On Monday, May 18, 2020 at 7:57:31 AM UTC-4, 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...

--

Back in my...err..I mean...my kid's Derby racing days, I spent a lot
of time in front of an old Craftsman RAS cutting steel plates, up to
12" wide and 1/2" thick, into various shapes for floor weights, axle
mounts, and other parts for the cars.

By taking numerous, numerous, tiny bites, we made parts that were pretty
darn accurate. This is the rear axle mount, all parts of which were cut on
the RAS. You are looking into the very rear of the car. The square stock
running cross-ways is the axle, sticking through the sides of the fiberglass
body.

https://i.imgur.com/xzNz7Na.jpg

The 2 small cap screws with the heads pointing towards the front of the car
were used to align the axle by changing the angle of the large block that
butts up to the front of the axle.

For some more perspective, the mount was installed behind the driver in
this car:

https://i.imgur.com/IOQt88q.jpg