Waldvogel Review Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 I have a craftsman 10" radial arm saw that i love. I mostly leave my dado stack on it. As i begin to reconfigure my shop and making something a little more permanent, i am looking to you guys for pictures and ideas on how to layout my SCMS and my Radial Arm saw together. Ive seen a few pictures where they are in the same bench and sharing a fence. Ive also seen where guys make removable blanks that can insert a kreg k4\k5 into it. I have a 2 car garage i have to make work. So as multipurpose as I can make this wall with 2 nice long 90 degree fence, the better please share how you are using your Radial Arms saws and why it works for you? My favorite video ive seen so far is Frank H. on youtube. OF COURSE, my shop is not as massive as his. so ill have to compromise a bit lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 When I had my radial arm saw - like yours a well built Craftsman, it was one continuous bench with my miter saw and that work well. But I was really hanging on to it for sentimental reasons, it was my first big power tool. I wanted to make room for a drum sander and I wasn't really using the saw. It is now next door with my son in law and grandson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldvogel Review Posted January 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 2 minutes ago, Chet K said: When I had my radial arm saw - like yours a well built Craftsman, it was one continuous bench with my miter saw and that work well. But I was really hanging on to it for sentimental reasons, it was my first big power tool. I wanted to make room for a drum sander and I wasn't really using the saw. It is now next door with my son in law and grandson. I really love this thing for dado's Its so fricken easy to hog something out by eye. I also have went a different route with my table saw, im building my dewalt 7480 inside a table with a good delta t square fence. So having something with an arbor large enough to except the full stack is nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 At one time I used it to cut drawer and door panels that would fit for cabinetry, but really like it for dentil molding.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldvogel Review Posted January 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I suppose not too many people on this forum are still Radial arm users ? LOL I thought for sure there would be some die hard Radial Arm guys that love the Dewalt or old Craftsmans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Nothing wrong with it if it works for you. I've never used one, but my grandfather made 14 beautiful grandfather clocks (one for each of his kids... yeah.. 14) with his. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandorLush Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I have a good strong B&D from right after they bought DeWalt, spent the time to build a new table for it, get it all aligned, used it like twice since and have no plans to use it again. I kept thinking about the dado stack but I would rather have the room back in my shop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I don't have one and don't see one as a priority purchase. If my dad gets rid of his I may toy with it. We'll see. 7 minutes ago, Waldvogel Review said: I suppose not too many people on this forum are still Radial arm users ? LOL I thought for sure there would be some die hard Radial Arm guys that love the Dewalt or old Craftsmans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Yes, as stated above I had one for a long time but moved it next door to my son in laws to make room for a drum sander that I use ALL the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandorLush Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Mine exploded three pine 1x4 fences by grabbing boards and throwing them thru the fence so that was enough to tell me I have no business using it. I fully understand it was user error but clearly I wasn't learning my lesson and stopped while I still had all my fingers toes and eyes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldvogel Review Posted January 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 18 minutes ago, CandorLush said: Mine exploded three pine 1x4 fences by grabbing boards and throwing them thru the fence so that was enough to tell me I have no business using it. I fully understand it was user error but clearly I wasn't learning my lesson and stopped while I still had all my fingers toes and eyes How did you manage that? Ripping on one? 22 minutes ago, Chet K said: Yes, as stated above I had one for a long time but moved it next door to my son in laws to make room for a drum sander that I use ALL the time. What type of Drum Sander are you using? Jet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandorLush Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I remember one being a crosscut dado I was doing with a normal blade where I was holding it to the fence and moving the piece to set up the next pass and the blade hit the board while the board was in motion and shot it through the screen in my window. Glad it was a nice day so I didn't have to replace the glass. Only my shorts. The other two were probably equally stupid uses but it was clear that something wasn't connecting between how I needed to work and how I actually work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Waldvogel Review said: What type of Drum Sander are you using? Jet? SuperMax 19-38 I think it is head and shoulders above the jet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 I still use the 12" Craftsman radial arm saw that was probably the first tool I bought when I started into business for myself in 1974. It still sits on the 6' long frame that I built for it the day I unpacked it. That stand has had the top replaced some unknown number of times, but it still rolls on the same casters. It's been set up for precision right angle cuts since the early '90s. Just a couple of weeks ago the Woodworker I that's been on it the majority of the time since the mid '80s went back to Forrest to be sharpened, and they called me to tell me that it didn't have any more life in it. You can tell by just wearing out one blade that it doesn't get used that much. I told them to send me another one just like it with the other blades coming back this way. The rollers on the motor head have eccentric centers, so you can play around with it and get all of the play out of it, as well as aligned perfectly. I haven't needed to touch mine in the 25 years or so since I spent a few hours fiddling with it, but I never do rough cutting with it, or let the blade lock up in anything. I'm pretty sure one lockup would throw it out of whack. As it is, if the top under it hasn't worn out the slot too much (like it is in the photo above-the top layer of two pieces of 3/4" birch plywood can be swapped out easily with screws down through the top), it will put a perfectly polished cut on a piece with no tearout top or bottom. I mostly use it for tenon shoulders, and just recently for finishing tenons a bit too long to cut with the tenoning jig on the tablesaw-picture below before going to the RAS with a dado stack to finish. I almost never do crosscuts on a tablesaw. Just by luck, the deck on top of the RAS stand is the exact same height at the deck on the sliding miter saw. Mine gets moved around every year or two, so I don't bother to even try to get the fences aligned perfectly. The six foot fence on the radial saw is plenty long for anything, and the one on the miter saw is good enough for what I do with that. I have them set at a very slight angle to each other so that a long board can share each top, but bypasses the fence on either saw. Both tops are covered with 3/4" Birch plywood (extensions only on the miter saw), so any time I need a stop for multiple cuts, I just screw one to the top where it's needed-see picture above for high-dollar stop that works as good as any, and I can trust it for any number of hundreds of cuts. Both tops are screwed together underneath so a stop on one used for the other saw still stays an exact fixed distance. I've done several million dollars worth of work while using this setup, and don't have any need for anything "better". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuxleyWood Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 On 1/16/2017 at 11:55 AM, Waldvogel Review said: I suppose not too many people on this forum are still Radial arm users ? LOL I thought for sure there would be some die hard Radial Arm guys that love the Dewalt or old Craftsmans While the number of RAS users is relatively small, I gave mine up 3 years ago, I think the bigger problem is the subset of people that use both a CSMS and a RAS is getting extremely small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldvogel Review Posted March 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 While the number of RAS users is relatively small, I gave mine up 3 years ago, I think the bigger problem is the subset of people that use both a CSMS and a RAS is getting extremely small. Yea I can see that We shall see how often I use mine Bought it for 80$ in better condition than most similar ones on CL Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 It does a lot of things that make it the right choice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylder Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 I just sent mine off for the RAS recall (google it $100) I replaced it with a SCMS. I mainly used it for milling stock closer to finished length, and never used it for anything that would be finish dimensions. I just never wanted to try and keep it setup true. But use what fits your workflow, be careful with the RAS, they are finicky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdbuilder Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 On 1/16/2017 at 0:55 PM, Waldvogel Review said: I suppose not too many people on this forum are still Radial arm users ? LOL I thought for sure there would be some die hard Radial Arm guys that love the Dewalt or old Craftsmans This is my go to RAS, Dewalt 1511 circa 1968. Bought for less than $200, stripped - repainted - new table. I am working on a 1961 1200 restoration, I like to have 1 setup for cross cuts and the other dedicated to dado's. I even use it to rip occasionally just to make the nervous nellys cringe <g>. Totally safe when done right on this machine which is finely tuned. However, the dust collection ripping is not so great so I mostly use the Unisaw for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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