A crying shame

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Found this RAS in a farmer’s field, leaving it outside to the weather has not helped it one bit. Initially was excited to find this saw. Closer examination reveled that the arbour will not turn and the carriage grindes down the ways, plus it’s huge.

I know it’s beyond me to restore so it looks like it’s going to sit in this field until it rusts away.

Greg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Offer him $10.00 and take it apart.
You never know what you'll find.

[Ben Cadotte]

Offer him $10.00 and take it apart.
You never know what you'll find.

I agree. It's probably worth at least $50 in scrap weight. If you have the space at home. I would grab it and tear it down. The arm, carriage, and base can be cleaned up. The motor is probably the only thing that may be beyond homeowner repair abilities. Unless of course some part is actually broken. If the saw is complete and you just need to remove corrosion and paint. It may well be worth it to get a new motor. Most likely if the old one is rusted solid. A good shop could still bring it back to life. If you find it is beyond ecconomical repair costs. Just scrap it and pick up a couple extra dollars. Could do a cleaning of the shop and get rid of other scrap as well. The Chinese will appreciate your scrap.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Don't know what he wants for it, but how the neck would I move it?

Plus it wouldn't go through my shop door.

Greg

[Ben Cadotte]

Could always build a new shop around it. :)

[Joe Jensen]

Greg, I have a version of that saw. It's still made today, sold as "The Original Saw Company". They bought the tools and spares, but not the brand name. It was originally sold as Dewalt, and then "Black and Decker" by Dewalt, and I think for a short while as "Black and Decker". The caridge bearings are easily replaceable, but there are 8 of them and they are fairly large. I'd thing $150-250 for the bearings. I think I paid $180 15 years ago. The big thing to watch for on those saws is the arm. If it was used extensively with bad bearings, they will wear down the machined cast iron surface they roll on and having the arm machined costs $500 or more and you have to send it to Lancaster PA to have it done. Lastly, the motor would need to be repaired. Likely just bearings. A friend used mine and the starter winding stuck and he didn't notice and he bured the motor up. It cost $500 to have it rewound in Phoenix.

In good shape they are worth $1000-1500. New they are $3500-5000 depending on arm length and HP.

I'd assume yours needs new caridge bearings and motors bearings, probably $400 minimum.

I have mine set up as a dedicated 90 degree crosscut station. I have a hairline pointer setup on the fence. I adjusted it with the 5 cut method 15 years ago so that the final cutoff was within .001". I rechecked last year and it was still exactly the same. Seriously accurate saw with adjusted correctly. Mine is a 14" and I am using it with a 12" Forrest Duraline High A/T blade. Fantastic cut, easily as good as I get with my Sawstop TS.

Here is a pic of mine...joe

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/_NIK1449.jpg

[J. Z. Guest]

It is probably not beyond your ability to repair. Obviously, you're a sharp fellow if you hang around here. ;)

It seems like you're aware of the effort and do not want to undertake it. That is fine. But in that case, you should post its location here so another Canadian can have a crack at it!

[Shawn Honeychurch]

Found this RAS in a farmer’s field, leaving it outside to the weather has not helped it one bit. Initially was excited to find this saw. Closer examination reveled that the arbour will not turn and the carriage grindes down the ways, plus it’s huge.

I know it’s beyond me to restore so it looks like it’s going to sit in this field until it rusts away.

Greg

If only it was in south western BC, I would be after it in a minute.

Shawn

[Greg Sznajdruk]

I guess the pictures don't translate well this is a 16 inch blade and a 3 hp motor Ras. It's huge, it sits on pallet, two of us couldn't lift a corner.

Anyone who wants to know where it is, drop me a PM.

Greg

[Jude Tuliszewski]

It has to come apart anyway. Offer the mullah, take a bunch of pics, take it a part and take it home :). This will also limit the room it will take up until you get it fixed up.

[Mike Wilkins]

Like the others have stated, you better grab that baby before someone else lays their eyes on it. New ones sell in the $3K range. Take photos first, then disassemble it while in the wilderness, making it much simpler and lighter to move to an inside location. You can get diagrams and other info from the Original Saw Company for these machines if you run into a roadblock.
If I was in your neck of the woods, I would be all over it.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Don't know what he wants for it, but how the neck would I move it?

Incrementally up a ramp and into your truck. use ropes and a cable come along Or you can take it apart where it sits.


Plus it wouldn't go through my shop door.

Of course it will. Take it apart.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I just had to move a RAS of this size into my shop....3 days ago. I don't know your age or health, but two people can easily move this if you take it in parts. Here's what we did:

1.) Wear leather gloves. There are likely to be sharp edges in a few places. Plus, the extra padding on the hands is nice.

2.) Take off the carriage. Remove the plate at the front of the arm and slide it out. Two people might be necessary.

3.) Friction fit a board, or something wide (I used a log), under the end of the arm. Unbolt the base of the arm, and two people can easily move this part. NOTE: You will want to unbolt the height adjustment crank from the front of the table. This has a gear at the end that is engaged with the arm, and you don't want to damage this. Wait a minute, I don't see the crank on yours. Hm......

4.) Mine wasn't attached to a pallet, but again two people easily moved the base.

Everything fit into a small truck, and I think you would be able to move it with relative ease.

I agree that if you can get it for virtually nothing, than restoration is definitely a reasonable option. This has the potential to be an awesome machine. Good luck!

Oh, I am wondering if it actually can take a 16" blade. 3 HP seem awfully low for a blade of that diameter. Mine is a 14" RAS and it has a 5 HP motor. And check the phase of the motor. It very well may be 3 phase.

Hutch

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Well we agreed on a price $100 CDN but it turns out that the owner believes its 575 volts 3 phase. A new 1 phase 3 hp motor is about $2,000 US.

Not counting what else it may require. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Have info and contact if anybody out there is interested.

Greg

[Jacob Reverb]

The copper windings in that motor are probably worth close to the price of admission. ;)

[Ted Jay]

You said the owner was a farmer?
Farmer = tractor
Which might mean Front End loader.
Get a trailer and have him lift it up in it.
He might have a pallet fork for the FEL to make it easier.

Take it apart on the trailer when you get home. When you get tired, cover with a tarp, or don't, it was in a field with no tarp!!!

[Paul Johnstone]

Well we agreed on a price $100 CDN but it turns out that the owner believes its 575 volts 3 phase. A new 1 phase 3 hp motor is about $2,000 US.

Not counting what else it may require. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Have info and contact if anybody out there is interested.

Greg

Well, I know you are being cheered on to take on this project.

I think you are making the right call to walk away from this, unless you really enjoy taking apart machines and bringing them back to life.

I'd rather spend my limited free time woodworking. No disrespect to the people that enjoy restoring old machines.. that's certainly a cool hobby as well, just not my cup of tee.