On Mon, 18 May 2020 17:02:20 -0400, J. Clarke
wrote:

On Mon, 18 May 2020 12:45:34 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 18 May 2020 08:57:50 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 18 May 2020 06:57:26 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 5/17/2020 6:39 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2020 17:03:07 -0400, wrote:
...


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.

I got a couple those roller supports that actually work pretty well
feeding long stock through it. Did that a few times and finally asked
myself why I was asking to to do something that a cheap table saw
would do more conveniently.
...

Set up in a long bench, they're _FAR_ more convenient than a TS for
ripping long material. And no match for roughing out large stock.

In the garage/shop in TN, the 10" sat in an 8-ft table while the 16" was
at a friends commercial shop in a 16-ft. Here on the farm it's along
the barn alley in almost 20-ft run with the chop saw set along the run
that clears the normal fence position...the TS is then able to do what
is convenient to move on it. Not everybody has the space, granted, but
if do...


For sure - a solidly anchored RAS with nice solid infeed table
will rip just fine - just check out the big units in the lumber
yards. Mine was on its flimsy metal stand with a small folding
extension table - not a good choice for ripping long stuff..
... not impossible - but not great.
John T.

Definitely nothing wrong with a GOOD RAS properly set up - but my
Crafsman was NOT a good RAS and it was impossible to "properly set
up".

Accuracy on a good day was +/- twice the blade width - or about 3/16
inch

A couple of things I noticed about mine--if a gnat makes a
crashlanding on the table it gets knocked out of true, and the
standard MDF table bows if I tighten the clamps even a tiny bit more
than it likes.

There are fixes--make the table out of something that actually has
structural integrity and change the table support from one that relies
on friction to one that relies on the compressive strength of steel.
The traverse on the "gantry? was so sloppy 1/4 inch bow on the MDF
table would have gotten "lost in the noise" It was a "round Rail"
setup