"Raised a panel" on my RAS tonight, with pics

[Aaron Berk]

So I'm working on a "occasional" table. It's 1-1/4 inch thick top with bread board ends. I've been having a bear of a time deciding what profile to put on the table top.

Well it hit me tonight, 45 degree champher on the top edge, and "large bevel" on the bottom of the bread board ends. Thus the need to RAISE A PANEL

So whats the best tool for this? I don't have a shaper, I don't have large wing cutters for my router, NO WAY IN HE:mad:L I'm doing this on the table saw, and hand planing is not in my time schedule.

So naturally my DeWalt Radial Arm Saw is the logical choice :cool:

Such a superb job!
The RAS performed flawlessly, I honestly felt 100% safe doing it this way. If I end up doing allot of this type of cut I'll invest some time/money into a guard for the blade, but otherwise I'm happy with how this turned out.

I was a fool to have not gotten a "REAL" RAS sooner:D

[Peter Quinn]

I love it! I too have a large old DeWalt RAS, though I have never used it for raised panels. My grandfather used his as a shaper among other things. Nice use of the RAS, thought the safety police will want to see some for of guard at some point, even if its a panel hood of some kind. I've always wanted to set the RAS up as a horizontal boring machine but can't find a drill chick for a 1" DeWalt arbor. Maybe some day?

[Neil Brooks]

LOVE it !

Great job, and great inspiration. I fired up my "new" 1956 MBF, last night, and ... it purrs !

I'll be remembering this when I finally get a blade on 'er :)

[Stephen Cherry]

Nice- now put a guard on the blade.

[Aaron Berk]

Nice- now put a guard on the blade.

LOL, for sure!

I do use a guard for cross cuts, but I don't yet have one for this type of cut.

I think the guards for the molding cutters are what I need, but would they work for a 12" or 14" blade?

[Aaron Berk]

LOVE it !

Great job, and great inspiration. I fired up my "new" 1956 MBF, last night, and ... it purrs !

I'll be remembering this when I finally get a blade on 'er :)

An MBF huh? I've seen those polished up and looking like PRICELESS ART. A very good looking machine.

[Stephen Cherry]

LOL, for sure!

I do use a guard for cross cuts, but I don't yet have one for this type of cut.

I think the guards for the molding cutters are what I need, but would they work for a 12" or 14" blade?


I think that you would want to just make one up out of plywood. I'm not a real guard purist, I think that it is generally OK to do some things you wouldn't want to talk about a few times. The problem is when boredom sets in. I've gotten a lot more guard conscious though with my shapers, which are more likely to turn something to goo than to just cut it off. Just trying to help- I think that you could cover the blade in 30 minutes or less.

[Aaron Berk]

Boredom?

Sorry, but after about 10yrs of this, I have yet to get bored while cutting wood:cool:

My boredom sets in when I'm brushing a finish on 900 liner feet worth of display boxes:eek: (that was a horrible 2 days)

I am excited about using my RAS to the FULLEST, so I'll put some thought into some guards for it. Any one have pictures of tastefully done guards?

[Bruce Wrenn]

My 1950's Sears RAS's owner's manual shows doing just this. I even have the guard to fit it, along with several molding heads.

[Aaron Berk]

Yeah, I've got Mr. SawDust's book on the RAS.
He shows this cut along with 100 other cuts, well 8 to be exact. But he shows those 8 cuts very well!

[Neil Brooks]

The more I look around, the more OLD books on RAS's I find, for sale, online.

Wolfe Machinery has one on their eBay site. Amazon has a few. The regular used book sites have a few different ones, too.

Since they're old, they're pretty cheap. I'm going to acquire a little RAS library and learn the way I learn best: by saturating my brain with information, and hoping 5% of it sticks ;)

[Aaron Berk]

There is truth in that Neil.

When I moved to my current residence, out little library hand only 2-6 books in their woodworking section. By the time I got done with 6 months worth of internet library loan requesting, our small town library had a WEALTH of knowledge in the woodworking section.

I love woodworking books, I think it's a shared trait among woodworkers --> The Quest For Knowledge

By the way, let me know of any must reads that you find. Seriously

[Van Huskey]

I like it. The safety police aren't yelling cause they had a stroke! :)

[Ron Jones near Indy]

My 1950's Sears RAS's owner's manual shows doing just this. I even have the guard to fit it, along with several molding heads.

A '50's Sears RAS in good condition is a fine machine. Wish I could find one. I don't have room for it; something might have to go.

[Jay Jeffery]

When I had an 8 1/2" RAS and needed to make a cut with a 10" blade, I used it without the guard. It did not feel at all safe and I hated how sawdust few everywhere.

Don't some RAS have adapters to accept router bits? You could really set them up to put nice raised panel profiles on boards.

[Erik Christensen]

I don't see any safety issues in that use at all. With the large piece you are beveling you can keep your hands several feet away from the blade for the entire operation. As long as you have good eye protection - that blade with zero guard is going to fling stuff 360 degrees - where is the risk?

[david brum]

Congrats on getting more utility out of your fine RAS, Aaron. If you look in the Mr Sawdust book, he describes how to do this cut. It's basically the same setup as what you've got, but the fence is higher on either side of the blade. He makes the fence by ripping some stock at the appx angle and height to match the underside of the blade. Then he glues the cutoffs back on either side of the blade. Pretty neat. As I recall, he doesn't use a guard.

It's great to see these venerable old RASs coming back into use. I have an MBF also. It works so smoothly and precisely that I get a smile every time I use it.

[Lee Schierer]

So whats the best tool for this? I don't have a shaper, I don't have large wing cutters for my router, NO WAY IN HE:mad:L I'm doing this on the table saw, and hand planing is not in my time schedule.

You can safely do the same operation on a table saw with less blade exposed, I've done it many times. Here's a link on how I do it. Raising panels on a TS (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/raisedpanel.html) Note that the router step can easily be skipped to achive the look you have.

[John Gustafson]

I did one like that several years ago when all I had was a Wards RAS. Pucker factor as I remember was significant. I think I remember locking myself in the garage with it to make sure I wasn't distracted while I was doing it. It's one of those setups that's so visibly scary that you can't get casual doing the operation.

[Aaron Berk]

No problem Lee, on a small panel.

But you see my large table top I was "raising"? It wouldn't work balanced on the saw table.



Edit: Kudos to you for an excellent write up and picture tutorial.
Allot of neat stuff on your site as well.

[Peter Quinn]

I like it. The safety police aren't yelling cause they had a stroke! :)

ROFLOL. I think I need to change my pants. Imagine if he were re-sawing like that Brazilian luthier out there on U tube? Now that would get your attention.

Aaron, I like to see a guard to protect against the worst case scenario, like something gets out of alignment, the piece rides up and starts to kick back, you try to hold onto it and your hands follow the piece into the blade. Or at least some feather boards or hold downs with kick back protection. Under normal circumstances on a piece that large you are pretty far from the blade. Its when things get abnormal that those pesky hoods and guards start to make sense. And giving the sawdust a place to go doesn't suck either. I guess there is less risk than a shaper hand feed in reality as the amount of material being taken is far less and a lot less carbide is in the stock. I've actually done similar cuts, but larger, on a counter top at work with three guys on a TS, and I'd be in no big hurry to recommend that technique if you were alone in the shop. Picture a right tilt saw, fence to the left of the blade, one guy pushing, one guy pulling, and a third guy standing on the top to the right of the blade stabilizing the top against a tall fence. Anytime one guy is standing ON the TS top to guide the wood the concept of safety has been greatly diminished. Imagine trying to explain to an insurance adjuster how your employee lost a toe using a table saw! Come to think of it putting a power feed on that set up would be a pretty safe and quick way to process a batch of panels should the need arise.

[Aaron Berk]

If I owned a power feeder, I'd use it. I can see a power feed being a great addition to my tool arsenal. I'm always on the look out for new goodies to stuff my shop with. I've just never found one for a deal good enough for me.

Standing on the TS? :eek: now that's one I'd avoid, well...... actually..... I'd probably do it if the circumstances called for it. :o

With this particular cut, my table top weighs about 30lbs, and my RAS table is large enough to support the whole thing. My hands and person were pretty far away from the blade. So I felt comphy enough. :o

But to be truthful, I knew I was outside allot of folks comfort zone. And I'm not making a habit of guard free cutting.

So to steal a phrase from my motorcycle days......
"There are old riders, and there are bold riders,..... But there are no old bold riders"

Guess it could apply to woodworking as well.

[Van Huskey]

If I owned a power feeder, I'd use it. I can see a power feed being a great addition to my tool arsenal. I'm always on the look out for new goodies to stuff my shop with. I've just never found one for a deal good enough for me.

Standing on the TS? :eek: now that's one I'd avoid, well...... actually..... I'd probably do it if the circumstances called for it. :o

With this particular cut, my table top weighs about 30lbs, and my RAS table is large enough to support the whole thing. My hands and person were pretty far away from the blade. So I felt comphy enough. :o

But to be truthful, I knew I was outside allot of folks comfort zone. And I'm not making a habit of guard free cutting.

So to steal a phrase from my motorcycle days......
"There are old riders, and there are bold riders,..... But there are no old bold riders"

Guess it could apply to woodworking as well.


What I think is funny is that scares me more having seen someone else do it. Had I been in the shop and needed to do that to get a task accomplished I may have taken a few deep breathes before the first cut but would have done it.

I dunno who stole it from who but I always heard it as:

There are old climbers and bold climbers, but there are no old bold climbers. Back in my bold days I climbed mountains that 25%-50% of those that made the summit also met their maker, and I buried several close friends. Funny how that risk was acceptable and a non-guarded RAS blade seems scary to me now...

[Aaron Berk]

Well said Van, I think you summarized the entire situation right there.

[Jerry Lawrence]

RAS would have been very useful when I made the 20"x30" raised panels for my daughter's new bedroom door. Standing them up and balancing them through the TS just felt unsafe (gee, wonder why)! Your way was probably much safer...with or without the guards.