What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

On 8/19/03 5:37 PM, "Steve Radoci" wrote:

What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Are you asking how to use your RAS better or for recommendations for new
equipment?

I have a 25 year old Sears RAS and it stays in adjustment quite
satisfactorily as long as I change in in the bevel and miter modes. If I
switch to rip mode or move the motor in the vertical mode for surface
planing, then I have to at least check the alignment when I go back to cross
cut mode. The big advantage of a radial arm saw is its flexibility, but you
pay for this in terms of more frequent adjustments.

If you are looking for recommendations that involve other equipment, then I
would suggest a miter saw (chop saw) dedicated to cross cutting smaller
width pieces or a table saw with a cross cut sled. If you work with large
width pieces, then you might invest in a panel saw.

I too have RAS, made by Ridgid. My complaint is not flexing, but the fact
there is no indexing of the arm at any angle, much less 90 degrees. The only
way to really set it is to use a framing square off the fence, and then do a
crosscut on a broad piece of wood, flipping it over to see if the gap is
closed on the cut. A hassle, don't like it, but dealing with it..Otherwise,
I like the flexibility of cuts you can make..


"Steve Radoci" wrote in message
...
What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I
spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In article , "Steve Radoci" wrote:
What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.


If you have an accurate square, you already have all the equipment you need.
NOTE: if your square also came from Sears, you do not have an accurate square.
Accurate squares come from specialty dealers catering to woodworkers or
machinists. Starrett is a particularly good brand. A bit pricy, but worth it.

You can make accurate, repeatable 90-degree crosscuts with this saw, provided
that you (a) take the time to align it dead-on to 90 degrees using an accurate
square, (b) have a good straight, flat, and smooth fence board, (c) never
budge it off of 90 degrees once you have it set up (or take the time to
realign it to 90 after you change the angle), and (d) check periodically to
make sure it's still square.

It is not possible to accurately set *both* the 45- and 90-degree stops on
this saw. Setting one of them accurately misaligns the other by a fraction of
a degree.

Another option is a good-quality table saw (these also don't come from Sears),
and a precision miter gauge for it, such as one of the Incra miter gauges
(www.incra.com). I have an Incra 2000 that I'd be willing to sell, so that I
can buy an Incra 3000; if you're interested, email me at the address shown in
my sig line and we can talk about it.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Steve Radoci wrote:

What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Shooting board and a #5.

Thank You All,
I am going to make a "sled" and use the table saw. I see that an RAS is
o.k. if you don't move the arm. That seems to defeat its versatility.

Thanks,
Steve


"Steve Radoci" wrote in message
...
What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I
spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In article ,
says...
What is the best piece of equipment to use (and who makes it) to obtain
accurate cross cuts? I have a Sears radial arm saw and it seems like I spend
all my time adjusting it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.




Steve;
I've had a 12" model for over 25 years. I used to use it for everything
since I didn't have other options at the time. If that's the case for
you, than making the adjustments goes with the territory. Here are a
couple of quick tips that may help.

1. Once I get the thing to make perfectly square cuts (arm
perpendicular to the fence, blade perpendicular to the table with no
toe-in or out) I often use jigs to hold the work for cuts that are not
square. This may seem to be defeating the purpose of having a RAS
somewhat, but if it's only a few cuts, it's quicker whip up a quick jig
than it is to get the thing re-aligned.

2. When swinging the arm back to where it is square to the fence,
always swing arm in the same direction. If you "overshoot", back up and
try again. I normally swing from the left to right since the right side
of the blade registers against the arbor flange and provides a constant
reference plane. That way, it doesn't matter what kind of blade I'm
using, the right side of the blade is always at the same point and the
arm is square to the fence.

3. You can also set up a gauge block, that you can mount temporarily
during alignment, that references a fixed point on the table. Then to
get the arm square to the table, you swing it back to where it just
"kisses" the end of the gauge block.

Doug

--
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