weak radial arm saw

[Tommy T]

I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211) for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than

3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old (and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair store?

[dadiOH]

What do you mean, "the cut is warped"? Do you mean it isn't straight (how can that be?)? If so, something isn't straight. Might be the carriage in relation to the wood (most likely), might be a bent blade, might be a dull blade. I reckoned the first as most likely since you tried a different blade. Are you holding the wood tightly against the fence and pulling the carriage? Got the blade on backwards? The teeth should point down in the direction of rotation...teeth at the bottom should point back, away from you. Is the saw kerf burned?

As far as stopping dead in a 2x4, that isn't all that unusual...the saw isn't exactly a powerhouse and if you try to feed too rapidly - or if the wood is warped and moves - stopping is what you get. Especially with hard wood.

[Roger]

If your blade is sharp and the alienment is good, that eliminates almost 60% of the problems. Before sending it out for repair, remove the moter housing from the saw and give it a good cleaning an dlube job. Even though that series of saws had shelf lubed bearings, overtime thay do become gummed up with dust and grime. Also check your bearings for wear and tear along with the moter brushes. A quick check is to grab the spindle and see if you can move it in the bearing housing. The newer Craftsman saws are garbage, and I know this since I worked on repairing them for 5 years. Before I would ship this to a repair center, once I found the causes, I would order the replacement parts and do the repairs myself. The cost of parts plus bench fees and taxs are worth as much has a new saw. Why do that when doing it yourself maybe only around $50.

[Morris Dovey]

| Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, | inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it | to a sears repair store?

Try cutting on the 'pull'. If the board is slightly curved away from the fence at the blade, that should cause the kerf to want to open rather than pinch the blade.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[LRod]

How else do you crosscut on a radial arm saw?

shudder!!!!

[J. Clarke]

How long is the cord and what gage? If you've got it on a long extension cord or there's a long run to the fuse/breaker panel then it may not be getting enough current.

Are you ripping or crosscutting?

If you're ripping then not only is alignment an issue but that saw is a lot happier with a rip blade.

If you're crosscutting are you cutting on the push or the pull? You should be cutting on the pull, and _control_ the movement. Is the blade parallel to the arm? If not then it's cutting sideways even if it's perpendicular to the fence.

If you don't already have it, get a copy of "Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes. It's out of print but you should be able to find a used copy on ebay or Amazon or see if anyone who got the PDF when it was available (for pay from the author) will email you a copy.

Go through the step by step procedure in that book for setting up a Craftsman saw and the problem will likely go away.

[Rod & Betty Jo]

Check the spindle or motor bearings.....Last winter on my 28 yr. old Sears RAS(bought new) I repeatedly went through the alignment process, to no avail until I checked for run-out. I pulled the motor and a basic electric motor repair shop replaced the bearings for around $100. According to the shop the bearing are epoxied in place. I think it likely(best guess) that sometime back when I did a careless sloppy cut and bent a saw tooth I knocked the bearings off center a bit as well.

Incidentally last week I picked up a spare saw (couple of years older) on Craigslist for $20.00......They commonly sell around here for $50-$150. I still think the repair compared to buying used was worthwhile though at least for sentimental reasons.....Rod

[J. Clarke]

However there are those who don't figure it out for themselves and need to be told.

[airbrush]

Tom ... I had the same problem with the low power and I replaced the plugin on the cord and it took care of that. I had noticed that the selenoid looking thing in the motor was not starting up first, I can't remember what it is called but it does something like rev the motor up at startup so that it doesn't surge as much or something. (Which that part might also just not be working) AL

[Dick]

Is the motor and blade square with the arm. The lock may be out of adjustment and not aligning perfectly.

Dick

[David G. Nagel]

You might check with Sears about a product recall on your RA Saw. Mine is on the list. You can get $100 for the motor. The recall is for a guarded blade cover.

Dave N

Tommy T wrote: