There are more concerns. Ripping hardwood on the RAS is about the scariest
thing I do and I avoid it when I can. I also made an auxilliary fence for
mine. It clamps on the regular fence at right angles so I can rip by moving
the blade on pieces up to about 30" long (by flipping the piece and cutting
from each end). It sets up pretty quickly, but I have to square it every
time - keep a carpenters square nearby.

An advantage of the RAS is space. I don't have room for a table saw that
sits in the middle of the floor and needs room for infeed and outfeed. My
RAS sits quietly along the wall and leaves room for the car.

Steve

"Doug Winterburn" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 15:22:43 +0000, Curtis wrote:

So why have RAS's fallen so much out of favor? For cross cutting wood,
it
seems so much easier to use than a table saw and I have the added bonus
of
being able to put a sanding drum in the chuck on the back side. It just
seems so much easier to move the blade instead of some 10 ft long piece
of
wood.

1) introduction of the CMS and SCMS and the portability issues.
2) most RAS's put into operation without proper setup and tuning leading
to all the inaccuracy and repeatability claims.
3) danger hysteria propoganda of the "radio alarm saw" usually spread by
those who have never owned one or if they have fall in category 2.

-Doug