used parts

[Steve Turner]

All right Mike, confound it! Immediately after this discussion (on Saturday afternoon) I went directly to CraigsList and found a good one-owner mid-eighties 10" Craftsman RAS for $100, picked it up on Sunday morning, and now I've got saw parts scattered all around the shop! I have my recall parts on order (no confirmation yet though; how long did that take?) and I figure I'd best not reassemble anything until that stuff arrives since I don't want to install anything that's just going to get replaced. I'm also going to rewire it for 220 since I have several available circuits and the extra power should make it purr real nice.

I've been wanting to replace my POS Delta compound miter saw for a LONG time now, but every time I go look at new sliding miter saws the prices just piss me off. In spite of what people tend to say about them I think radial arm saws are incredibly useful; my Dad has a 12" Craftsman that he bought in the early seventies, and I've logged many hours on that machine, so I've just been looking for an excuse to get one of those instead of a compound miter.

Now I'm having to explain to my wife why this "thing" has caused me to stop work on all her little pet projects, so if you'll just kindly email me your phone number I'll let her know who's to blame. :-)

[-MIKE-]

Well, congratulations! I just wonder why you paid so much. :-p

My, big, heavy boxes arrived in about three days. I was surprised. Somewhere I found and downloaded a more detailed manual... maybe the service manual. If I have it, I'll email it.

[Steve Turner]

Meh - fifty bucks, a hundred bucks; what's the difference? :-)

Wow, awesome. Did you receive any kind of confirmation first, either by email or status update on their web page? The website shows my initial order, but it hasn't been updated.

Do you mean one of these?

[-MIKE-]

No, just a pissed off UPS driving, walking away grumbling and rubbing his shoulder. :-)

Similar, but with more detailed adjustment procedures.

[MikeWhy]

I don't get it. It looks like just a new guard. What's the excitement?

[-MIKE-]

Have you seen the old "guards" on these things? They scream "lost digits!" :-) That's what always kept me from picking up a used one.... as the new ones are ridiculously expensive.

Mine came with a completely new guard/handle assembly, and table top w/ support brackets, and some other little bells and whistles I forgot about. The guard is really nice and works correctly for ripping, too.

I certainly could've started using the saw, right then and there, but I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like other people's dirt. :-) After cleaning/lubing it all up and doing all the suggested calibrations, it's better than most new RAS's I've seen. It's sturdy, accurate, smooth, "safe," and didn't cost $500.

Safe is is quotation marks because anytime a saw travels in the same direction as the blade rotation, there's added caution one must take when using it.