Radial Arm Saw

[dpb]

On 10/16/2012 2:19 AM, Lew Hodgett wrote: ...

Indeed, but "far less length of time [is] spent" roughing out than is required in the rest of the milling operations. Ergo, it doesn't take nearly as many machines to provide the needed capacity.

It doesn't follow that it is any less important a portion of the work, however, only that that portion can be accomplished in a (relatively) short span.

Indeed, but if were handling 12-, 16-quarter material of 8" and wider and 10-plus feet long as a piece of work, the TS would find as little application as the RAS does now.

See above--for large material that is essentially impossible to move across a TS it is invaluable as well as for the routine crosscut.

Once one gets something down to a manageable size, then the TS can handle it, certainly.

Or, of course, if one is comfortable w/ the RAS, it can do what the TS can w/ very few exceptions and some things that conversely cannot be done at all conveniently w/ a TS. OTOH, most folks now w/ the advent of the large router do many of those that way or large shops have other dedicated machines...

Again, if you don't like it, fine...I'll be retaining mine anyways. :)

--

[Lew Hodgett]

--------------------------------------------- "dpb" wrote:

---------------------------------------------------------- Working with that size stock on a production basis would be done with power feed equipment, not manual feed as provided with a RAS.

For the home hobbyist, there are other ways including but not limited to a band saw.

---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

--------------------------------------- Sentimental value is tough to define.

As an add on piece of equipment for the typical hobbyist or even a small one man shop, a RAS just doesn't cut it IMHO.

Lew

[dpb]

Maybe, maybe not. I've seen both and I have had power feeder on mine on occasion ripping heavy stock...and can still move it form the shaper over there if the need arose.

Well, you weren't talking home hobbyist above, certainly...and how do you propose moving the material through the bandsaw any better than across a TS and what's the odds the home hobbyist has the BS that could handle it, anyway?

Nonsense. It has a definite advantage and does things 10" TS simply can't hack (the blade depth won't even do a standard 4x4, for heaven's sake w/o flipping the stock) not to mention again trying to cross cut long stock on a TS is far more dangerous and aggravating than a RAS ever thought of being.

Again, speak for yourself. IM(NS)HO if one deals w/ sizable stuff on any frequency at all and has the room it's well worth having around. As for the shop, it all depends on the type of work a shop does routinely.

And, for the individual, it's always the possibility as the one-piece does it all tool for a constrained size/budget. As at least one other noted here, that's the way I began lo! those many years ago and did quite a lot of work (some even pretty respectable after a few years :) ) with it long before ever had a TS. The TS was the one that I could do without.

It helps, of course, to have the room for the 16" behemoth but there's still the old DeWalt 10" of Dad's around that could handle quite a lot of the size of thing the normal wooddorker would expect to see very nicely...I could part with it but I'll never part w/ the large one.

--

[Morgans]

If the user intends to rip with it, I agree on getting rid of it. If cross cutting and mitering is the only use, it is worth its weight to keep around.