DeWalt 7749 Radial Arm Saw

[Michael Schuch]

Attachment 478447 I won this Unipoint & conveyors at an auction last week. Now if I only had somewhere to put it lol

I would love a review of it when you get a chance to set it up.

May I ask what the winning bid was?

[Bobby Robbinett]

I have an old Dewalt GE model RAS that I only use to crosscut. It stays dead on accurate and is quite a bit more accurate at cutting 90’s then my Dewalt DW780.

I built a 60” x 24” extension cabinet on the left side and a 16” x 24” extension cabinet on the right side with a single piece of 10 foot long x 24” deep top made out of 5x10 MDF that went continuously across the cabinets and saw from left to right with a 1” x 3” aluminum extrusion fence that covered that span. I made two 24” t tracks on the fence side for the extrusion to mount in so that it was adjustable enough for me to square the fence to the blade.

[Jim Becker]

Wow...that 40C is a real BEAST! Congrats, Michael!

[Michael Schuch]

Wow...that 40C is a real BEAST! Congrats, Michael!

Thank you! The pictures don't really do the Redstar justice. In person the Redstar is decently bigger and beefier than the Delta but the Redstar just has a short arm. The table on the Redstar is 30" deep and the table on the Delta is only 24" deep which kind of makes it hard to see the perspective int the pictures. I am still working on my sliding table saw which got sidelined due to the bearings on my SouthBend 13" lathe motor which are literally SCREAMING for replacement. Once I replace the motor bearings on the lathe I will finish the fence on the sliding table saw and then will work on recommissioning the Delta long arm RAS.

I bought the Delta from a local fabricator that builds rough sawn covers for ceiling beams to make married 2 by stock look like hand hewn beams (for ceilings and such). The place I bought it from were some really nice guys. The owner told me that they had only turned it on once when they got it. He hinted that everyone was too afraid to use it so it went in a corner MANY years ago and just sat there. The knob on the plunger turret arm alignment pin is broken off which will be a pretty easy fix. The elevation for the arm barely moves but I can feel some springiness on the elevation. I am pretty sure the column is packed with either saw dust or a mouse nest. All the rubber fell off the power cable when I picked it up. The rubber was so dry it just cracked and fell off in chunks. Rewiring the saw will be a pretty easy task. The rest of the saw looks really pristine for its age.

If it sounds like I spend more time working on machines than being productive on machines, I am probably guilty of this. The Delta RAS is definitely going to be my LAST machine acquisition, at $100 I just couldn't pass up the long arm. Of course the sliding table saw was also going to be my LAST acquisition, at $400 how could I pass it up... and it was... for about 6 months.

[Michael Schuch]

I have an old Dewalt GE model RAS that I only use to crosscut. It stays dead on accurate and is quite a bit more accurate at cutting 90’s then my Dewalt DW780.

I built a 60” x 24” extension cabinet on the left side and a 16” x 24” extension cabinet on the right side with a single piece of 10 foot long x 24” deep top made out of 5x10 MDF that went continuously across the cabinets and saw from left to right with a 1” x 3” aluminum extrusion fence that covered that span. I made two 24” t tracks on the fence side for the extrusion to mount in so that it was adjustable enough for me to square the fence to the blade.

The fence on my Redstar RAS is similar. Instead of a piece of aluminum extrusion backing the fence I just have a jointed and planed 2x6 screwed directly to the back of the table. The sacrificial fence is a jointed and planed 2x4 on top of the table screwed into the first 2x6. When the sacrificial fence gets cut up I just unscrew it from the backing 2x6, butt the two halves together then make a nice new zero clearance cut in the sacrificial fence for aligning the stock being cut on the saw. Having a zero clearance blade gap in the fence to align the stock to makes it much easier to get cuts of really accurate lengths... instead of lining the stock to a tooth on the saw blade I line it up to the blade gap in the fence.