On 8/8/2011 6:52 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In , Leonlcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:
On 8/7/2011 2:51 PM, Doug Miller wrote:

Why should it? I've never understood the antipathy that many guys here have
toward radial arm saws. One person used to call them "radical harm saws" and I
truly don't understand why. It's just a case of using the right tool for the
right job. A radial arm saw is *not* the right tool for ripping (not the best
one, anyway), but IMHO it's safer than a table saw for crosscuts:

Well you may have answered your own question there Doug. While most
every one will agree that the RAS is not comforting to use in the rip
application, it is indeed built and intended to be used to rip material.

True enough, but it's also true that the primary purpose of a RAS is
crosscuts, not ripping. I haven't ripped even one board on my RAS since I
bought my first TS.

I believe that with access to a TS that cross cutting becoming the
primary function of a RAS certainly is a true statement. When I bought
my TS however I stopped ripping AND cross cutting with my RAS. ;~) Two
years later I gained a log of room after never using and selling the RAS
and never looked back although I did add add a 12" CMS about 10 years
later. And true to form when I upgraded my TS to a cabinet saw 12 years
ago the CMS became a dust collector which I only use on the occasional
job site. It still sets at the old house that we sold to our son in
October.


So that is probably why most every one would prefer to never use one.

I can easily understand preferring to never use one for rip cuts if a TS is
available. Never using one for crosscuts is a bit harder for me to understand:
that's what it was designed to do.

The key elements that I added to my cabinet saw immediately were a left
and right Dubby jig, "infinite angle, 90-45 degree, cutting sleds". If
you ever want to be able to accurately cut repeated length miters on
panels or boards on your TS you might want to keep them in mind,
especially if you want to make more room by eliminating a RAS. ;~) It
is a hard decision to make, getting rid of a large piece of equipment,
but if you find yourself only using the RAS for the occasional cross cut....

Not trying in any to away you from using your RAS, just letting you know
that there are alternative ways to repeatedly do very accurate multi
angle and compound angle cross cuts on a TS.