"the_tool_man" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Toller:

I've had a RAS for about 3 years. I, too, bought a 2-year-old
Craftsman that had hardly been used. I tuned it up and put a new table
on it, and it works quite well. I have found, however, that its
biggest weakness is the repeatability of the 90 degree stop. If you
leave it locked at 90 degrees, it stays there, but if you move it, it
comes back to some random angle between 89 and 91 degrees. What I tend
to do for mitered cuts is leave it at 90 degrees, and devise an angled
guide block to present the work to the blade at the appropriate angle.

Regards,
John.


A RAS has it's uses, and in it's time, solved a good many problems, however
a good miter saw is cheaper and reduces RAS as the saw-of-choice by a
significant amount. That, and learning to use routers to create dados in
long boards.

I have a good (meaning old) Craftsman RAS and I haven't used it in months.
Once, I made cutoff boards to use with my circular saws, (7.5"and 5" trim),
the use of the RAS dropped to zero. Without any real in-depth thought,
about the only thing that comes to mind where I'd revert to the RAS, is if I
had the need to cut big, deep notches or cross dado's in some long deep
boards.

I've been fussin' around now for two years over a dedicated mortiser. If I
ever do get one, I'd guess that the RAS would be headed for the garage sale.

James....

Even rough-in carpenters will tend to bring their 12 miter saws to the job
site, rather than RAS's. The 12" will handle the big stuff, (2x8's ????
2x10's???) and it's lighter, easier to move around and the set up tables
designed for the big miters can have them up and running in a matter of
minutes.