Ideas for Repurposing Arm/Carriage from RAS?

[Bill Webster]

I have an arm with carriage from a scrapped RAS. Before I get rid of it, I am trying to think if I would ever have a use. The carriage runs smooth and without play, so would be a good set of ways for something. But unless I can think of a good use, it needs to go. I can't really think of any use with a router that would be worth the trouble and floor space. Almost always other options to do same thing. Any ideas?

[Peter Christensen]

Put a router in it and turn it around so you can clamp boards vertically under it. Now you can cut big dovetails.

Put a router in it horizontally and with a table that moves in and out you can cut slot mortices.

Remember the very first Performax sander was a radial arm saw attachment. Put a drum under the arm and a motor and belt on the table beside the pillar and you have a drum sander.

[Earl McLain]

I saved the miter gears, rods and misc handles & hardware from one. Some day the miter gear set will be used as a drill press lift. some day....
earl

[Ray Newman]

Peter Christensen, in post #2, said it. Definitely on to something when he suggested mounting a router.

[Bill Dufour]

Mount a drill for a horizontal boring/doweling machine.

[michael langman]

Mount a drill for a horizontal boring/doweling machine.

This is an excellent idea.

[William Young]

Do a google search for "pin router" and/or "converting radial arm saw to pin router". There seems to be lots of info including Youtube videos.

[Art Mann]

I saw a video on Youtube of someone who mounted a router vertically on the carriage. He used the machine to cut dados by moving the carriage front to back and grooves by sliding the material side to side under the bit with the carriage locked. I went to Youtube and typed in "mounting a router on a radial arm saw" in the search block. I got lots of different videos that seemed useful but not the one I originally saw.

[Bill Webster]

Seems like most ideas on the Internet are using a router for a pin router or a dado cutter. I was thinking more along the lines of a slot mortiser or horizontal drill, but the long stroke isn't required for that and maybe linear slides are a better choice.

[johnny means]

You could mount a saw motor to it and use it to crosscut wooden boards

[Bradley Gray]

One of you guys needs to come by and pick up my old RAS with a dead motor. You need it bad.

[Peter Christensen]

I had a workmate give me a nice old Dewalt 9", that according to him had a burned out motor. I took it home and plugged it in and the little beauty sprung to life. Turned out his wiring in the garage was the problem. Offered it back to him and he told me to keep it anyway. Too nice to hack up and I have a WoodRat so no pressing need to look for another.

[Floyd Mah]

I have briefly mounted a router on the RAS carriage and then installed a concentric pin on a auxiliary table on the standard table. I used the pin router to fashion parts for a guitar body. Worked very well for accurate work.

[Roger Feeley]

Ditto the router. Use it to flatten slabs.