On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 09:55:41 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 7/19/2013 6:51 AM, mcp6453 wrote:
My father left me a Sears Craftsman Radial Arm Saw from the sixties.
Unfortunately, the motor is gone. It hasn't been turned on in 30 years. It's in
my way. While there may be some sentimental value, I think I'm at the point that
I'm going to give it away.

My question is this. Aren't the new RAS more precise than the old ones? Neither
my father nor I is/was a woodworker, but wouldn't he likely get rid of the old
RAS and buy a new one (or get a sliding compound miter) instead?

A new motor is $300, if it's still available. It's possible that I may be able
to have the one on it rebuilt, but then I'd have a 50 year old saw that may or
may not be a good one. There are some on Craigslist here that I may be able to
get the motor from, but then again, it's a 50 year old saw.

It's not the age that matters much at all, it's the specific model as to
whether it was ever very good and how it compares to something new or
newer also depends almost totally on what it's compared to.

Nobody can really tell you anything specific w/o the model and whether
it's worth putting money into in the end depends mostly on whether if it
did run you'd ever use it or not.

As another thread just yesterday noted, on a RAS there's at least a
reasonable chance that all that's wrong is the thing is full of sawdust
and that's stopping the internal centrifugal switch from contacting.
I'd investigate a little more thoroughly unless you know for a fact what
is wrong w/ the motor is more than just that (or, even simpler, maybe a
loose connection).
+1 on that Some chraftrman RAS were fantastic tools - others not much
more than junk, even when brand new.