/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>611472
Get the radial saw if it's cheaper.

>>611474
I saw one similar to the one in my pic for $400. Should I get it?

>>611475
Yes

>>611479
Will cop radial arm saw.

If you can find one without any play sure, but good luck.

>>611472
Old DeWalts and Delta/Milwaukees are tanks and great saws. *Really* old Craftsmans were okay but anything from the 70's or later was meh. Really, unless you find a cabinet shop grade one for cheap don't bother with any made after about 1980. Thats when the plastic really started to creep in they would start losing their settings. You *want* a machines thats heavy as fuck and mostly iron/steel, not some imported plastic POS like in your pic.

Pick related. old "arn"

>>611501
70's DeWalt.

>>611501
>>611504
keep going

Sliding Compound Miter Saw and you can get one from HF for 100$ the only thing you can have to watch out for is overheating the engine. With that i recommend a saw blade sharpening tool. Also, Any tablet saw will do since cheap ones have manual controls

>>611506
This is one of the better Craftsman RAS.

>>611501
>>611504
>>611511
But don't the new ones have more horse power?

>>611508
A radial arm saw can be a table saw replacement. A mitre saw cannot.

See these "red" RAS from Craftsman? Thats when they started to go to shit. They are dirt common them. $50 is all I would pay but some crackpots think they are with up to $150. Don't get suckered.

Funfact. These machines were made for Sears by the Emerson corporation, the same people that made electronics. They used to have a good woodworking tools division. As you can tell from my review "used to" is the key phrase. Guess who bought the Emerson tool division? Ridgid. Quality went down, not up.

>>611514
How much do you need? 2-3 HP was pretty standard for these machines even going back to the 1940's.

This is an "Original Saw Company" machine. They are DeWalts old RAS saw division. DeWalt invented the RAS, it was their original product. These guys still make good machines based on the style of DeWalts from the 50's and 60's. They are *expensive*.

>>611515
>A radial arm saw

These things you can easily find in craigslist and i Know because i have tried searching for one before. I mean a tablet saw does the job for the majority of wood work needed.

>Quality went down

Costs went down and people can afford such tools that is why. Electric tools are easy to service anyway so it's not much of a problem if OP is worried about anything happening with cheap stuff. Radial Arm Saw is fun to have but it's better just having a circular saw

>>611520
Its not the service life or reliability of the tools that is the issue, its that you can't cut strait with them. They keep losing their zero because plastic and cheap stamped sheet steel aren't as rigid and resistant to temperature expansion as cast iron is. They are flimsy. Let them sit for a month without using them and you have to re-zero or the cuts are off. After so many cuts, you have to re-zero them. Big change in temperature, have to re-zero them. Etc, etc. With good quality saws you only have to re-zero them if you move them, replace the blade or once in a blue moon just in case.

Rockwell branded Delta saw here. They owned many brands over the years. Delta, Milwaukee, Porter-Cable, Beaver, Crescent, Walker-Turner, all long since sold off or shut down.

>>611472
My dad has a radial arm saw and when I was growing up it was useful as fuck. Now I miss having it.

>>611524
>you can't cut strait with them

It's call adjustment and yes you can find that is very possible to do such things now. Even for ops sake he would be better with just a plain circular saw and some clamps. Not only that but zeroing takes seconds do not understand why you make a huge fuss about them and they are lightweight. radial arm saw's are stationary devices so you can use them on the field or anything else

>>611527
This guy is clearly going to use this in a shop setting. Space is an issue and hes trying to replace a table saw/miter saw, not having something to cut the ends off studs out on a job site. There is a reason they have tools like these mate. Lets see you cut a dado, make 15 compound angels miter cuts *without* having to measure before each one, or pop in a shaper head and use the saw like a router. These are all things you can do with a table saw or radial arm saw. The only one you could do with a circular saw is the middle one and then only if you had a jig/table to set it up on. Putting a circular saw on a table kind of defeats the purpose.

Every tool has its place. Circular saws are great for when you need to make simple cuts and you need to take it with you. I recommend everyone have one. It is no replacement for a table saw or radial arm saw though and acting like it is is just plain ignorant.

>>611532
>It is no replacement for a table saw


So, OP should stick with the table saw instead of getting a radial arm saw. Not only that but it's better to have a portable router than using some attachment that doesn't give you much control

>>611511
if that's yours, you can get a free replacement blade guard and table. Pretty much all radial arm saws were recalled in the 90s for being death traps.

never ever cross cut anything if it not against the fence, and never rip without the riving nice. I'm super serious.

>>611504
My dad has one from the 50's and all he's ever had to do is replace the blade and the motor brushes.
I'm not sure you can do that with modern electric motors.

>>611551
>modern electric motors

They are all brushed motors the same can be said for anything made in the last century

>>611568
Maybe so.
http://www.rakuten.com/prod/tep1067-d3-540-monster-horsepower-mod-brushless-7-turn-tric1067/251198532.html?listingId=292630237&scid=pla_google_BestServiceStores&adid=18184&gclid=COWkv47Rk70CFStk7AodcGMACQ

>>611541
Actually the ONLY thing a RAS can't do is rip a 4x8 sheet in half

>>611572
You can service brush less motors as well but no point in using them when brush works better for any power tool. The only thing that uses brush less are impact tools and those are easily serviceable

>>611579
And now I must destroy you

>>611541
When I said its no replacement, I was talking to the guy suggesting you used a $40 circular saw as a replacement for a table saw.

>>611547

Uhh, no. Pretty sure the statute of limiting on that kind of stuff runs out if it was made before the Carter administration.

>>611551
I have a DeWalt Powershop 1400 that I got for free off Craig's List. It was "broken" and left by a tenant that moved out so the other guy didn't want to deal with it. I rebuilt the power switch and away it went. I need to carriage bearings but thats it.

>>611576
This. Its a bit harder to use than a table saw for certain things but it really is much more useful overall.

>>611541
When I said its no replacement, I was talking about suggesting you use a $40 circular saw as a replacement for a table saw. A radial arm saw is every bit as useful as a table saw and more versatile with the right accessories. You really need to brush up on your English as a Second Language studies.

>>611547

No. Pretty sure the statute of limitations on that kind of stuff runs out if it was made before the Carter administration. Anyway, it was from their newer, shittier saws.

>>611551
I have a DeWalt Powershop 1400 that I got for free off Craig's List. It was "broken" and left by a tenant that moved out so the other guy didn't want to deal with it. I rebuilt the power switch and away it went. I need to carriage bearings but thats it.

>>611576
This. Its a bit harder to use than a table saw for certain things but it really is much more useful overall.

where you from, OP? I've got an industrial RAS i've never had much use for.

>>611607
the court case was o ly like1998, and it covers line 40 years of ras. Some they give you a cash settlement, but you have to send them the motor, some they give you a new guard and table. Google radial arm saw recall and put in your model number. Shits cash

>>611620
Southwestern PA, about a half hour from Pittsburgh.

>>611620

Central NY, Finger Lakes.

>>611620
Post pic of saw.

Miter Box Saw is honestly all around better in my opinion. It does all the Radial Arm Saw functions, and takes up less space.

Radial arm saws are more versatile than a miter or table saw, but more awkward, cumbersome and dangerous.
Today, radials are mostly just used for making large miters on wide stock such as countertop. A miter saw is better tool for mitering and table saw is better at ripping.

>>611819
Yes, I can effortlessly cut wide boards and rip with it.

>>611623
Wow, you're right. It goes back to saws made as early as 1958. Sadly, in Feb. of this year they changed the remedy. You can only return the saw carriage (rendering the saw useless) for a lump sum payment instead of getting an improved guard replacement.

>>611819
Not even close. You can't put a dado blade in any miter saw I've ever seen, you can't make rip cuts with them (which isn't the best idea with a RAS but you can do it), you can't mount sanding drums in them, you can't mount molders in them. For cross cuts they are every bit as good as a radial arm saw, but they are a one trick pony. Radial arms saws can do more than cross cuts. If space is an issue they really shine because you can replace almost every saw in your shop with a RAS. If its not an issue, yeah, get a miter saw and a table saw. That way you can set each to the type of cuts you like to make and then not have to make many changes when you need to make different types of cuts.

>>611825
I mostly agree with this. I don't find them cumbersome but they are somewhat more dangerous than, say, a table saw. The blade is moving instead of the wood while also spinning towards you. That said, I have seen people flung a good distance after standing in front of the saw instead of to the side and get a nice piece of 3/4th plywood shot into their guts when the blade binds up. You have to be mindful of any power tool, even miter saws. Just ask Lefty.

>>611858
IMO an RAS is superior to a miter saw, it can crosscut wider boards.

>>611620
Post pic of saw faggot!

>>611856
No you ca--
Oh... hehehe

>>611858
It depends how old the saw is, the older saws are the return for cash, I know the ones from the 80s are the upgraded table and guard. Not sure when the cutoff is.

It doesn't matter. I have a radial arm saw, a miter saw, and I now need to convert our track saw into a table saw because the radial and miter combined won't cut it.
At some point you'll need all three. If you can afford the two now, get them now and get the radial arm saw when you eventually need it later.

>>611620
Post saw.

>>611771
>>611799
sorry guys. atlanta :(
will post pic next time i'm near storage unit.
it's just fucking sitting there..being brand new as fuck.

I have a 2002 craftsman RAS and a craftsman sliding mitre saw. Both have the same cut capacity. RAS can obviously rip, but i have a tablesaw for that.

I just moved into a smaller building, and im strapped for space and a bit of money.

Im thinking about selling one, but unsure on which one. Mitersaw is easy to set up, portable, and can bevel cut.
RAS is a pain in the ass to set up, (its way out of alignment atm) BUT I like using jigs with it. And i have sentimental attachment to it, which is weird.. It hates me and wants to cut my fingers off sometimes. They're both new pieces of craftsman shit tho... we used to only buy from sears because discounts.

That being said i use my table saw for 90% of the cuts when i feel the need to chew through wood using a blade driven by an electric motor.

MOST of the time i just use good old hand saw.