Radial arm saw ????

[poolhound]

I have an old pre-digital Craftsman 10" RAS, bought new about 30 years. I built an 8' support bench on both sides of the saw. For many years it was my primary shop saw until I purchased a 10" contractor's saw. I now rarely use it. I would probably use it more frequently for cross cuts if I didn't let the benches get so full of other tools and misc. items.

Thats a definite issue with such tools. the bench area where my CMS lives often gets overcrowded, wheras nopthing sits on my TS.

[walter_lars]

RAS are good for cutting large timbers like 2 x12 's and they great at makeing dado cuts
just crank up the elavation and nibble away no changeing to a dado blade
No dought the CMS has cut in a lot of the RAS usefulness pun intended
if your cutting a lot of long stock or cutting down sheets of Ply wood they good snice a lot of them have 24 inches of cut at least the larger ones if I were makeing a lot of cabnets out PW I would like to have a RAS
another place a RAS shines is cuttign a angle greater than 45 or less than 45 dependig on witch side you set the protactor

[cwsmith]

If you have the opportunity to pick up an RAS, go for it. Although my so-called "shop" is modest, the central tool for me is my 1974-vintage Craftsman 10-inch RAS. Up until two years ago, it has been my principal wood cutter.

At that time, I made a great purchase on a NIB BT3100-1, which I absolutely love. But, it will never replace my RAS! While I immediately drawn to the utility of the BT's SMT, I still find it cumbersome to do cross-cuts, when compared to the utility and dead-on accuracy of my RAS. I can't begin to comprehend how anyone crosscuts anything on a table saw over 4 ft in length. It just seems to be so doggone awkward.

Biggest challenge with the RAS will be the initial set-up to ensure everything is properly aligned. But once achieved, the properly-cared-for RAS should perform admirably, IMHO.

On a closing note, I recently purchase "sight-unseen" another RAS of the same model as mine. This was from a distant friend who described the inherited saw as in good condition. I figure it was well worth the $70 as parts are becoming hard to find (afterall, it's over 30 years old). It was just delivered a couple of weeks ago and I can't tell you how disappointed I was in this other saw's condition. I can't believe that any woodworker, worth his sawdust, would have treated a tool as poorly as this RAS. The corrosion is so bad that many parts are simply beyond salvage. It looks like this poor thing has been setting out in the weather for the last decade. Sad!!

So, make sure your purchase is in decent shape and then do some reading and some asking. I'm sure you will soon come to appreciate the RAS for it's utility. (BUT... as mentioned earlier, don't get sucked in by all those wierd promos like for things like shapers, etc.)

I hope this helps,

CWS

[lrogers]

I recently came back in possession of a Craftsman RAS I bought in the early 80's. I use it quite often.

[Uncle Cracker]

Biggest challenge with the RAS will be the initial set-up to ensure everything is properly aligned. But once achieved, the properly-cared-for RAS should perform admirably, IMHO.

One thing that might help with this is that you can get your Craftsman RAS (no matter how old it is) tuned up, calibrated, cleaned and lubed by Sears Service for a reasonable rate. They come right to the house and do it. I've had mine done once, and I think it cost me about $70. Well worth it, at least it was to me...

[milanuk]

Interesting thread... and timely

Several years ago I 'inherited' about half a shop full of Craftsman tools. None of them were what I wanted at the time, and most of them had been abused (i.e. setup poorly by an idiot and then ran into the ground). Opportunity came along to sell them for a good price (including the RAS that I'd never found all the parts to) and I took it.

Now I have a much larger, dedicated shop area. I have a Makita 10" SCMS on a Ridgid MSUV folding cart that does a pretty good job for most things... but it seems like I'm always changing it around for this, that or something else and never have it set up for just a plain cross cut when I need it... frequently for boards that are too long/wide/heavy for the SMT on my BT3100.

This week I was browsing thru the local classified paper (Nickel Ads) and saw a Craftsman 10" RAS for $45. Got my mind ta thinkin' that since I had planned on building a dedicated bench along the one wall of the shop for storage/work area/cutting... it might not be a bad use of $45 to get that RAS and keep it permanently set up for cross-cutting and mitering - and keep the SCMS on it's cart for projects that I need to take the saw to the job, so to speak.

Its either that or figure some way to make it easy to unmount the SCMS from a bench (assuming it would be set down into a bench top cavity) and attach it to the portable cart, and vice versa.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Monte

[Uncle Cracker]

Any thoughts?

I'd go for it, Monte. In this type of installation, the RAS won't be in the way, and then you can keep your CMS mounted and mobile. It will also be easier also to do something of a more permanent nature for dust collection at the RAS. A lot of bang for not a lot of bux...

[Rich P]

I have a 30+ year old Craftsman 10" which is my primary cross cut machine. (Try cross cutting 10' long 2x12 ipe on a SCMS.) Since my shop rolls up into 1/2 of a 2 car garage, the RAS is mobile too. Years ago I decide to beef up the table brackets as the standard ones didn't seem to hold alignment (probably from moving it arond by the table edges).

Sometimes I look at the RAS and think I could save space with a SCMS but then I think why bother. It has served me well for 30 years and will keep doing so. BTW, for goodness sakes don't try ripping with it, that's what the BT3K is for. If you decide to go for it, get it aligned properly and be sure the table is rock solid and you won't be disappointed (IMHO).

[milanuk]

Well, I got ahold of the guy with the RAS for $45... turns out its a co-worker, one who does a lot of buying/selling at auctions, yardsales, & ebay. He's had it about 10-12 yrs, it's got the electronic angle display (yippee skippee) but supposedly needs a new battery for the display and the tit on the crank handle is busted off. So far sounds like the repairs should be fairly trivial/ inexpensive.

He's bringing it in to work on Friday evening; guess we'll see how it looks in person.

Any key things to look for or watch out for?

[LinuxRandal]

Well, I got ahold of the guy with the RAS for $45... turns out its a co-worker, one who does a lot of buying/selling at auctions, yardsales, & ebay. He's had it about 10-12 yrs, it's got the electronic angle display (yippee skippee) but supposedly needs a new battery for the display and the tit on the crank handle is busted off. So far sounds like the repairs should be fairly trivial/ inexpensive.

He's bringing it in to work on Friday evening; guess we'll see how it looks in person.

Any key things to look for or watch out for?

Since it is digital, it is a Craftsman. Get the model number and check here:
http://www.radialarmsawrecall.com/

You should be able to get a manual, new table and guard, or if not, make money by sending in the parts, if you want to go that way. But I am a bias DeWalt fan.

[KLF]

I had a 10" Craftsman RAS that I bought new in 1984 (I think), I sold it this Spring as I was preparing to move. I know I give up the rare funcionality that it can do nice crosscut dados on long boards, but other than that I just don't miss it. Yet.

I hope to never rip another board with one, I had mine yank boards out of my hand and throw them across the basement several times, they are VERY dangerous for ripping.

Now that I'm envisioning my shop space in my new house (should be about 13'x24'), I may try to find a spot for one, although it's unlikely. There are lots of bargains on CL for them now, as mine was when I sold it. But, there are lots of other stationary tools that I don't own yet that I could probably get more use out of.

Tips on buying:

* Try to get one that can be wired for 240V, then wire up a dedicated plug in your shop for it. Mine started and ran much better at this voltage.

* Go to the recall site above and see if yours qualifies for the recall package (unless it's already been upgraded). I hadn't heard of this until I sold mine, but I entered the info on the site anyway and a few weeks later I received a HUGE box of parts, totally free. I gave them to the guy that bought my saw.

* I tried router and shaper bits in the spindle fitting, the speed was too slow, don't bother. But the sanding disk attachment was very useful, as long as you had the patience to go thru all the setup each time.

* Hooking a ShopVac to the blade hood will remove a huge amount of flying sawdust, but not all of it.

[milanuk]

Well, looks like I don't get to haul home a RAS tonight after all.

Co-worker called up and said he went to fire it up since it'd been sitting for a long while (which was why it was for sale)... and the motor seized and burned up before he realized what was up. Even if the price was 'free', I'm not a big fan of rebuilding anything, much less a power tool.

He did say he had a Delta scroll saw we could haggle over though