Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw
(113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut
is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction.
I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at
that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably
old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears
repair
store?

How long is the cord and what gage? If you've got it on a long
extension cord or there's a long run to the fuse/breaker panel then it
may not be getting enough current.


Are you ripping or crosscutting?

If you're ripping then not only is alignment an issue but that saw is
a lot happier with a rip blade.

If you're crosscutting are you cutting on the push or the pull? You
should be cutting on the pull, and _control_ the movement. Is the
blade parallel to the arm? If not then it's cutting sideways even if
it's perpendicular to the fence.

If you don't already have it, get a copy of "Fine Tuning Your Radial
Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes. It's out of print but you should be able to
find a used copy on ebay or Amazon or see if anyone who got the PDF
when it was available (for pay from the author) will email you a copy.

Go through the step by step procedure in that book for setting up a
Craftsman saw and the problem will likely go away.



--
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--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)