Under table radial arm saws - Sawsmith 2000 and...

[heathicus]

Just a bit of trivia that I found interesting. I tried to find an appropriate existing thread to add this to, but none I found seemed a great fit, so here it is in a new thread.


One of the "unique" features of Shopsmith's Sawsmith 2000 table saw was the "under the table radial arm saw" as touted in this advertisement (which I think was a horrible ad):



But, this wasn't so "unique" after all. A saw by Craftsman called the "Builder's Saw" had just this feature - way back in the late 1940s. The following is from the 1951 Craftsman catalog.)





And here's some pictures of the real thing:



You'll notice that where the Sawsmith 2000 had the pull handle in front and under the table, the Craftsman Builder's Saw had the handle mounted to the splitter right above the blade! Also, notice the index holes on the left side of the table for the second miter gauge. Pretty neat.

Anyway, I thought it was really cool and interesting and wanted to share.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Very interesting, Heath. Do you have a feel for why these types of machine didn't catch on?

For anyone in the Ohio area that is interested, here's a clean-looking Sawsmith 2000 listed for $350 on Craigslist. I don't know much about them, but believe this one has the high-end fence option and extension table(s). Pay no attention to the lawnmower in the same ad!

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[Ed in Tampa]

Very interesting, Heath. Do you have a feel for why these types of machine didn't catch on?

I really looked hard at the Sawsmith 2000. I wanted to buy one in so badly.
However of the two I saw both had over .005 plus and minus blade slop moment side to side.
In fact the movement was so that you could not only feel it you could actually see the blade move is you put pressure on it from the side.

The problem was the carriage was poorly constructed and just would not hold the blade in one position.

Second problem every one complains about Radial Arm being dangerous moving the blade. However on the radial arm you could see the blade on the Sawsmith the blade could be hidden moving toward you before it cut through the wood.

third problem it was priced like a Powermatic or a Unisaw and it didn't have the stuff to compete.

[JPG]

Just because the blade is pulled 'like' a ras does not make it a ras. The "R" in ras refers to the pivotable arm for angle cuts. Not so with these. A chop saw could be called a radial arm saw since they also pivot(especially the newer sliding compound models(but since ras is a bad word:eek:, nobody does).