Radial Arm Saw

[dusty]

When I need to use the tilted table to make a cut where the "angle is critical" I do not use the protractor on the tilting table. I use a digital angle gauge (Wixey for me). I also have one from Sears (digital level) that works well. To fine tune the tilt angle I use the adjustable stop collar that is installed in a block of wood that spans the way tubes. Get the tilt angle close and then tweak with the stop collar.

I'll try to locate a photo so you can see better what I am talking about. I use the adjustable stop collar for this function far more than more anything else.

I am unable to locate a photo that shows the adjustable stoip collar being used for adjusting table tilt but with some imagination this image shows the same procedure. In this image I am using a piece of threaded rod through a block of wood that spans the tubes. Tilt is adjusted my adjusting the length of the threaded rod. Same procedure - different tools.

[robinson46176]

I agree with Ed (Fla.) and Dusty both...
I have said for years that you should have at least one Shopsmith, at least one regular tablesaw and at least one RAS...
I worked for years using only a RAS (Rockwell with a double arm) and quite frankly have never understood why so many seem to have so much trouble ripping with one. I must have ripped a mile of stock, both boards and sheet goods. I did read one account where it quickly became obvious that the operator was trying to rip backwards, climb cutting... Of course it climbed up on the board and spit it across the shop. I had an 8' extension table on each side with a fence at the back and it worked extremely well. That old Rockwell (badged as Penn-Crest) had a very good working anti-kick-back assembly and of course I always used it.
I grew up as a teen watching all kinds of woodworking demo TV shows, mostly the Dewalt's, in the late 1950. I took all of the shop classes I could in high school and several at BSU in 1960 - 1961.
I have an older Craftsman RAS right now and while it might take me a half-day to clear the table off I have absolutely no qualms about using it for any normal function.

I have always believed that more folks get in trouble while trying to use a machine to cut wood pieces that are too small than trying to cut pieces that are too big.

On a tablesaw side note I have 4 (maybe 5, I should look) tilt arbor tablesaws. Three are in my woodshop and one in the farm shop and maybe one in a storage shed. One is my very good Ridgid TS-3650 (bought new a few years ago) and the others are bench saws on stands. Several of the bench saws were bought at auction for between $2 and $60. I see them all of the time for about $30 to $40. A pretty reasonable and easy answer to avoid long tilt table cutting...

[everettdavis]

Back in the day my friend didn't use a Wixie. all he had was a magnetic angle finder he stuck to the miter bar on the miter gauge to match the angles on the two work tables, then elevated the out feed with a 4' level to match.

Wixie's are really accurate.

If floor wasn't level when the table was at 90 degrees, it would show up and he would compensate for the level variance.

Everett

Magnetic Angle Locator.jpg (58.1 KiB) Viewed 10846 times

[reible]

I have no problem with a RAS (radial arm saw). If I had the room I'd have one. My first experience was when I worked as a carpenters helper and that is the only saw on site except for skill saws. One of my many jobs was ripping lumber with the ras. I would be covered in saw dust after ripping up a pile of lumber but I never felt like it was going to "get me".

By virtue of it having to be handled a lot adjustments were frequent and the biggest thing was keeping the table level. The table was pretty beat up before they would replace it so that might have been an issues as well. Once the site was secure the saw would be left and was much more stable then. The big thing to me was the amount of dust that was produced that had no place to go. In those days there were no dust collection or miter boxes or for that mater guided saws.

Our home shop had both a conventional table saw and a comb saw system that had a smaller table saw and jointer with a dual shaft motor so depending on which belt was on gave you that piece of equipment to work with. That table saw was a tilting table. We used that one for mostly smaller projects like bird houses and boxes and it got me use to tilting tables.

When I was on my own I got a rockwell table saw and while it worked I didn't love it. So after I got my new shopsmith I sold it to a guy who used it to remodel his kitchen.... he later sold it to someone else etc etc.

About the same time I got my table saw one of my brothers invested in a ras. I got to use it for a few projects and really liked it. By then they had added some safety features and improvements. I wished that I had invested in one of those rather then the rockwell. I had even planned to get a ras to add to the shop but it just never happened.

For smaller projects the shopsmith works fine, but at some point you run out of room to make the cut without hitting the floor. So for larger projects you need to look to other ways. Even a lot of smaller projects lend themselves to other ways of doing things like the tilted sled designs or the likes.

To be honest if you have some larger projects that need the bevel cuts you might want to start thinking of guided saw systems. Yes even they have limits but not anywhere as limiting as the shopsmith or a ras. The other option is to get more creative with your designs and do you have done and use your shopsmith.

Ed

[JPG]

Not to be overlooked is the possibility of using BOTH the tilted table AND the 45° sled. That places the workpiece in a horizontal plane = ∞ length.

PRETEND THIS POST NEVER EXISTED!!!!!!

[BuckeyeDennis]

Not to be overlooked is the possibility of using BOTH the tilted table AND the 45° sled. That places the workpiece in a horizontal plane = ∞ length.

If the workpiece is in a horizontal plane, and the blade is vertical (and does not tilt), how does one achieve a bevel cut?

[JPG]

WHOOPS!!!!!

[algale]

Haven't done this myself, but if the stock isn't too thick, mount the molder with the 45 degree bevel inserts, and keep the table horizontal. Probably 3/4 max thickness on the stock.

[everettdavis]

I am thinking about an area that when done will be a combination of a laid in Radial Arm Saw, and a Miter Saw similar to elements in the two photos attached.

The RAS extension on mine, I hope to have hinged in a drop away with slide out 2x4 supports below.

I will use stem slotted elevator bolts, T-Nuts and lock nuts to level the Radial Arm Saw from beneath to the fixed table countertop, with a drop in replaceable Masonite type top plate over the saw area.

Have some of you built something similar for your shops?

Everett

radial_arm_saw_setup_1 from a contributor Woodweb.jpg (21.14 KiB) Viewed 10757 times

RAS and Mitre Saws from srcasko.jpg (30.19 KiB) Viewed 10757 times

[masonsailor2]

I have a Craftsman 10 inch RAS and in the day used it for everything and it worked. I don't use it much anymore because I have better tools for the job but in its day I used it for everything. You can wire it for 220 also. I built a lot of furniture with just the RAS and a router. I still have an interesting attachment for it that allows you to mount a router on the motor to make an overhead router. I have a tilting arbor TS but for most jobs I still prefer the SS for bevel cuts. It works well and it allows me to leave a setup at a specific angle and then continue to use the TS. It actually been quite a while since I have moved my TS from 90 deg. Many times when building cabinets or furniture I will be making cuts in a sequence and having the multiple saws set up gives me more versatility. As far as adjustment of the angle I use a wixey which works well. I like Dusty's idea of the all thread for fine adjustments. If the cut takes high accuracy I will clamp a 2X4 to the way tubes and then run the extension tubes through the main table to rest on the 2X4 for added stabIlity.
Paul