I'm losing a neighbor....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

and gaining a RAS!

35 years ago my next door neighbor loaned me his RAS to cut gussets to retruss my carport roof in place.

A couple weeks ago they bought a home in AZ and today the movers came to get their furniture. He indicated they'd be back in March to get the home here ready to sell at which time he wanted to sell his mid- 70's Craftsman RAS.

I know the saw. I have used it and I wanted a RAS just to do dados in my shop. I bought it. I'll bring it home in the next couple days.

Now I can do dados just like Norm!:D

[scott vroom]

and gaining a RAS!

35 years ago my next door neighbor loaned me his RAS to cut gussets to retruss my carport roof in place.

A couple weeks ago they bought a home in AZ and today the movers came to get their furniture. He indicated they'd be back in March to get the home here ready to sell at which time he wanted to sell his mid- 70's Craftsman RAS.

I know the saw. I have used it and I wanted a RAS just to do dados in my shop. I bought it. I'll bring it home in the next couple days.

Now I can do dados just like Norm!:D

Ken, nice story and a nice ending!

[Bill Dufour]

I thought you were going to say you had the saw on loan for the last 35 years. My father loaned out his utility trailer, probably before i was born. I am now 59 and I have never seen this trailer. The cement mixer that was loaned with the trailer did come back when I was about 15 years old.
Bil lD.

[John Goodin]

The nostalgia of the RAS. As a kid I learned woodworking on an one. When I was 14 I built my sister a hope chest for her birthday out of borg pine on one. She still has it in her living room 34 years later. That was the first big project without help from my dad. Enjoy your old new tool, Ken.

[Mike Cutler]

Congrats Ken. It's not often a person can buy a tool with "their history".
On a second note, they sound as if they were great neighbors, which is hard to find these days. I wish them well in AZ.

[Rick Potter]

Ken,

You might want to check and see if the recall is still active (google it). It includes a new table, saw guard, etc. and is free. They want the serial number, to make sure the saw hasn't already received the recall goodies.

[Bill Space]

I got one of those upgrades and it makes for a very nice safety improvement.

Delivered to your door at no charge.

Highly recomnended!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

They were retired teachers. I enjoyed teasing the wife that my wife couldn't spell "shop" until we moved next door to she and her husband. Then some years later when visiting with a coworker and wife in Christchurch, NZ, my Kiwi friends wife offered to be a shopping guide for my wife. That night after their day of shopping while I fly fished, when we set down to dinner in a restaurant with Ken and Anne, I asked Anne how the day went. Her reply was "I had never really power shopped before!". I loved teasing our neighbor about how well she had taught Sharon and what a good student Sharon was!

Last night we actually had supper with them. I bought the saw during dinner. They were our age, had a son near the age of our youngest son. The husband took me elk hunting for the first time a few months after we moved here. A couple years later I hooked up with some elk hunters that used pack animals. The next year I managed to get my neighbor and another friend into that camp. We seriously hunted elk for over 15 years until the guy who owned the mules and horses got too old to hunt. The camp broke up because nobody else wanted the responsibility of the pack animals. As neighbors late in life we learned to ski and did so fervently for about 10 years. We consoled each other as we lost our parents. They were extremely close neighbors and friends. We will miss their daily presence in our lives.

[Earl McLain]

Well written Ken. Much as i love my RAS, and as nice as our neighbors have been for the past 10 years, i sure do miss the retired couple that lived next door for the first 15 years we were here. When we started rebuilding our garage after a fire in 1996, Del hopped the back fence every afternoon at 5:15 when i got home. If not for his help and motivation--that garage would probably not be finished yet!! Best wishes to them, and i'm glad they took care of you for so long!!
earl

[Zac wingert]

Good neighbors are worth more than anything money can buy, especially when you get tools from them. Sorry to hear of your loss.

[Van Huskey]

Ken,

You might want to check and see if the recall is still active (google it). It includes a new table, saw guard, etc. and is free. They want the serial number, to make sure the saw hasn't already received the recall goodies.

I think they quit giving out the kits several years ago, the $100 "bounty" may still be active, I don't know. I have a couple of the kits I never opened, I got them when I was between shops and the saws were stored but changed my workflow before I got that shop finished and never set the RASs back up. I would give ken one if he could use it if he didn't live in the middle of nowhere, the box is very heavy and would cost a fortune to ship.


Ken, free tools that are useful are always great. Those saws get a lot of grief and yeah I would rather have a Northfield Unipoint but I made a lot of furniture over the years that had cuts made on a venerable Craftsman RAS and they are nostalgic for me since it was the first woodworking machine I personally bought. It is making me smile since I bought it when I was in law school, I found it used in a newspaper ad... that concept seems so ancient now.

[Bill Space]

Van,

If Ken wanted to upgrade the safety aspects of his new-to-him RAS, the important parts would not be that heavy to ship. I think it is the replacement table that adds most of the weight and bulk.

I upgraded one Craftsman RAS by getting the kit shipped to me by Emerson, I think it was. The other one I have was already upgraded when I bought it off Craig's list cheap and in like new condition. I like them for what they are, and REALLY like the improved/replacement guard the upgrade provides.

Just a thought...

[Van Huskey]

Van,

If Ken wanted to upgrade the safety aspects of his new-to-him RAS, the important parts would not be that heavy to ship. I think it is the replacement table that adds most of the weight and bulk.

I upgraded one Craftsman RAS by getting the kit shipped to me by Emerson, I think it was. The other one I have was already upgraded when I bought it off Craig's list cheap and in like new condition. I like them for what they are, and REALLY like the improved/replacement guard the upgrade provides.

Just a thought...

That is true. As I said I haven't even opened the boxes but now that you mention it I remember that the table was the vast majority of the weight. So Ken if you are interested we need to figure out if the kit fits your saw etc.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Van,

I haven't looked at the saw yet. It's been 35 years since I saw it. I bought it "sight unseen for 35 years" but I know and trust my neighbor/friend. Let me take a look at it, get the model and serial and see if the modifications apply.

Thank you for your generous offer. I will get back to you.

[Van Huskey]

Van,

I haven't looked at the saw yet. It's been 35 years since I saw it. I bought it "sight unseen for 35 years" but I know and trust my neighbor/friend. Let me take a look at it, get the model and serial and see if the modifications apply.

Thank you for your generous offer. I will get back to you.

Just let me know!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well,

It turns out it is one of those 10" saws that were recalled. I couldn't help but notice the saw is in as good a shape as I remembered.

I don't need the table. Van, how do we pull this off? How do you want payment?

[Van Huskey]

Well,

It turns out it is one of those 10" saws that were recalled. I couldn't help but notice the saw is in as good a shape as I remembered.

I don't need the table. Van, how do we pull this off? How do you want payment?

Ken,

I will have to carve out some time next week (probably Wednesday) to go get one of them out of storage. I will need to open it up and separate all the non-table parts and figure out how best to pack them then get you an idea about the shipping costs, so it may be toward the end of the week. I will PM you with the details once I have them. Payment for the shipping won't be an issue, Paypal, check, whatever is easy for you.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Thank you Van!

[Tom M King]

I'm still using a 12" that I bought new in 1974. I expect it's very similar to that 10". If it has a heavy, cast iron arm it is more likely to be just a smaller version. I only use mine, for maybe the past 25 years, to accurately cut 90 degree cuts. The only adjustment I dare touch is the up, and down crank. It mainly gets used to cut tenon shoulders.

The rollers have eccentric center bearings, and you can play with them to get all the slop out, as well as get it to run perfectly true. The reason I don't do any rough cutting is that if it ever locked up in one piece of wood, the time spent to get it to cut perfectly would be thrown out the door.

The one thing I always enjoyed the most with that saw is the location of the switch. You place your hand on the handle, and the switch is easy to operate with your thumb. I never liked turning a RAS on, and then reaching in for the handle.

[Rick Potter]

Ken,

The best thing about the kit is the new blade cover. The dust port is in a much better position (in back) than the front, like mine. Much easier to hook up to a hose, without the hose being in the way.

[Ronald Blue]

Old friends are the best kind. You have history and memories together. I understand the sadness of seeing them go. But maybe you can go visit them when you are in the midst of winter in Idaho. You get used to most of your neighbors being there. Our 90 year old neighbor lady decided it was time for her to move closer to her son and daughter. When your used to seeing someone regularly you miss that. I would plow her driveway some of the time if her grandson didn't get it right away. We just moved ourselves into a new home. Our final home no doubt. Something you realize in later years. :(

[Bill Space]

Here is a picture of the saw guard we are talking about, for those unfamiliar with the improvement. The guard is designed to hold the carriage behind the fence until the guard is raised by squeezing a lever that is in front of the handle (on the blade side of the handle), which raises the guard above the fence enabling carriage travel.

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The lever is released after the front of the guard passes the fence, and the guard rides at this level or on top of the work piece if it is higher than the fence.

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