In article m,
"Max" wrote:

"J. Clarke" wrote



While an RAS, perfectly aligned, is a wonderful tool, bump it in the
wrong place and you have to go through the whole process again. I just
don't get the same repeatability out of the RAS that I do out of a
crosscut sled on the table saw.


Yabbut....squaring the end of a ten foot 1 X 12? ;-)

Max

The usefulness of a RAS does not negate the fact that is proportionally
easier to make a serious screw up than with any other power tool.
A Big ol' beefy 12" Delta, from industrial yore, is a mighty fine piece
of gear which will do things other devices won't. BUT, you best be
really careful, be very alert, and make sure there's no hidden cuppage
or twistage (suck on those two words, spelchucker) in your stock... or a
know even.
Now add the instability of the sheetmetal, stamped pieces of **** that
Craftsman put out and you have amplified the danger by a large
percentage. A sloppy arm with a wonky motor with crap bearings and a
whirling, toothed wheel of death hanging, spinning in mid air over a
work surface is just NOT my idea of a device that makes me all
comfy-womfy in terms of safety.

BTW, all you proponents of the RAS... If you ever need to cut an end off
a 12' x 1x6.. do what I do. A Swanson aluminum Speedsquare and a
circular saw. I can get a pretty nice cut anywhere any time without
first have to clean all the crap off the RAS table and move countless
objects d'art so I can manoeuvre a hunk of lumber, through a shop just
to do that simple operation on a very dangerous piece of crap.