Tool of the past or is a radial arm saw awesome?

[Roy G]

I always thought the RAS was designed for left-handed people. You turn it on, grab the stock with your right hand and pull the cutting part through with your left hand. No hands anywhere near the blade. Right-handed people tend to grab the pull handle with their right hand, putting the left hand close to the blade with short stock.

Roy G

 

[TBoomz]

Pat, true, this is one of those subjects you're going to find different camps and different opinions.

Sliding miters have largely replaced the radial arm. Its also a reason why not many are made anymore. If you check the major machine companies, I'm pretty sure you won't find a RAS carried by any of them. That said, the "old iron" saws or the good ones like Red has are very good saws but also very hard to come by and often as expensive as a quality slider.

The issues with the homeowner type RAS's are accuracy, holding settings, and power. You definitely have to keep a sharp blade on them, as well as the proper type blade.

Yes, they can be bought for next to nothing, but frankly that's about what they are worth. That said, it does have a place in my shop, as I'll explain. I've owned a Craftsman (sorry but a real POJ IMO) and an old iron DeWalt 9" which was a great saw, but unfortunately the motor died. My current saw is a Rigid - not much better than a C'man.

I also have a miter saw (non slider). In my shop, 90% of RAS use is rough cross cutting dimensional lumber (boards), period. I am not that concerned about maintaining exactly 90, but I will say this is the biggest issue with the common homeowner type RAS's (again, with the exception of the old iron like Red's). One bump on the arm and you're in for a realignment session. They also seem to mysteriously loose their setting just from normal use, so plan on doing an alignment check at least every few months.

In my shop, the miter saw for is the "go to" for cutting miters, especially to an exact angle (try dialing in 22.5 on a RAS). Again, unless you're dealing with a high caliber RAS, if you do cut a miter, you'll have to check/reset for 90 every time you change it. This puts a cramp on the work flow.

So this is why I would advocate passing on a RAS and go with a slider, and you'll probably never see a need for a RAS.

Bah, humbug on inaccuracy. It's not the tool, it's the brain behind it - or in this case, the front. That's what jigs are for. ..and clamps,...and stops,...etc. I guess I belong in the other camp. I use a Craftsman. I don't consider it a POJ. If anything I see it as the poor man's Shopsmith. It's a versatile tool that can do so much more than just crosscutting/ripping a piece of wood.

For someone "graduating up" from hand tools, if your budget and/or space is limited...and a RAS is available - I say go for it. Not long after the RAS came out, all manner of attachments were created for it.

The spindle opposite the blade, allows for other tools, e.g. drum sanders, jacobson chucks, buffing pads,...
It can be used to bore holes: vertically and horizontal.

I make bee hives. Making a jig and angling the head can cut out a handhold.
I've a rotary surfacing planer attachment [craftsman original] that allows me to level a board wider than my jointer.
Rotate the head down [minus blade] and you can have an overarm router.
Plus, there are now, all those DIY videos on Youtube that get around the factory made (and possibly hard to find) attachments. [as an example], someone configured a small wood lathe. He turned pen blanks.

For someone working out of a garage, where space is at a minimum, this tool can be a good fit. And as a few others here have said, they used it in their business and made do.

 

[TBoomz]

My Junior High shop teacher was also my neighbor. I bought his RAS at his estate sale. He had it set up with a cable attached to the motor head which went back to a pulley behind the upright and down to an old window weight. It created enough pullback that blade climb was minimal, and the saw always returned to the rear of the carriage.

I don't have a permanent setup for my RAS. I move it around as needed. I like to roll mine outside in the summertime when it's windy and I'm cutting long stock. But when I'm cutting a lot of short stuff, I (sometimes) prop up the front legs a "tad" so that the motor head rolls back [behind the fence] when I release the handle. It also stays put when I turn it on. I never use the locking knob.
However, when I first taught my 14 y.o. nephew and my brother's mentally-challenged 16 y.o. , to use the RAS,
I insisted they use the locking mechanism, before and after the cut.

 

[JimD]

I used my RAS yesterday. It is not used frequently but is handy sometimes. It sits side by side with my CMS and they share the same fence and stops. I am making nightstands based loosely on a Woodsmith design which calls for fronts with 1/4 by 1/4 dados to locate the drawer dividers. My RAS was already set to make 1/4 dados so it was just a matter of setting the height, setting the stop and plowing the dados. Many tools would do this but the RAS is near ideal for this.

Many seem to think the sliding compound miter saw has replaced the RAS. But while some will do dados like this it looks like the adjustment for depth would be much harder to make. My main issue is that they take too much depth on the bench. I also think a non slider is easier to be accurate with. So I like my 12 inch CMS and RAS combination.