility work, especially with long stock that won't require extreme accuracy. I used to work for a local county government's recreation and parks service. We had one that was set into a long "Home made" table, with various jig stops built into the table. What we used it for primarily was cutting large quantities of boards for picnic table parts. The thing was a workhorse, which is what is was bought for. The level of accuracy was limited by the vary nature of the design, (there is always a degree of flex in the head, and variation in angle accuracy) so don't expect to do finish cabinetry with it. It is good for getting your long stock down to more reasonable lengths, or finish length for rough projects. I think the main advantage of the radial saw is that the board gets placed, and the saw does the moving. To realize this advantage, imagine moving a LOT of 4"x4"x16' boards on a standard table saw. Hardly something I would want to attempt. But I could trim them to a more reasonable length, and then do my finish cuts on the table saw. For the normal use though, the part is probably going to be of a nature that does not require extreme accuracy or finish. And the radial saw will allow some easy shaping of the ends of boards for sign posts etc.. It is also good for making a host of other "rough" projects a lot easier. Think in terms of sign posts, picnic tables, playground equipment, landscape boxes, planters or any other project that does not require extreme accuracy or cut finish. Not that you can't do a fairly decent job on these projects with one of these saws. In the right hands, they can turn out some very nice work. For most of the finer work, like interior trim moldings and such, a compound slide miter is vastly superior, and normally much more mobile. Plus the level of accuracy in terms of angle accuracy and repeatability is vastly superior. Once again, it is a matter of using the right tool for the right job. For the work we did in park maintenance, I wouldn't be without a radial arm saw. It is simply the best for the jobs we had to perform. They are powerful reliable work horses. And I can assure you that I have cut hundreds of parts a day for years on end, using wet ground contact lumber using one of them. They can take the work that is borderline wood butcher abuse! For a cabinet maker, probably not so much, and for fine furniture, don't even waste your time trying. I don't know what you are looking for as far as direction on using the saw, as I don't know your application. Get a copy of the manufacturers directions, read them, and respect the safety precautions. The first time that blade digs in and tries to ride up on that board, stuff goes bad real fast! Enough said! Know the tool you are using before you turn it on. These things are NOT toys! They have more power than you are likely going to control if you are not using it properly. I'm not even going to attempt to remember all the details about setup and use. It's been 20+ years since I've used one. I do know that our supervisor required every operator to sit down in front of him while you read THE ENTIRE BOOK, cover to cover, before you were allowed to touch the thing. And you didn't get that opportunity until he was reasonably sure that you were mature and reliable on the job. They are that dangerous when used improperly. He was so serious that it was common knowledge that his policy was automatic 5 day suspension if you touched it without compliance to initial permission, or any/all safety procedures. Once you know what you are doing, that thing will perform an amazing amount of work for you. Just don't ever get too hurried, lazy or tired while using it. It bites real hard, fast and serious!
Be sure to have a look at the Dewalt radial arm saw forum over here
---------------------------------------------------- For the record, it's a 12" unit that has a many years on it.
The fact they only have one unit and it is restricted to cross cutting rough stock to rough length as the first step to size rough cut stock to size should tell you something.
BTW, they have at least 10, 10" table saws including Unisaw, General and PM 66.
All of these saws were swapped out for Saw Stop units 2 years ago.
As you might expect, safety is of prime concern.
The college has deep pockets and wants to keep them full of cash, not lawsuits.
IMHO, the RAS is a beast that has outlived it's usefulness.
Lew
---------------------------------------------------- For the record, it's a 12" unit that has a many years on it.
The fact they only have one unit and it is restricted to cross cutting rough stock to rough length as the first step to size rough cut stock to size should tell you something.
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A) I really don't believe the reason given above has much at all to do w/ it still being there.
B) It tells me they understand where it excels and have far less length of time spent in starting new projects from rough, large stock than in the later fabrication stages. That somehow doesn't seem hard to imagine.
It also indicates they don't do a lot of really large, architectural-style or framing work. Somehow I'm not surprised by that, either.
C) You're entitled to your opinion of course and for your purposes it may be right. I've an almost ancient 16" and I'll never part with it. It again isn't the most used tool but it's invaluable when needed and nothing else takes its place.
---------------------------------------------------- "dpb" wrote:
----------------------------------------- OK.
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-------------------------------------------- ALL projects start with the development of a rough stock list.
The ONLY function of the RAS is to cross cut rough stock to length.
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---------------------------------------- I guess "Large" is open to some interpretation.
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--------------------------------------- In a modern facility such as the one WMT provides, that RAS stands out as one of the "Last of the Mohicans".
It provides no function that can't be accomplished by other means.
Lew
All give you about 50% on that answer. I've been using one since the late 70's. I'll agree with use as far as ripping boards, I did it once and that was time to buy a tablesaw. You can mount a chuck on it and use it for horizontal drilling or put a router bit in and use it on soft wood as a pin router. Only 3450 RPM. Great for Dado's and many other cuts. Also there are molding heads available. Since I got the unisaw with the sliding table uses have diminished but as long as I've got the floor space every now and then it's handy,
Mike M
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