Just How Is This Saw Used?

[John McClanahan]

I have seen many variations of fenceless radial arm saws on craigslist, but this has to be the finest example. Just how would this saw be used?

[Tim Hoyt]

Very carefully!

or better yet, never

[Charles Lent]

It's obvious that they haven't used it, since replacing the table. There are no kerf marks in the table. In the process of doing that, they have likely thrown away the rear table clamps, but that's a nice thick piece of countertop that could be made into a saw table, if the clamps are still there..

Charley

[Dave Zellers]

That's exactly my saw- mid 1970's era. Qualifies for the rebate but you would have to pry it out of my hands- Incredibly accurate and reliable.

I only use it for crosscuts anymore but back in the day I would set it up every which way. You just have to be intelligent about it and set up a proper fence and hold downs.

The old gal has been with me from the beginning...

[Carroll Courtney]

I had one but never really like it,even cutting a 90 it was off.

[Pat Barry]

Simple. Once you start the cut it basically keeps right on cutting in a straight line.

[Alan Rutherford]

Beautiful and, as mentioned, unblemished (i.e. unused) table. With the table off there should be keyhole slots in the base for the thumbscrews that would hold the two halves of the correct table in place, with the fence in between. Or with the narrower part of the 2-part table in the middle and the fence at the back. I had that one in 10" and after that was stolen replaced it with a 220v 12".

It would crosscut beautifully up to capacity. Rip by rotating the blade but a tablesaw does it better. Has other virtues but I eventually sold mine.

[peter Joseph]

It is primarily used to get you closer to your healthcare deductible.

[Andrew Hughes]

That saw looks like it's setup to trim your finger nails all the way back to your knuckles.

[Leo Graywacz]

Radial Arm Saw. Just about every shop I was in had one years ago. Usually with a fence and a stop to make cutting longer parts accurately much simpler. You need to use the correct blade when using this saw. Need to have a negative rake, which will make the saw not pull over the board.

The correct way to use it is place the board to cut against the fence and secure it. Pull the saw slowly while at the same time not let it climb the pc. This usually doesn't happen, but it can if you are careless.

Other options it has are angles. That's where the radial part comes in. You can tilt the saw off 90 degrees to cut angles. I've never seen anyone do this. Another thing you can usually do is twist the saw itself 90 degrees and then use it similar to a tablesaw by pushing the board against the fence and through the blade. I've done this when I needed to cut something tall. The saw we had, had a 15" blade and could cut about 6". All the other tablesaws had 10" blades and were limited to 3" cut.

[Jon Endres]

I think the OP's point is that the table has NO fence. You can't use a RAS without one.

[glenn bradley]

My experience echos Carroll's more than Dave's. Mine went into service holding down a dumpster many years ago. The new table does not allow for a fence in the designed manner.

[Mike Cutler]

It's missing the rear fence.
The bigger heavier radials are quite versatile, but the lighter framed model, like that one, could be hard to keep tuned. There's a lot of stress on that beam when that saw is working. The SCMS pretty much took their place, at least at that price level. Used to cut stair treads with one as a teenager, but it was quite a bit beefier than that one. I still have all my fingers too.
If you're really looking for an RAS, try to find a late 50's, early 60's DeWalt. The beams are much beefier.

[Alan Rutherford]

The RAS was more versatile than a table saw and for the things it did best it was very good. Chop saws killed that market. Good point about the healthcare deductibe and using it to trim your fingernails. I don't remember exactly what I was (mis-)using mine for but it launched a chunk of wood through the window, tearing a hole in the curtain and breaking the glass, and across the driveway and the neighbor's driveway and hit his house hard enough that he came out to see what was going on.

[Rick Potter]

Good one John,

Looks like that table is used to sell the saw. I'll bet it is not even screwed down.