On Dec 7, 9:56*am, "Lee Michaels"
wrote:
"Leon" *wrote

Check my reply to JClark below. *You have to admit that that senerio
could/eventually will cause harm to the saw. *I too don't believe that a
particular blade will absolutely do harm but it can increase the chance of
doing harm.

Speaking of harm to a radial arm saw, I had a friend who kept a big RAS in
my garage for awhile. He needed to cut up some aluminum that he bought at a
salvage yard. *Most of it was soft and the saw cut it easily. *Then he ran
across an oddball peice that was extra hard.

He tried to pull it through the piece and it went up and over it. It bent
the arm up. After that, it cut a nice little curve upwards. If I had to do a
dado, it would curve up about 3/16' - 1/4' over nine inches. I had to cut
the dado from both sides and chisel out the high spot in the middle. That is
when I went to a router for my dadoes.

It is an extreme example, I know. But these saws can get damaged if you put
enough stress on it. That priciple applies to anything mechanical or
biological. The other lesson learned here, you can never tell exactly what
it is that you get at the salvage yard. That is the fun part for me. But I
would never cut aluminum on a RAS.

I bet if you ran over a RAS with a tank it would bend the arm too.
That's a bit different than the "wrong" blade "injuring the saw" which
is still bull****.