Another RAS thread.

[Jose Kilpatrick]

A few years back when I was trying to rebuild a tool collection, I was in search of a used table saw. I didn't have to look too much, I lucked out when I was speaking with a co-worker about what I Was looking for. She told me that her husband had some old saws in storage that she was interested in getting out of the way. She said that she had bought him a new table saw after countless complaints about 'the old one' that he was always using.
I made the trek over to the storage building where these 'old saws' were stored and met her husband there. They turned out to be a craftsman 10" contractors saw and a craftsman 10" digital radial arm saw. At this point we had not even discussed price because I wanted to see them first. They were both in decent condition, the table saw needed the top cleaned and the table on the RAS needed replacing. Apparently the digital readout on the RAS had not worked for years. I ended up scoring both of the saws for a mere $50. Though I was not interested in the RAS at that time, I couldn't pass it up for $25.
The RAS sat in the corner of the shop for a while before I had any desire to replace the top and get the thing in working order. After a bit of TLC and a squared up table top, I fell in love with the ability to do multiple cross cuts with ease and the ability to nibble away dadoes and rabbits.
Out of curiosity, I removed the electronics to see if they could be reconditioned and found out upon first inspection that the battery in the unit had corroded the contacts and after a mild cleaning and battery replacement, the digital guage fired up after reassembley.
I've read 101 opinions about RAS and their safety (or lack thereof) and have not had any real incidents to speak of. Ripping was tricky at first until I devised a clamping method to keep the stock against the fence and in full contact with the table. I found that if everything is aligned right and setup properly, the only way to back stock out of an aborted cut is to readjust the kickback device or raise the blade.
For the reson of this post:
I have had my eye on the accessory shaft, or auxillary spindle for quite a while, after some discussion with fellow carpenters and some reading in the manual, I realized that a 1/2" 20TC drill chuck could be fitted on the end.
After purchasing one, and the ease of which it was to attach, I began to fall in love all again with the ideas of what I could do with the Radial Arm Saw.
Now, my research took on a whole new level. I've been on a quest to find out what accessories are out there and how I Can use them.
A quick search on ebay revealed rotary surface planers, sanding drum attachments and shapers.
My first thought was to utilize the accessory attachment to use router bits to do over-arm routing. This would be a great addition to my tool arsenal since I don't have a dedicated router table at the moment. However, searching for data on utilising the RAS as a router only turned up a couple of items.
1. It can be used as an over arm router
2. The motor really isnt fast enough to be used as a router.
After speaking with some people on the subject, all I came up with is that
A. People have been known to use the RAS as a router.
B. They make great sanding stations.

So, I Guess my question is, does or has anyone here utilized the RAS in this fashion and are there any tips you can provide in my quest for utilizing my RAS saw in it's entirety. I have found the book and forum out there by Mr. Sawdust and am considering purchasing his material.

Thanks

[Jeff Bratt]

I have done both sanding and routing with my Craftsman RAS. For sanding it works quite well. You have to use a gentle touch as the drum speed is 3600 rpm instead of 1800 rpm like most spindle sanders. Sears used to sell a sanding drum attachment (and still sells the sanding sleeves) but you can use the more common type of sanding drums that attaches in your drill chuck. I have also used a sanding drum in conjunction with the fence for thicknessing small trim strips fairly precisely. An auxilary tabletop for sanding allows you to distribute the wear area up and down your sanding sleeve. I use just a piece of 3/4" ply with a cutout slightly larger that my sanding drum.

As a router this is more problematic - that 3600 rpm is now pretty slow. Still I have used it for a routing on a compound angle setup - it was a sharp bit and soft wood. This is no substitute for a router and table though.

For a long time the RAS was my only saw. Setup properly, I found it worked quite well. The only problem I had was ripping small pieces. Be aware that - unlike the table saw - when ripping on the RAS, the blade is trying to pick the workpiece up off the table. Make sure it is held down securely. Now that I have a table saw, I use that more - especially for ripping. Still, I find having a second saw available is very handy when the tablesaw is setup for a specific cut, or has the dado stack mounted.

Other accessories I've seen are the "planer" and molding head. Mounting a molding head on a RAS looks scary to me. The planer head could work if the the arm-to-table alignment is very good, but I think the availability of inexpensive thickness planers has made this attachment unnecessary.

There a few RAS books available - mostly used, and cheap - since the decade of popularity for this tool has come and gone. Plus, if you don't know already, the blades used on a RAS should have a low or negative hook angle - this produces less chipping and greatly reduces the tendency for a RAS to self-feed on crosscuts.

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

I have used the drum and disc sanders with my old DeWalt RAS. Works pretty well, although the dust is terrible if you do a lot of it.

I have also used the rotary planer attachment. If you have no other way of thicknessing stock, and you don't have too many board feet to do, it can work O.K. You get almost no tearout, because the cutters are working cross grain, but the surface won't be as smooth as a thickness planer, and will require a few strokes of a smooth plane or sanding to clean up. The only pain about using it, is that it throws chips everywhere, and you have to make sure none of them end up between your stock and the table on the next pass (which would affect the thickness). My solution to this was to hit the table with some compressed air between passes to clear the chips without having to go near the cutter. Do this operation outside if possible, or your shop will be a mess. Also, don't do this without a shaper guard for your RAS. This was one of those accessories I just had to try, and I'm sure it was a godsend for home shops back in the day before affordable portable thickness planers. That being said, I love my dedicated thickness planer, and will probably never use the rotary one for thicknessing again.

None of my saws have an arbor on the back end of the motor for RH twist cutters, so I've never used drills or router bits in them, but I've heard from others who have tried this that it is too slow. I have a router table, so this doesn't bother me. However, I have been thinking of fabricating a bracket to attach my trim router to the motor to use as a pin router.

Delta moulding cutterheads on the RAS are the berries. They can be used for face work, edge work, and irregular (non straight line) shaping. They must be used with respect, and a proper shaper guard for your RAS is a must. The Mr. Sawdust book explains their use much better than I ever could. You should definately buy it, as it is a great resource for safe RAS use, and will show you how to do a lot of operations you didn't even know were possible. I also recommend the Jon Eakes "how to fine tune your RAS" book, as proper alignment is essential to safe and accurate use.

Good luck!

[John Eaton]

There were many attachments made for the RAS - some have been mentioned, but there's also a jigsaw attachment, sanding disc and lathe. Speed is an issue but can be overcome to some extent by manual feed rate. Interestingly, the first Delta shapers involved a shaper spindle on the drill press (which was mounted upside down), using a wood table extension and what became the fence for the light duty shaper. My understanding is that it didn't work very well either, but in those days the manufacturers were trying anything to enhance their product (mostly to entice new buyers with perceived versatility and cost savings).

Pratically, using an RAS for horizontal boring may be the ticket (using spiral bits in either a router collet or adapted jacobs chuck). I've heard of others adapting them for this application.

-- John

[Jose Kilpatrick]

So, I had a moment this weekend to use my RAS with a router bit and my opinions on the matter are
A. The RAS motor spins at a speed which introduced chatter.
B. A simple router table can be fashioned to server better.
C. The one good advantage is that plunge routing with the RAS is a snap, and very accurate and reliable.

[Denny Rice]

This is just MHO and just mine........ I think the RAS gets a bad rap, there are very good reasons for a RAS and I love and use mine quite often. Last summer I made a new workbench and the top was created by creating a half lap joint out of 2x4's every 2 feet of the 8 ft bench. It was the ideal tool for making those half lap joints. The top was covered with 3/4" plywood then the plywood was covered with a 1/4 replaceable hardboard.( Just like the one on the NYW.) The RAS is a nice tool to have around, but like every tool it has its limitations and one needs to be careful with every power tool. Just MHO.