Mitre saw vs Radial arm

[tom van sickle]

Hi, I am thinking about replacing my RAS with a sliding compound mitre saw. Any suggestions, thoughts or ideas? Thank you and Merry Christmas.

[David Eisenhauer]

Why? What is your goal when doing the change out?

[eugene thomas]

Well I Have both.... For DADOS IN Certain and rough cut I use ras. For final cuts use slider... but some times ya just have to decide what works for you.....

[tom van sickle]

Mostly to gain some space in my shop.

[Wade Lippman]

Mostly to gain some space in my shop.

Does it adjust accurately? If so, I would hold onto it. They are much more useful than miter saws. If not, and you don't have room for both then go miter saw.

[Kent Adams]

Depends on your budget. Festool's Kapex is my favorite but Makita, Dewalt and Bosch make some good ones too. What kind of RAS do you have?

[Art Mann]

I had a Craftsman RAS for 20 years. It was somewhat useful but I can't count the number of times I had to recalibrate 90 degrees. It was so inaccurate that I abnndoned using it for furniture making. I replaced it with the Bosch GCM12SD miter saw and it is a far superior machine. If I had one of the old heavy iron saws in good condition, I would probably still be using it.

[jack duren]

Hi, I am thinking about replacing my RAS with a sliding compound mitre saw. Any suggestions, thoughts or ideas? Thank you and Merry Christmas.

If your questioning whether to keep it or not you probably won't miss it anyway. Get the sliding miter. It would be worth mentioning which RAS as it would help users to determine whether or not to keep it as it may be a solid tool for future projects.

You can do a search and review answers better than waiting on replies as this topic has been asked many a times

[John Grider]

I gave my Delta RAS away after I got my Bosch sliding miter saw. I could not keep the RAS accurate. I don't miss it.

[Jerry Miner]

I had a Craftsman RAS for many years. Got a SCMS. Had both for a while, but the RAS took up a lot of space, and I almost never used it except for rough cuts, like cutting scrap into firewood lengths. Sold it years ago. Have never missed it.

[Tom M King]

I use both, but neither are good from breaking down rough stuff, or at least the RAS is not if you also expect it to do good work. I'm still using a 12" Craftsman RAS I bought new in 1974. I only do accurate crosscuts with it, like tenon shoulders or cutting upper cabinet parts to length with it. It has eccentric bushings over the bearings on the rollers, and you can get all of the slop out by rotating those, as well as make it track perfectly straight. That is, until you let it lock up in a board the first time. I learned this lesson long ago though, and I'm pretty sure that the last time I had to fiddle with the adjustment was in 1991. There is too much risk of the blade locking up in rough stuff for me to use either the RAS or the slider for cutting it to length. I normally use anything from one of the circular saws, to an electric chain saw I run without oil on the chain for beams.

[jack duren]

I gave my Delta RAS away after I got my Bosch sliding miter saw. I could not keep the RAS accurate. I don't miss it.

I assume it was a 10" Delta Radial Arm Saw?

[Jim Dwight]

I use a Hitachi 12 inch non-slider and an old Ryobi RAS. I put a negative hook blade on the RAS and it really helped it not pull itself into the work. I have both saws on the same bench at the same elevation and use the same fence for both. I use the CMS for cuts within its 8 inch capacity and the RAS for wider crosscuts. I also like the RAS for making tenons on the end of large heavy boards like for headboards and footboards. Occasionally I take the CMS off the bench and use it somewhere else. It is really nice for molding and I also cut up a lot of flooring with it recently. I have a 10 inch CMS but it is a single bevel and it's blade got dull on the flooring so I just switched CMSs rather than switch blades.

I've looked at sliders but they require a LOT of space behind the fence. I prefer my current setup.

[Ken Krawford]

I have an older Dewalt 7770 and it is a pain to move from 90 degree to angled cut and back again. Because of the depth of cut, it remains my go to saw for cross cuts. I bought a 12" Hitachi primarily for angle cuts and it works like a charm. Like you, I'm running out of floor space.

[Roy Turbett]

Don't assume that a SCMS will take up less space than a RAS. My older Bosch 10" SCMS requires a deeper bench than my DeWalt GWI and I can swing the GWI to the back of the bench when I need more space. The new Bosch Glide doesn't have a deep a profile and may take up less space. A 12"dual bevel CMS is a good compromise because it doesn't require as much depth on the bench as a SCMS, can cut thicker stock than a RAS, and is easy to change both simple and compound angles.

The binding problem described above in a RAS is generally a result of the blade being moved too fast through the stock. Positive hook blades compound the problem by pulling on their own which is why negative hook or minimally positive hook blades are recommended for a RAS. The accuracy problem is largely dependent on the saw. The older DeWalts from the 50's and 60's have a far superior design to the Craftsman saws from the 70's to the present and are highly accurate. The rate of speed with which angles can be changed can also be improved by simply putting a slightly thicker sacrificial top on the front table. This lets you change angles without having to raise and lower the blade. And RAS are great for dado cuts which is something you can't do with a miter saw. If portability isn't an issue, I'd stick with the RAS.

[Mike Cozad]

I use my RAS on nearly every project and wouldnt want to part with it. The darn thing is wearing out though so I need to take the time and overhaul it. But I use my CMS just as much for the rough stuff. I only have a Bosch 12" non-slider. I am seriously considering an upgrade to the glider. I wouldn't want to be without either...

[John Grider]

Yes it was.