HF Radial Arm Saw

[Tom J]

Does anyone know anything about this saw?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42933

I have always had a yen for a radial arm saw. I know a lot of people have said RAS's can be picked up used for $100-120, but I have not had any luck. Whenever I check ebay, they usually won't shipped them because of the weight and they are too far away to pickup. The one Sears looks good, but I can not justify the expense.

[vanguard]

Tom,

Have you checked craigslist.com for the nearest city? It's pretty common to see nice RAS units around here for less than $100. I picked up a vintage Rockwell Super 900 for just that.

[Tom J]

Thanks for the tip. I did check. At this time there are no RAS for sale in my area, but I will keep checking.

[JTimmons]

Tom,

Have you checked craigslist.com for the nearest city? It's pretty common to see nice RAS units around here for less than $100. I picked up a vintage Rockwell Super 900 for just that.

That's strange, I find at least one a week sometimes two in my area all from $150 and below. What's the deal?

[jackellis]

Thanks for the tip. I did check. At this time there are no RAS for sale in my area, but I will keep checking.

Just be patient. There are at least a few every day in the SF Bay area on craigslist. True, the area here is a lot bigger but keep checking and you will eventually be rewarded.

[vanguard]

There's a wanted to buy section as well. I suppose you could post there.

[ironhat]

DItto that and I live in Cow-ville - no fancy Craig's list here. Just the PennyShopper. Patience is you friend.

[Greg in Maryland]

Hi

Of course, I have a BT3100, but why would I want or need a radial arm saw? How does it does it add to my capabilities? Granted they are rather limited so anything adds to them.

Just curious.

Greg

[Tom J]

Greg,

I can get by without a RAS, but I have always wanted one. If you look at the past posts on this site, there seems to be two camps. One sees no need for a RAS feeling they can do everything it would do either on a TS and/or SCMS. The other camp are usually people that have one and simply use them all the time and would not part with them.

I am not nearly as accomplished as many of the posters here, but it does seem to me that it could be useful. I don't think it would be a replacement for a TS, but I think it could come in handy. I have always been impressed with Norm on the New Yankee Workshop and I believe he has one which he occassionally uses.

If I did get one, I would probably set it similiar to how Norm has his, at one end of a long work bench.

Hope that answers your questions.

While I am posting, does anyone have any thoughts about the HF RAS? I know HF has a contraption that allows you to "convert" a circular saw to a RAS. I would go near this. It looks dangerous, but the RAS does not look bad, though I am not going to run out and buy one. I will probably continue to bide my time looking for a used one as people have advised.

[John Hunter]

I was going to pick up a RAS just for the ease of changing the dado blade before I bought a second BT3, now I leave the dado on one and use the other for everything else.

[Greg in Maryland]

Tom, thanks for your thoughts.

I know it is far, but here is a RAS in the Washington DC area for $75: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/d...254097490.html

I just don't have the room or the need for one.

Greg

[LinuxRandal]

Does anyone know anything about this saw?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42933

I have always had a yen for a radial arm saw. I know a lot of people have said RAS's can be picked up used for $100-120, but I have not had any luck. Whenever I check ebay, they usually won't shipped them because of the weight and they are too far away to pickup. The one Sears looks good, but I can not justify the expense.

If you don't see one in the paper under the tools section (I looked at your local Craigslist, it seems fairly small), I would post a wanted ad there before the HF one. First problem I see, is it's 20.9 amps. That is already more then probably most outlets in a shop (20amp rated outlets), so you could easily trip a breaker, anytime you had a dull blade.