Radial Arm Saw Wisdom?

[nospambob]

[Steven Flynn]

Hello Group,

I'm in the process of (slowly) outfitting a shop for basic woodworking and furniture making. I recently came across a craftsman 10" radial arm saw. Seems like this thing can do all kinds of stuff, including compound miter cuts. Before coming across this, I had planned to buy a compound miter (chop) saw. If I have a radial arm saw, would I still need the miter? I also intend to buy a table saw. Please offer your thoughts on this...

Thanks!

Steven

[skeezics]

the RAS will do everything a CMS will do but it will take longer for setups. it will do most things a tablesaw will do also. if properly tuned it is at the very least as accurate as a CMS also. i dont use mine much but when i want it its there. i wouldnt part with it.

skeez

[Eric Tonks]

I will second this opinion. I have a 34 year old one that I also don't use much, but there are certain cuts, especially across long boards, that no other tool can match, nor do as accurately, nor as quick. Most other cuts I use a chop saw, table saw or band saw.

[bridger]

if all of your work will be in the shop you don't need both. hauling a RAS around is a pain....

[J. Clarke]

A radial arm saw can do anything a compound miter saw can do, a lot of what a table saw can do, and has its own collection of tricks as well. Main problem is that tuning it is a bit finicky and you have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get misaligned.

Couple of "must have" books,"Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes--out of print but you can order it in ebook form from , and "How to Master the Radial Saw" by the late Wallace Kunkel aka "Mr. Sawdust" .

If you have a radial arm saw in good tune you don't strictly speaking _need_ either a compound miter saw or a table saw--just about anything you might want to do that a circular-blade saw can do you can probably figure out a way to do with the radial arm saw--but after you've worked with it a while and learned its strengths and its limitations you'll find that you probably _want_ both--each does some things really well, other things only with much effort, and for each type there are some things that it just plain can't do.

[Rumpty]

Steven,

The RAS is your best option for the small shop, especially if you need miters etc for moulding in the home.

Suggest reading "How To Master The Radial Saw" by Wally Kunkel

.

Also join us on the radial saw forum:

[Wilson]

The RAS doesn't hold setup as well as a CMS, but it does many things very well, as has been said. I would add that there is no equal for ripping long boards, especially if you build a logn table. Mine is 8', but when I was building my house I had a 16' table. The RAS is not as righd as a TS, so you have to watch the angles, especially the main arm angle, as you work.

Cutting very small pieces is dicey, since you must hold them near the blade. Other than that, I think the RAS is safer than a TS, because you can put one hand firmly on the table, even holding the fence sometimes. and the other on the handle. With no hands moving, it's hard to get cut. Once in a while a rip will kick back, but no worse than a TS. Besides, when ripping you can stand to the front, out of the line of fire.

[jo4hn]

I have owned all three. My first table saw was a Craftsman RAS, about a

1965 model. Made lots of decent furniture with it. I did a LOT of rips with it without problems. In fact, I didn't get a CS until the late 70s and replaced it with a PM66 in the late 90s. I bought a CMS in the early 90s (Craftsman) and ended up using it for carpenter type jobs because I couldn't get it to maintain its setup if I moved it off 90d. Sold it. Still have the RAS (mainly crosscuts, dados, cheek cuts, etc.) and the PM (all else). Works for me. YMMV. mahalo, jo4hn

[J. Clarke]

Something I neglected to mention--after you have it check out and see if yours is one for which an upgraded guard is available. If so, order it--it's free and includes a new table.

[Jerry McCaffrey]

"Eric Tonks" wrote in :

A third on all this. Number one macine should be a good table saw. I started with a RAS and it was a LOT harder. CMS is a pleasure to set for miters, but I trimmed an entire house with a RAS on a stand that I rolled from room to room. Yet if you need to go from 45l to 45r to 90 etc, it's crank up the RAS, unlock and move, then crank down. Real slow compared to CMS. Never felt comfortable ripping on a RAS, but YMMV.

Jerry

[Frank Campbell]

I never move the arm on my radial arm saw, I use one or the other of these jigs for miter cuts, this way I find it stays accurate:

also have a miter saw that I bought to take to job sites, if suppose if I didn't already have the radial arm saw I might have went for the sliding model. I find it handy to have both sometimes, each set for different angles. FrankC

[DonkeyHody]

I have both a Radial Arm Saw (RAS) and a Compound Miter Saw (CMS). I only use the RAS when I need to make a crosscut that is wider than the capacity of the CMS, or sometimes to cut a dado across a long board. The reason is that the RAS is inherently less accurate than the CMS and is much more difficult and time consuming to set up for each cut. My RAS stays locked on 90 degrees in each direction because it's such a pain to set up. If I didn't already own the RAS, I would never buy one INSTEAD of a CMS, even if I got a good deal on it.

DonkeyHody "We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again---and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore." - Mark Twain

[GerryG]

I faced that same decision maybe 5 years ago. I needed only shop work, but needed precision. They had (then) just come out with their current RAS model at Sears, and it had better stability, precision and range than the Delta or earlier Sears RAS's. I now also have a chop saw (for portability), but find that most of my use is split about 70% TS and 28% RAS. I only use the chop saw in the shop if the RAS is setup for something.

When set up properly, you can change the RAS between left/right-45 and center nearly as fast as the chop saw. The RAS maintains somewhat better accuracy, though you'd really have to compare against a sliding chop saw to be fair. I only know of one slider that's as good, as that costs nearly what the RAS does.

While far more versatile, beware that the RAS does require more careful initial alignment, and more knowledge and skill to use it well. Mine has seen molding made, certain types of routing, and fly cutting surfaces.

If you enjoy learning how to use tools, have the time, and don't need the portability, I'd recommend the RAS. Else, save up for a good sliding chop saw.

GerryG

[Rumpty]

The correct link to Mr.. Sawdust

[Doug Winterburn]

With a RAS set up properly with a 1/4" thick aux front table, the cranking up and down isn't required as the left and right motions of the arm are made with the blade behind the fence. In fact, one should never cut into the factory main table and always use a sacrificial table cover of 1/4" ply or tempered hardboard covering the front factory table. The standard kerfs can then be cut and raising/lowering the arm isn't required even for changing from crosscut to rip.

-Doug

[J. Clarke]

Going to 45R may result in hitting the fence if the fence is unusually high or thick--solution is to put the blade in the inrip position while moving the carriage.

[Rumpty]

up and down isn't required as the left and right motions of the arm are made with the blade behind the fence

Good suggestion Doug. IMHO RAS users should scrap the factory table and build the steel reinforced two layer Mr. Sawdust style table, cover it with a 1/4" layer and they will have a FLAT, accurate, stable, work table for life.

[J. Clarke]

Even with the factory table the 1/4" overlay is desirable.

[George E. Cawthon]

It depends on your how your table is set up. Mine, for example has a solid piece and then toward the back are two loose table parts so that the fence can be placed directly against the immoveable part, between the two moveable parts, and at the very back. This allows more depth for ripping and more depth for cross cutting. As a result the moveable board (normally behind the fence) must be the same height as the rest of the table and the cross cut goes into both board. Consequently the saw must be raised to move the arm left and right. I agree with the 1/4" cover, but it has to be on all parts of the table, and cutting into the original table may not be bad as many original tables are so poor that immediate removal and placement in the rain is the best possible solution. I kept my original table only long enough to make a new table of plywood an rip the two moveable parts. Made new fences also, since the original only stuck up about

1/2 inch above the surface.