Help aligning RAS 90 deg to table

[Brett Clark]

I got this saw (Craftsman Industrial 12", 2HP, 3 Phase) at an auction a couple of years ago and now I've got some room to use it. Got the power sorted out, replaced the table top, and got it aligned to the fence, but I'm not sure how to align it vertically.

[Brent Smith]

Hi Brett,

Probably one of the best books written on alighning RASs is by Jon Eakes. He takes you step by step on a few different machines including Craftsman. The book is out of print, but you can probably find it at Amazon or Ebay. Lee Valley sells a DVD that has the entire book on it at a very reasonable price. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=60066&cat=1,51618&ap=1

Mods, if the link is not TOS friendly please accept my apologies.

[Terry Beadle]

Mike has a video that shows how to completely set up a radial arm saw. I found it to be very good for my 20+ year old Craftsman.

Also Curtis Herpeldik (sp?) has a video that shows how to do dovetail jointery with a RAS and some simple jigs. Also excellent. In his video he also has some jigs that make the RAS a very good angle cutter.

Regards,

Terry

[Brad Patch]

Brett,

Look closely at the bevel gauge and most likely there will be some hardware, which when loosened will allow the motor to rotate in its carriage.

[Brett Clark]

Thanks all for suggestions (especially Fred for sending along the article). I did find what I was looking for. There was a bolt on the back side and then I had to remove the bevel gauge to access a couple more bolts on the front.

It's adjusted well enough to do some basic cutting now. I'm going to do the full tune up when I have a little more time.

Brett

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

This is actually a DeWalt 7790 private labeled for Sears. There's a lot of good info out there for alignment of DeWalt RAS's if you search for it. I also have a good article at home that would apply to this, email me if you'd like it, and I can send it to you.

[Fred Hargis]

Thanks all for suggestions (especially Fred for sending along the article). I did find what I was looking for. There was a bolt on the back side and then I had to remove the bevel gauge to access a couple more bolts on the front.

It's adjusted well enough to do some basic cutting now. I'm going to do the full tune up when I have a little more time.

Brett
Glad that helped, I've sent that article to quite a few Dewalt owners (even if the saw says Craftsman) and everyone has found it useful so far.