Show me your RAS outfeed tables

[Jeff Horton]

I will have the RAS back together in a couple of weeks. That means the shop rearrangement will have to start. Also means scraping out/recycling my existing outfeed tables for two Craftsman RAS's and the Miter saw this one is replacing.

The GP has a nice large table which I love! My plan is add a full 8' extension on the right hand side and 4' on the left hand side. That should give me almost 10' from the blade to end of the table (and the wall) on the right hand side.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/DeWaltras/shop.jpg

The 4' side has room for stands if I were to need to cut something longer than the table would support.

I am just looking for good ideas for the tables. I like what I had but I am sure that I can improve them.

[Ed Labadie]

Okay, you asked.
The 1st one has an 8' roller table on each side of the saw table, the 2nd one uses a solid core door for a table. Everything is adjusted to the same height.

Ed

[Travis Johnson]

Here is a picture of my "Feed Rolls" as I call them.

My Radial arm saw is located just inside the window, and because it is mounted on a long built-in bench as with most radial arm saws, I can handle a 16 foot board and cut it anywhere I want to despite my 24 foot shot length.

The small shed building beside my "feed rolls" is not yet completed, but will eventually house my solar kiln. One of the first operations I do in woodworking is to cross-cut my rough sawn lumber to length on the RAS. I simply will pull my boards out of the kiln, place them on the PVC Rollers and roll them right into my shop.

Simple, fast, easy and it extends my working length of my shop without having to build/ heat additional room.

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/sitebuilder/images/Feed_Rolls-217x143.jpg

[Loren Hedahl]

My shop is small and my RAS is on wheels. To use it I roll it out (in summer out of the shop into a car port) and use a couple of Ridgid stands I got from Home Depot.

Sometimes I find myself lusting about having a real shop. And I'm sure you who have them really enjoy them. But then I figure out ways to compensate. For me the issue is primarily one of whether I have a woodworking hobby, or a woodworking hobby has me.

This is in no way a criticism of anyone. In fact, I am amazed at the ingenuity and resourcefullness of many who have come up with novel and efficient methods and layouts in their shops.

[Jim Becker]

Loren, there is no one best way to do anything. Your method is as valid as any 'cause it works for you!

[chester stidham]

Looks like a good set up a lot of people don't like RAS saws but I use mine all the time for cross cuts it's a old Shop Smith saw but runs well good luck.:rolleyes:

[Travis Johnson]

Man, on another woodworking Forum there was quite the conversation about RAS. It got pretty heated with all the pros and cons and had something like 74 posts.

Myself, I would not be without mine.

[Jim Becker]

Man, on another woodworking Forum there was quite the conversation about RAS. It got pretty heated with all the pros and cons and had something like 74 posts.

Yea, but THIS is a real RAS from when they made them right...I wouldn't touch any of the more recently produced ones, but if I stumbled on an old DeWalt like the Jeff, I'd seriously try to find a way to acquire it, recondition it and install it in my shop. (This is the original DeWalt...the name still lives today, but under the Black and Decker organization and doesn't make stuff like this)

[jack duren]

Nothing wrong with the newer RAS. You have to ignore the 10" version and move up to a 12" or larger for the quality you want. But $1200 or better for a RAS isnt usually on the priority list of hobby woodworkers where a jointer would be ;) .....Jack

[Ed Labadie]

I paid $400.00 for this one last year. It needed a new magnetic starter. The original one was probably still good, but it was 440 volt. Of course I did replace the table. All original paint.
It's a 16" mogel GE.

Ed

[Travis Johnson]

Old Radial Arms Saws....

I could not agree more, so here is a funny story about how I aquired mine. My orginal RAS burned up in my parents house fire so I was looking for a replacement. In any case my Uncle had an older Dewalt 770 Powershop in his shop since 63 but he never used it...it scared him.

Well last month he sold his house and had to move all that stuff. So he drops by and tells me how he has to move this saw and if I wanted it. I did, but he is the kind of person that will try to get top dollar for everything, so I nonchalantly said "I'd take it off his hands, but I'm not going to give you a lot of money for that old thing."

I'm not sure what this saw is truly worth, but I was thinking of an offer price of somewhere around 200 bucks. He shrugs his shoulders and says "How about 100 bucks."

"Jeesh, maybe, I suppose it's worth that, let me get my checkbook," I said.

I'm pretty tight with my money, but I had no hestitation about writing out that check.

By the way, most of my tooling is older stuff even though I am a 32 year old woodworker. I like the older iron in any case, with my youngest tool being a 1994 Delta Planer and my olderst tool is a 1902 Canedy Otto Drill Press. If some of you are interested, you can take a virtual tour of my shop by clicking HERE (http://www.railroadmachinist.com/Workshop_Tools.html).

[Jeff Horton]

Surprised this thread is still alive. :-) RAS stir up the worst on some forums for sure. Of course with the 'junk' they produced the last 20 years I am not surprised. The saws reputations were ruined.

Nice to see some people understand and respect the RAS. I feel safer on it than my Table saw. At least I have one hand tied up and only one to watch.

I got DeWalt set up and running and made a few cuts last night. I see I need to adjust the bearings on the arms a little less tightl but man this saw is sweet!

As for the outfeed tables I never saw anything better than what I had so I just cut up my existing outfeed tables and reinstalled them. I need to build a good fence on them now. I am thinking I about one that has some adjustment this time. When and if the saw moves I can move the fence(s) too. I want to add a tape measure and some some stop blocks too for repetitive cuts.

Since the fence will be a foot away from the wall I am thinking on what to do there so as not to waste the space or just let it pile up with junk. My first thought is some shelves directly behind and just above the height of the fence. Maybe pegboard on the walls or more shelves. Pegboard might be hard to reach from over the table. Maybe build some wall cabinets? Doors keep the dust out. Not sure but I don't like wasting the space.

[Travis Johnson]

Jeff,

Like you I did not want to waste the space behind my RAS fence either. I am obsessive compulsive about having everything in its place so I put a few toolboxes there. Of course the toolboxes were wider than the alloted space so I cantilevered them over my fence.

It sounds complicated but its not. I put 2x4's sleepers down behind the fence and let the toolboxes sit over the fence. This would be the same thing as a toe kick area in a cabinet. Sure 3 inches is not enough when you need to cut 4x4's, but for me anyway, I seldom cut anything above 3 inches thick. When I do need to cut those few 4x4's that crop up from time to time, I just have to heft those toolxoxes down and out of the way. 99% of the time, there is plenty of room for boards and two bys.

For what it is worth...

[Loren Hedahl]

Glad to see there are a few good hearted folks on this list that can be objective about RAS's. I got a 'deal' on a 12" Delta several years back and have hardly used my TS since. Think I'll put it up for sale.

Concerning the notion that you cannot rip safely with a RAS, I don't see what the problem is if you feed the material in the right direction. The only thing is your blade is completely buried in wood, so it rips a bit slower.

Also you should not try to use a push stick made for a TS. Just a piece of scrap about a foot long that you can cut into 4 or 5 inches works better.

A neighbor also gave me a 9 inch Sears RAS. It isn't the saw the Delta is, but when it is set up and aligned it cuts surprisingly well. If I were dong job-site work, I would consider it to be a good candidate for that application. I think it would mount up on one of those wheeled chop saw stands you get at Home Depot for $150 just fine and do the work of both a compound miter and a plastic base bench saw. The stand also has built-in extendable rollers for infeed/outfeed.

Nothing too serious. Just some musing and miscellaneous ramblings on a hot afternoon. Now that I've cooled off, I'll try and get something done.

[Travis Johnson]

Its been said a gazzilion times in the wood magazines that the Radial Arm saw has been replaced by the sliding compound miter saw, but I have to respectfully disagree. I think the sliding compound mitre saw is a great tool, don't get me wrong, and it has its place, but I still love that big, flat table of the radial arm saw for the workshop.

With it, I can raise the blade and hog off wood for dado joints and half-laps, or I can sight down the blade and cut the smallest amount of wood, just as if it was a 2-1/2 horsepower milling machine. Sure it's spinning a 10 inch blade, but with its predictable travel path, pivoting yoke, mounts and swiveling post, it has versitility like no other.

From cross-cutting the thickest piece of rough sawn lumber to first enter my shop, to cutting the smallest, final part of one of my wooden models, the Radial Arm Saw is the tool I turn to time and time again. In the end it matters little to me that my humble saw was built 11 years before I was even born :)