Thread: Radial Arm Saw

Hi

Well I see there is the usual for and against the RAS amongst our group.

There are (IMHO) some errors in other posts.

Providing your RAS is set up correctly it can perform all the work you would expect of it. Many years ago (around 1980) I bought a Black & Decker (De Walt with B&D badges stuck over the De Walt badges) 12" RAS Model 1512.

This is a GREAT RAS, really heavy duty etc.

At the time of purchase I needed to consider either a TS or RAS. I was about to build a second storey extension on my house. I had all the timber framing to do for the internal walls, the roof, stairs, window frames etc, etc. I also had to consider that I wanted to build many other items in the future and of course the prevailing space for its use. The RAS won out for two reasons one, that I could place the RAS against the wall and leave it permanently set up for use, and two I could easily work on long timber, docking, trenching etc.

With my RAS I could (and frequently did) rip down the centre of a 48" (1200mm) x 8' (1200mm) veneered sheets.

One of the first items I made was a stand for the RAS. The stand had extendable foldout tables that could fould out and extend out approximately six feet either side. I added my own slide out extension to the front of the table, that provided support for ripping 48" sheets. ALl of this could easily be handled by myself as the extension tables provided sufficient support all araound.

An important accessory that I purchased for the RAS was an adjustable dao blade 6" diameter and could be adjusted by rotating the blade about the centre hub. This provided dadoes from 1/4" (6mm) to just over 3/4" (19mm).

I have since used the RAS to build several bars (the drinking kind), many barstools, buffets, speaker cabinets, office furniture, bookshelves, storage units etc, etc. There has NEVER EVER been an incident where I might have lost a portion of my anatomy. The simple reason for this is that I NEVER place my fingers or hands in front of the blade. That would be like pushing the wood through a TS with your fingers heading toward the blade - obviously none of us do that.

The RAS does not rip with the blade in the "wrong" direction. Yes, it does rip with the blade rotating up from the table, however properly set up as you would do with any tool it is safe and does not kick back. (No doubt there are stories around of such incidents). Obviously a good blade helps.

I recently gave my RAS a "birthday" and pulled it apart gave it a thorough clean. Then relubricated the armand the column, put it all together and adjusted it. I then made up a completely new fence assembly a little different to the original. It has the "normal" mdf/ply fence, to which are attached two aluminium extrusions (designed for table saws) and on the front of these extrusions are "disposable" and adjustabe MDF fences. So now I can slide the two extrusions from side to side - this allows any angle to be cut while maintaining a good fence with which to work - and I can slide the front MDF fences together at any time or any (RAS arm) angle, pull the saw through the front fences and have an INSTANT ZERO clearance fence. Wow this is a great fence I wish I made it years ago. Let me know if you want pictures.

I have mounted a replaceable 6mm MDF top to the RAS table and now can clean it up or replace it when necessary. The fence will no longer become unusable due to many and various cuts through it as I can adjust it to suit any need.

I have just purchased a (secondhand) TS and am very happy with it, however it does need an outfeed table (at least) to make it really functional. The RAS BTW also needed side tables of some sort to make it functional so the TS is no worse an option. I do expect that the TS will allow greater accuracy especially for smaller jobs. It is certainly easier to use the TS for some jobs. To now have both the RAS and the TS means I can easily do cross cuts and ripping by hving each set up to my requirements and swap from one tool to the other. I guess using each of these in conjuction with my Makita SCMS for mitred angles means minimal set up changes, just move from tool to tool for the cut required.

So I am a proponent of the RAS, if you can get one at a good price then take advantage of what it can do for you.


Kind regards

Peter

Hi
Yes piccys would be good, so I can see what its all about.
Cheers, Al

Originally posted by ozwinner
Hi
Yes piccys would be good, so I can see what its all about.
Cheers, Al

Hi

Ok, will do. Have to go and take them first )

Regards
Peter

Originally posted by MrFixIt
Hi

Ok, will do. Have to go and take them first )

Regards
Peter

Ok, I've taken the photo's. Here's one of them...
Go to
http://www.multiline.com.au/~psander...k/woodfram.htm
and click on Radial Arm Saw for many more )

Regards

Peter

Thanks Peter.
I didnt know that a RAS was so versatile.
I was hopeing that it could cut compound mitres, but flipping the head horizontal as well is something else.
I dont suppose you know if all RAS do this do you?
I will check for this when the time comes to buy one.

Cheers, Allan

Perhaps I am not thinking too clearly here, but how could you possibly rip down the centre of an 8x4 sheet. Surely the post which the saw arm sits on gets in the way ??

OK Ken time to put the Port away.
The head of the RAS is turned 90 degres, and slides out to the end of the arm travel.

Allan

Go to the web site and have a look.

Originally posted by ozwinner
OK Ken time to put the Port away.
The head of the RAS is turned 90 degres, and slid out to the end of the arm travel.

Allan

I don't drink so I can't use that excuse, but I have also never used a RAS so I didn't know you could rotate the head. Thanks, now I understand. Nevertheless, it seems like a highly inappropriate piece of equipment for ripping.

Good observation Ken! A bit like a Falcon hire car, it will do 4WD, but there are better tools, and safer too.

Cheers,

ripping with a radial arm saw is a scary thing.

I was very close to being two halves of a soundman when some ripping on a radilal arm saw got away.

Let me tell you a length of ply can get up quite some speed in 8 feet and fly straight & true for some distance with the aid of a radial arm saw & a length of rollers.

The piece of ply in question flew across in 6 in front of me just above waste height & smashed into a half completed truck body.

Ripping on a radial arm saw???

Not within 50 metres of me.

I purchased a secondhand Ryobi RA2500 last year from a local timber yard.They had been using it as a docking saw but had retired it as it was giving them problems. When switched on the thing seemed to run ok but when you tried to cut even pine the blade stopped while the motor continued to run.I got it REAL cheap so decided to take the risk. It turned out to be a simple thing like adjusting the clutch tension on the blade spindle. When I got it home I stripped it down to nuts and bolts and reassembled paying particular attention to the set up.(IT was then that I found the problem) Since then I have had no problem with accuracy and have used it for cutting tenons trenching and halve joints although not tried ripping as I have a small table saw and really don't like the look of this operation. The Ryobi also has a range of routing accessories available which I have considered buying. Does anyone have any experience with these? and are they worth buying? Your feedback on these would be appreciated.
Regards
Bob

Just to reinforce the comments already made, I found my DeWalt RAS was inaccurate. It was six months old when I purchased it from a guy who didn't like it because it wouldn't hold its settings. I kept it for a year and gave it to my dad who kept it for a year and replaced it with a table saw.

That's three people who gave it a thumbs down.

To be fair, that was 35 years ago.

Originally posted by ozwinner
Thanks Peter.
I didnt know that a RAS was so versatile.
I was hopeing that it could cut compound mitres, but flipping the head horizontal as well is something else.
I dont suppose you know if all RAS do this do you?
I will check for this when the time comes to buy one.

Hi

The RAS IS a very versatile tool. It is also a SAFE tool. Many of the RAS detractors seem to think that the tool is unsafe because of "stories" they have heard etc, etc.

No doubt as soundman has stated in his message that there have been some less than pleasurable experiences with the RAS. However the same can be said for table saws, routers drills etc, etc.

It does seem to be an urban myth that the RAS is scary and dangerous. Please let me tell you and others that the RAS is no more dangerous than any other tool. ALL tools need to be used as they were/are designed. Providing the RAS is used with the appropriate fittings and safety measures it does work VERY WELL.

As far as ripping is concerned the RAS can and does do a great job. If the blade guard and anti kickback pawls are fitted AND IN USE, then should a kickback occur the pawls will hold the timber and prevent kickback. This is just the same (except upside down <g>) as the table saw. I have ripped many panels on my RAS and I don't recall ANY incident of kickback occuring. The only time I have had any kickback was due to my own "error" by trying to cut/rip a narrow strip of timber using the fence to set the width ie the piece I wanted was BETWEEN the blade and fence. Now this was stupid and this is not the recommended method for either a TS or RAS!

The head of my RAS can be rotated 360deg horizontally and (I guess) about 240deg in the vertical plane.

As far as horizontal cutting is concerned, the original chipboard table had a square cut out to enable the motor shaft to extend below the table and have the blade very low to the table. Doing this of course requires a special fence (shop made from MDF) to provide safe cutting practice.

The only "flaw" with the RAS is its susceptability to losing accuracy. With all the flexibility built in sometimes the accuracy can be compromised. However with normal and careful use (as with a TS) this does not happen.

There is a step by step procedure to set up the RAS and there are a couple of good books on the RAS that outline these steps and provide great insight into features and jigs etc for the RAS.

You don't necessarily need a RAS in these days of the SCMS, however it would be and advantage to have an addtional blade that can be set up for a job and not have to reset for each step of a job. ie use the TS and RAS together for the benefits of both.

Many RAS users leave the arm at the accurately set 90deg setting and use a jig like you could on a TS to do 45deg cuts etc.

It is easier to to dadoes across long panels (eg 2400x300) than doing this task on a TS. Obviously a router does a better job on dadoes the either the RAS or TS. If you combine a router and RAS you can do very useful work.

There will always be those that do not like RAS's and that's ok. I began with an RAS and learned how to use it. As I did not have (until a month ago) a TS my RAS served all my cutting needs - that has been for around 20 years now!

Regards

Peter