? Radial arm saw or Chopsaw? For general shop use

[NCTurner]

Which is better for general shop use? And what brad or model is a good used buy?

 

[Rob]

Chop saw most defiantly, or the best of both worlds, a radial chop saw. I have a DeWalt chop saw, I love it. I wish I had held out for the radial chop saw.

 

[Bigdog72]

Sliding compound miter saw is only way to go.

 

[Douglas Robinson]

Hey Gary:

I have a Dewalt DW708 SCMS I am going to put up for sale if you are interested. Send me a PM

Doug

 

[Gotcha6]

Insofar as the ease of setup & convenience of changing & returning to specific angles and safety, the SCMS is top of the line. If you're thinking of making dentil moulding, rabbets, or any task involving dado setups, the RAS is better. For the $ in a general shop the SCMS or CMS will get far more use.

 

[jlwest]

I would recommend, as long as you ask my opinion, a sliding 12" compound miter saw. However, a 12" chop saw does most things for me. Price is usually related to product quality.

Jeff

 

[jtdums]

I would tend to agree with the others that sliding compound Miter is the way to go, but they can be cost prohibitive. If shop space allows, it is easier and cheaper, to find a non-slider compound and a radial arm and really get the benefits of both. (especially the dado as noted above) I have them next to each other and using a common fence and it works great.

 

[Glennbear]

I have both like Jim but without a common fence. I would echo his comments and add that a RAS is difficult to realign to a 90 degree cut after cutting a miter . Used Craftsman RAS are available regularly on CL and with the free safety upgrade kit with the new fence and tables are great for dados and 90 degree cuts. :wsmile:

 

[JimmyC]

SCMS ! this is the best overall saw for the shop, especially with a 12" blade. I have a slider, two compound miters and a radial arm saw and love them all, but if I had to downsize drastically to one saw, I would take the slider .

 

[froglips]

Yes, there is one in every crowd, and looks like i'm it!

I think the RAS is a far superior choice, unless portability is one of your main criteria.

Given the used maket for RAS, you can easily get one for a song.

Personally, I'd opt for both. A RAS and no bigger than a 10" non-compound miter saw. Price a 12" blade, ouch.

Yes, the RAS takes some more setup work, but its versitity is hard to match. Also, a RAS can take a dado stack. For example, a RAS with a dado stack is a fantastic choice for making tenons.

Jon Eakes wrote a great book, now a for sale PDF book, that takes most of they mystery out of the setup and tuning. Mike Duginski's book/dvd on machine setup is also very helpful. I don't have a Dewalt RAS (wish I did), but Mr. Sawdust has a book on that brand.

I have both a RAS and CMS. When I get to needing precision or more complex operations, the CMS usually comes up short.

RAS have a bad reputation for safety, but if you look at the details of the accidents most are operator error. Every powertool, sharp edge and even dull edged too can hurt you.

My worst accident to date was a dull utility knife. My friend got it good from a small drill press with a spade bit.

Thats my take, your milage may vary

Jim

 

[JimmyC]

Jim,
I agree with you about the RAS and the CMS, as long as you have the room for the RAS, a bunch of shops that I have seen don't have the room.

 

[cskipper]

The RAS has it's use, but there seem to be more injuries due to user error. Compound sliding mitre is awesome.

 

[redhawknc1]

I am upgrading my Dewalt 12" Chopsaw to a Dewalt 618 slider in an attempt to talk myself out of keeping my Vintage Dewalt RAS for space reasons. I know for sure I would miss the stacked dado usage in the RAS. Hopefully, I will be able to find the room and keep both. The RAS is a pleasure to use. And it's my only vintage machine. I had once dreamed of a shop with all vintage equipment!

 

[NCTurner]

To dado or not to dado? that is the question...

Found this on another site:

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/workshop/dado.html

Curious about the thoughts on this forum...

 

[Rob]

Re: To dado or not to dado? that is the question...

It would work, but for the cost of 3 or 4 good saw blades, you could buy a dado. I'm still using a $35 dollar set I bought at one of those Chinese tool sales at the VFW. Not the best, but in my budget and has been working for several years.

 

[Gotcha6]

I had once dreamed of a shop with all vintage equipment!

Whaddaya mean DREAM? That's all I can afford!:gar-La;
Some were bought new, some were bought used, and some were FREE!

 

[DaveD]

If what you are going to cut 90% of the time is crosscut narrow boards or trim then the chop saw is the way to go. You can set the angle on the chop saw in 5 seconds compared to probably a minute or so to get it accurately set on a radial arm saw. If you cut a BIG and ACCURATE 45 degree triangle out of 3/4" plywood you can use it to set the radial arm saw quickly to both 90 and 45 degree angles. It still gets 'old in a hurry' though on the radial arm saw.

Its all in the blade anyway. I think my 12" blades went for $100-125 each. I have both a 12" chop saw (older dewalt DW705?) and a 12" radial saw. Both do what they were intended to do (one 'chops' the other 'saws'). I don't own a table saw (no room).

Setting up a radial saw can be a challenge though to get it to be accurate in all planes.

 

[JimD]

I have both on a common fence (with a stick on ruler and multiple flip stops). My RAS is an old Ryobi, the one with a safety recall. It is less accurate - or takes more skill to cut accurately - than my 12 inch Hitachi double bevel CMS. I got the latter for $150 from reconditioned tool sales. They are back up around $180 now, last time I looked. I have never found anything more than very minor cosmetic differences in reconditioned tools so I buy them when the price is good.

A double bevel is usefull only occasionally to keep you from having to have fences on both sides of the saw. I wanted it mainly to get the motor up away from the blade. I like to cut crown upside down and backward against the fence and the normal motor placement to the right of the blade gets in the way. With the double bevel, you have the same clearance on both sides.

For cuts within it's capacity, the CMS is much easier to be accurate with. Capacity on a 10 inch is about 5 1/2 inches and the 12 inch adds about 2 inches to that. The RAS, at least mine, will move a little with pressure from the operator. If you know how much pressure and where to apply it, it will cross cut 12 inches accurately. You need a sliding miter saw to get 12 inch crosscut and they will not adjust up and down like you need to for tenons or half lap joints.

A negative hook angle blade helps a RAS. With a positive angle, it wants to pull into the work and you have to hold it back. When you fail, it jambs. With a negative angle, this can happen but it is easier to control so it doesn't. I like Freud blades but there are other good brands. The Hitachi blade I got with the saw (in addition to the lower tooth count blade that came with it) seems to not be perfectly flat. I will try another brand before too long.

Jim

 

[NCTurner]

OK so after much thought(and a great price) I decided to start with the RAS. Found it locally on CL the guy only used it to make several cuts over the years...still has original blade with no wear.....

:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc

 

[woodArtz]

Good looking saw! You rock!