On Sun, 17 May 2020 14:22:14 -0400, J. Clarke
wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2020 14:13:55 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2020 08:43:20 -0700 (PDT), Sonny
wrote:

On Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 9:43:06 AM UTC-5, Hawk wrote:

Posting was deleted.

What are the details?

A Craftsman RAS was offered for free.
Depending on which model that might have been 10 times or more what
it was worth. The one I had was worse than useless - and dangerous. It
was WAY to "flexible" or "loose" to be usefull for anything other than
cutting up scrap wood.

Mine works well enough as long as I don't push it too hard, but
getting it back to square after I do an angle cut is a pain in the
butt. One of these days it's going to be replaced with an SCMS.
Radial Arm Saws were a wonderful idea but something got lost in the
translation from idea to product. I know there _are_ good ones out
there but they're hard to find in other than basket-case condition.


My Craftsman RAS was my very first woodworking "machine".
... bought used ~ 1982 for $ 350. .. a little over-priced for
the time - but it had the table extension and a real good 60 tooth
carbide combination blade - nearly $ 100. back then.
I used it for 25 years or so - no regrets. It's not a trim saw.
I ripped full - 2 - inch straight cherry - feeding carefully -
no problem. But short lengths only - ~ 5 - feet or so -
- long lengths would be a problem - ergonomics.
Ripping very grainy wood would usually mean some burning - a PITA -
softwood / hardwood didn't seem to matter much with this
Cleaning the blade made a huge difference !
.. a tiny bit of resin / burn deposit on the carbide teeth would
greatly affect the cut ! ... big true.
Just my 2 cents worth.
John T.