Do I need a Radial Arm Saw?

[Frank Drew]

Jimmy,

I wouldn't want to set up a woodworking shop without a table saw, jointer and planer, but I made custom furniture professionally for over twenty years without a radial arm saw (but I had a sliding table saw for most of that time). Lots of people make good use of one, and some even consider it more important that a table saw (), but I never missed having one.

Bear in mind that you need clear space (usually wall space) both left and right of the saw itself.

[Ray Phillips]

My first big power tool I purchased in January 1980 was a Crftsman 10" RAS. I still have the same saw and I have used it for just about every cut one can make on it. I have used it for ripping but now since I have a good table saw I use the RAS for cross cuts. I did put a Freud negative hook blade on it and it made a world of difference. The consensus on the creek is that one constantly has to realign the saw. I do check my alignment and I don't find that it needs alignment that often. I don't know of any power tool in the shop that one can be aligned one time and one time only. All tools need tuning on occasion. I use my RAS very often. I also have a Dewalt CMS but I find myself using the RAS more often than the CMS. I also received the recall and put the new blade guard on my saw and found that it was a PITA changing blades with the recall guard so I put the old guard back on it. As I stated earlier I have had the saw 29 years and I still have all my digits. If I were in your shoes I would take the RAS and use it and then if you decide you don,t like it then you could sell it and by other tools. What do you have to lose? Just my .02

[Fred Hargis]

A RAS is hard to keep aligned and is generally not as accurate as a miter saw. The stops are close, but not close enough to cut four miters on a picture frame and have them all line up properly.

I would not make that as a blanket statement for all RAS'. It would have been true with my Craftsman, but it is most certainly not true of my Dewalt. After a complete teardown and rebuild, it took me maybe 3-4 hours to get everything back in alignment. Then I discovered that moving to miters and back was as easy as using the well-designed stops it has, and it is every bit as accurate as any other wood cutting tool I own. It does cut miters that allow perfect frame corners, and it returns to exactly 90° after this movement. I'm just saying...a bad RAS is a nightmare, but a good one doesn't deserve the general rap ascribed to them.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

If you have the room, would you value having one of your grandfathers tools in your shop? Even if you use it rarely, it may be worth having, just for sentimentality.

[Ken Higginbotham]

If you have the room, would you value having one of your grandfathers tools in your shop? Even if you use it rarely, it may be worth having, just for sentimentality.

Or you could donate it to the ken higginbotham retirement estate

[Stephen Edwards]

If you room to store it, I'd take it. You may build another tool using parts from the RAS down the road sometime. I've seen it done before.

[Chip Lindley]

IF you have read all these posts and still have no use for the RAS, at least find a good home for it! These old saws have their uses for woodworkers who enjoy using them. The big trend is toward sliding chop saws today, but they are limited in stability AND ability. IF you let the saw go, don't whine later, because some of us Old School Guys *told you so!*

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Two big misconceptions regarding radial arm saws that give them a bad rap...

1. They are not a multi purpose tool as historically touted, and not a substitute for a table saw or molder/router. Rip cuts are just plain hazardous on a radial arm saw in my opinion;

2. Sears Craftsman polluted the radial arm saw market with inferior homeowner equipment. Their offerings went out of alignment easily, or had too much play in the carriage joints and flex in the post/arm assembly. Unfortunately, Sears’ equipment was relatively inexpensive and retail stores were everywhere giving rise to large sales volume.

A couple of small misperceptions...

3. If you don't rip with it, they are very safe in my opinion. That is, they don't chop fingers off as readily as claimed. The path of the blade is fixed in both direction and length. The stock is also in a fixed location. Therefore, set your hands in a safe position, and leave them there. Unlike a table saw or bandsaw, you must continually monitor the location of your hands as the stock moves about.

4. The blade rotates such that it climb cuts and therefore lunges at you. Use a negative rake blade and/or a thin kerf blade. If the stock is hard and thick, use two passes.

My radial arm saw is a piece of junk in quality. But, I'd rather have it than not have it for the crosscutting and dado-ing functions it performs. Again, I have recognized its limitation versus sales ploy.

-Jeff

[Jeff Miller]

I have two and I would not want to be without either one


This one





And this one





JEFF

[Rob Diz]

I have a late 60s vintage RAS that my Uncle purchased new.

Do I use it every day - nope. But I sure use it.

I used it last night to cut off the end of a long piece of 9/4 walnut that was 13 1/2 inches wide. All I had to do was clear off the moldings I am also making right now that found a temporary home on the table I guess I could have used a crosscut sled on my TS, but that would have been awkward and a bit of a hassle.

The price is right, but be sure to get a neg hook blade, and check it against the EMerson recall. You could get a new bed/safety set up otu of the deal for free.

[Art Kelly]

I've had my Craftsman since 1975. Have ripped full sheets of plywood--never had a kickback, planed 6/4x12"x8' natural-edged planks (the planer blades are hard to find now, and the table has to be big and dead-on parallel to the carriage, and it takes a long time), done limited thickness sanding with a drum sander, cut slots with end mills--even in 1/2"-thick aluminum.

I would hate to be without it. Do you have the manual?

My table is integral with the TS and Router table, and is 15 feet long, more or less. Used lots of leveling jacks to make the table flat. You can PM me if you'd like to see the table-tuning procedure I used.

But...you really have to think about what you're doing, use push sticks for ripping, use the anti-kickback device, and make ABSOLUTELY SURE everything is locked down before you turn it on. Use stabilizers on the blade. Hold-downs are used often--during ripping the blade is trying to lift the work off the table.

A contractor's helper I know cut his hand off with a miter saw, so like I said, you have to have your head screwed on pretty good when you use a tool whose blade is moveable while turning.

Oh yeah, and like flying, there is absolutely no smoking for 24 hours and no drinking within 50 feet of the machine.

No, wait...

Art

[Neal Clayton]

i use one for dadoes as well. when you need to cut dadoes in a window frame that's 12 feet long, or a door frame that's 10 feet long, well, that just doesn't work well on a table saw with a miter sled. especially doesn't work well since i don't have 12 feet of clearance around my table saw, so it's more like impossible.

yes it takes a long time to square one up, and a cheap one won't tend to stay that way, but it is useful, if you need to cut dadoes.

[mark harvel]

Hello. I acquired my first RAS for free from a guy who was scared to use it. I had always heard the horror stories about them as well and had never felt like I was missing something by not having one in my shop.

I was a little apprehensive of it when I first used it from everything Id heard about them. I thought they were hard to control and the thing was going to want to dive at me as soon as I started a cut. I couldnt beleive how easy it is to control. Ive made thousands of cuts on mine since and have never had the blade "climb" the wood and zip toward me. I really dont understand what all the hype is about. I see no added danger compared to any other operation in your shop. Yes you have to keep your fingers and nose out of the line the saw is going to take to make the cut, but that goes for any tool. I must admit, Ive never used mine for ripping so I cant comment on that.

Mine is one of the "cheap" craftsman models so I dont really trust it to come back to square every time I move it. I always check from both sides with a framing square any time Im moving it back to 90 degrees. I have to say, it has always came back to square so far.

One advantage that may not have been mentioned yet is the accessory power shaft opposite the blade. You can use it for sanding, routing, drilling, sharpening, etc. if you dont have a router table for instance. I never used one in the past but im definitely glad I have one now.

[Fred Hargis]

I can't help but wonder what your decision is on this after reading the w-i-d-e range of responses...so what will it be: yea, or nay?

[Ken Higginbotham]

I think there are two issues with ras's. One, as somebody already said, it's hard to control the saw at the end of a 24" arm. The second is the saw tends to want to 'pull' it's way into the work. On the upside, if you need to cut 2x stock where precision is less of an issue then issue one from above in not as import. And moving a saw across a long, heavy 2x something is much easier than the other way around. Which makes it ideal for doing dado cuts in larger stock...

As far as the saw wanting to pull itself into the work - This means that you have to remember to keep kind of a 'stiff' arm as you pull the saw through. That makes it kind of an anxious, un-natural exercise if you don't do it regularly...

Just my 2 cents