In article ,
says...
What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.




Steve;
I've had a 12" model for over 25 years. I used to use it for everything
since I didn't have other options at the time. If that's the case for
you, than making the adjustments goes with the territory. Here are a
couple of quick tips that may help.

1. Once I get the thing to make perfectly square cuts (arm
perpendicular to the fence, blade perpendicular to the table with no
toe-in or out) I often use jigs to hold the work for cuts that are not
square. This may seem to be defeating the purpose of having a RAS
somewhat, but if it's only a few cuts, it's quicker whip up a quick jig
than it is to get the thing re-aligned.

2. When swinging the arm back to where it is square to the fence,
always swing arm in the same direction. If you "overshoot", back up and
try again. I normally swing from the left to right since the right side
of the blade registers against the arbor flange and provides a constant
reference plane. That way, it doesn't matter what kind of blade I'm
using, the right side of the blade is always at the same point and the
arm is square to the fence.

3. You can also set up a gauge block, that you can mount temporarily
during alignment, that references a fixed point on the table. Then to
get the arm square to the table, you swing it back to where it just
"kisses" the end of the gauge block.

Doug

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