Guess what I scored today...

[pheasantplucker]

A 1979 Sears 10" Craftsman Radial Arm Saw! The tables (front and rear) and table spacer and rip fence are in need of replacement, but other than that, this thing is sweet. Now I can do miter cuts, bevel crosscuts, compound crosscuts, bevel ripping and use a dado. I'm stoked. A friend of mine called me. His girlfriend is moving and she wanted to give this saw (her dad's before he died) to a good home. I gave her a gift certificate to a bookstore (worth $25), cause I didn't want to take it for nothing... By the way...the thing is mounted on a heavy duty welded stand. Saw and stand probably weigh close to 250 lbs.

[tinknal]

Cool beans!

[Crowbar]

I have a wood shop with one of them in it and I wouldn't use it for anything but a straight cut. They are dangerous.They had a recall on them ,check and see if they will still do it.They replaced a lot of mine for nothing.I got mine cheep to but not as cheep as you. Good deal!

[po boy]

I got a dewalt 7740 (?) in 1978 and still using it. It is a dangerous piece of machinery. use extreme caution. I have had a piece of a bevel cut shoot into my leg as well as through a sheet rock wall. Make sure you research how to use it safely.

[Windy in Kansas]

I use my table saw whenever I can as I do believe it is much safer.
In the mid 1980s I traded a deepfreeze for a Craftsman radial arm saw. The old cast iron kind. Lacks some power of the modern ones but the cast iron makes it pretty well bulletproof. Had a maple table and fence.

Please, do be very careful when using a dado with one as when cutting that much material it will want to zip through the wood too fast. Hold it back firmly.

[alleyyooper]

Back in the late 1970's I worked with a real nice guy who was killed by one of them. I was given a dewalt about 10 years ago. If I can't use the table saw or the mider saw It doesn't get done.
Keep the floor in the area of that saw very clean Use a dust collecter so no saw dust gets on the floor. Maybe add some more weight to the rear of the table. Might paint the floor and spread sand in the freash paint. If you start to fall let loose of that killer saw.

Al

[Ross]

I have one those Craftsman saws. I don't use it much admitedly. I'm not gettign rid of mine any time soon either but its good to read some warnings!

[OntarioMan]

So why are radial arm saws more dangerous than any other piece of cutting machinery?

[Bret4207]

Holy smokes I must be getting old. I've been using my Dads radial arm saw since I was about 10 so that's 41 years. He bought it in the mid 60's and we did everything with it- cross cut, rip, dado, sand, mould, drill, used it as a surface grinder, buffed, even had a handheld dremel type rig that ran off the arbor. In later years I used saws as large as 24" at a plant I worked at. Where this "DANGER" stuff comes from I don't understand. These aren't toys and demand a good level of respect, but they're certainly no more dangerous than a skilsaw, chainsaw, gun, etc. It's just tool guys.

BTW- congrats on the Craftsman! That's what mine is. Sears used to put out a book on using then that was very complete. There are also a few websites dedicated to making full use of these fantastic tools. Enjoy!

[Crowbar]

Of all my tools that is the last one I use and I only make straight cuts with it and I am really careful with it. Be careful and you will soon find out what we are talking about.

[alleyyooper]

Fellow I worked with who died, they figured he had slipped on some saw dust on his floor. Instead of letting go of the saw handle he hung on to save the fall pulling the cutting blade into his head when the saw and table tiped.

You have noticed they no longer sell them havn't you?

Al

[Bret4207]

They no longer sell radial arm saws??? I mean no offense sir, but you're entirely wrong.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=1312047958954

http://www.originalsaw.com/

http://www.google.com/search?q=Radial+arm+saws&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[Ray]

I have a sears radial arm saw and went to classes at sears when I got it. they are extremely dangerous, so never stand in front of the board being cut! They are fine when you get them set correctly for angle cuts cross cuts, but watch those rips they can hurt you bad! I use my table saw for rips. the grips on the radial saw wont catch the material if it grabs. It will throw it through a concrete block wall! or you if your in front of the board. I have a 16 inch radial saw that works correctly but it has heavy grabs.

[Bret4207]

Radial arm saws, skill saws, chainsaws, sawzalls, welders, floor jacks, nail guns, ropes,chains, swimming pools, football, cars/trucks/tractors/lawnmowers...all are dangerous, people die every day from all of them. Where this irrational fear of the radial arm saw comes from is beyond me. It's like all the people that are scared to death of cordwood saws. 99% if them have never even seen one run. Any tool is dangerous, let's apply a bit of common sense to the argument please.

[clovis]

My dad bought a brand new Craftsman RAS in '81 or so. I grew up using that saw, and strongly prefer it to a table saw.

The motor died on that saw last year, and we sorely miss that saw...I mean we really miss it.

The only thing I ever thought was dangerous was using it as a shaper. Dad picked up a set of used shaping blades, but we didn't have the safety cover. I doubt he would ever run it again with the shaping/molding blades without using a safety shield, and I know I wouldn't.

In all of the years running that saw, I've only seen one board kicked up, and it was just a little 10 inch long board...that was years and years ago...1985 maybe?

The big thing to me is watching where you pull the blade. Make sure you hold the wood so that you don't pull the blade across your arm or hand.

I'm a bit envious that you have a RAS. Wanna sell me the motor?