On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 18:16:38 -0500, ATP* wrote:


"dgadams" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 15:10:49 -0500, ATP* wrote:


"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Self" wrote

Toller wrote:
98% of the crosscutting I do (depending on the size with my CMS,
crosscut TS
sled, or with a guide and a circular saw) is 90 degrees in both
directions.

I understand that RAS can be fussy to set up, but if set up properly
will
they do decent 90 degree cuts? Or are they just inherently
inaccurate?
I
don't mind spending an extra 10 minutes on the rare occasion I want to
do
something more exotic; especially since it would take much longer to
do
it
now (at least on stuff bigger than my CMS).

I have my eye on a 2 year old craftsman that was barely used. Sure
would be
nice to be able to do 16" crosscuts without a lot of fuss; but if it
won't
be accurate, then it would just be a waste of room and money.

Buy the saw. Find a copy of Jon Eakins' book on radial arm saws. Enjoy.
You'll need to tune it, check the tune every so often, and it will
probably wear out in 20 or so years, but what the hell.

I don't like them for ripping, but for wider crosscuts, they're great.

I grew up around radial arm saws. Now everybody acts like they are going
to get a disease from it or something. If you have a healthy respect
for
tools. You observe some basic safety rules. You tune the thing now and
then. It should give you long service.

But if you do not respect the beast, it will bite you. I used to work
in
insurance. And a lot of stupid people hurt themselves on this thing. I
read the reports.

But I have worked around these saws for about forty years. And I have
all
fingers and toes. And I have built a mile or two of bookcases with them
too. Not that long ago, almost all houses were built with these things.

How do you figure? Framing has been done with circular saws for as long
as I
can remember. Prior to the advent of chopsaws, trim was done with
manually
operated mitre boxes. In my experience, the RAS has been a shop tool 99%
of
the time.

Around here (Albuquerque) all the homes in my area were built with radial
arm saws. The carpenters had a RAS built into the bed of their truck.
Finish work is done with a chop saw.

D.G. Adams

If they use them for framing they are wasting time. A chop saw or RAS may be
useful for repetitive cuts on 2x4's or 2x6's, but cutting rafters, joists,
etc. is most efficiently done on the stack. By the time you move the lumber
into position on the saw a good framer would have it cut. I guess if you are
employing semi-skilled labor to feed cut pieces to framers the economics of
the situation might change.

Yeah, Semi-skilled covers the situation just about right.

D.G. Adams