I inherited a Radial Arm Saw

[AtomSmasher]

My grandpa was a bit of a carpenter and even built every house he lived in since the 1950's, but he died before I got into the hobby.  My uncle recently came by my place and I showed him some of the projects I've done and am working on and he said he had grandpa's old saw and that I could have it.

I just picked it up yesterday and it is one large saw.  Its a DeWalt 790 radial arm saw, which is now my first saw attached to a table (my only saw was a hand held circular saw) and it appears to be an extremely versatile saw.  I think I'm going to need to pick up a few books on what can be done with a RAS because it looks like theres so much more that can be done with this over a standard table saw.

[bfauska]

Congratulations on the new tool.  One warning though.  You may notice that radial arm saws have recently been replaced in most shops with the newer but slightly less versatile sliding compound miter saws.  The reason behind the change is safety.  The blade on a radial arm saw spins in a direction that makes it want to come out toward you when it starts a cut, like a tire driving a car.  Always keep your hand clear of the path of the blade on this saw.  I had a professor in college with 4.5 fingers on one hand, the missing half the result of an accident on the RAS. 

In no way am I saying don't use the saw, they are amazingly versatile.  Just be aware that a saw that spins in the direction that a RAS does will almost literally come after any improperly placed fingers when making a cut.

[AtomSmasher]

Good to know.  Thanks for the tip.

[TroyO]

Don't panic too much, they work well and are safe if some basic precautions are taken. I love mine.
One thing to note, if you decide to replace the blades make sure you get one designed for a RAS. The rake angles are different from most tablesaw/miter saw blades.

[ChadTower]

Good to know.  Thanks for the tip.

Fingertip, that is.

[shardian]

I'd love to have a radial arm saw of my own. Luckily, there is one here at our shop and it comes with a dude who will do the work for me if I ask.

[bigh4th]

common sense is the KEY to using a RAS (or any saw for that matter).  Always stay clear of the blade, NEVER take your hand off of the carriage handle when the blade is spinning (unless its locked down), and always be aware of direction of rotation.  Most RAS injuries happen because the opperator is ripping a sheet of lumber and is unaware of which side of the saw is infeed or outfeed.

That said, a RAS is one of the most versitile tools you can have in your shop. various types of cutting, various types of sanding, dado cuts, boring and drilling, light router work, etc. etc..

Just remember, as much work as you can do with a RAS, they will still go through your body like a fart through pantyhose.

And yes, they are being phased out. Mainly because people who have no buisness owning tools of any kind hop on them like they're a toy.  Too much liability.

 There was a video on youtube of a woman cross-cutting some boards on a RAS.  They were bragging about how good they were at using the saw, blah blah.  In the video, she had the saw all the way OUT twords her, was placing the boards next to the fence with the saw ON without a hand on the handle, and then SHOVED the saw backwards to make the cut.  I left a comment about how lucy she is to have all of her digits and/or her apendages and the video was pulled.

Those are the kind of people who are getting great tools like this removed from the market.

-Harry

[Crankshaft]

I also inherited my grandfather's radial arm saw.  I recently checked out the book Radial Arm Saw Techniques by Roger W. Cliffe from the library and although I've been using my ras for years, I was amazed at how little I knew about my saw.  I was glad to see that TroyO mentioned the ras blades.  I've been buying table saw ripping blades all these years, and I've got marks on the wall where the saw threw the lumber I was ripping to prove it.  Even now though, I'm crazy cautious about ripping. 

I'm planning on buying a couple of blade lasers specifically for radial arm saws.  I can't remember the company who makes them, but you have to order direct because they don't have many distributors.  I think this will make leveling the table and squaring the saw (time consuming and super important) much easier.

I used a door from Lowes as my table, and having that huge table is awesome, but I had to build a couple of legs for  it because the saw wanted to tip over on me from the weight.  The book I mentioned has some super table ideas.

Make your first project a couple of good featherboards.

Brian Z

[AtomSmasher]

Thanks for the info everyone, and I'll definately check out that book Crankshaft.

[Stormy151]

What the heck?  Is the Radial Arm Saw some kind of Universal Grandfather Hand Me Down gift?  I got one too! 

[ChadTower]

What did you do with the big pile of fingers behind it?

[shardian]

Damn Chad, are all saws part of the pit bull breed to you or something?

[Crankshaft]

I've never really been afraid of cutting my fingers off so much as the saw throwing the part I was cutting.  I really wish I had a power feed for mine.  I think the reason that they are inherited from grandfathers so much is because they used to be very popular, and then they fell out of favor as people bought compound miter saws and table saws, so there's not much demand for them these days making competition between grandkids pretty low.  Personally I really like my ras, and I wouldn't trade it for a miter saw and a table saw (although if I had a miter saw and a table saw, I probably wouldn't use my ras as much).

Anyway, the laser guide I talked about in my earlier post is the Avenger part number 21367.  It seems like nobody stocks it, even online, so you have to buy it direct.  The web page is:
http://www.avengerproducts.com/default.asp?PageID=12
I haven't bought one yet, so I can't give a review, but I plan on buying two, one for each side of the blade.  Setting up the table square is everything, and these seem like they would help for that, as well as making cutting easy.

Brian Z

[ChadTower]

Damn Chad, are all saws part of the pit bull breed to you or something?

Just a joke, man... saws are all about the user, not the saw. 

[rovingmind]

Radial arm saws are fun, great for swatting mosquitos with 2x4s while they sit on the wall. 

[ChadTower]

Radial arm saws are fun, great for swatting mosquitos with 2x4s while they sit on the wall. 

...across the street.   

[WaRpEd]

Kidding aside I would replace that piece of particle board on the front with a new one.
With the grooves in the wood could cause a board your cutting to tip and bind the blade.
Read kick back or missing finger here.
Safety first