weak radial arm saw
 

I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair
store?

weak radial arm saw
 

Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw
(113.198211) for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean
cut. The cut is warped. Lately it can barely make it through
anything thicker than 3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead
trying to cut a 2x4. I've adjusted the blade many times to make it
square in every direction. I don't believe it's the blade because,
although it has been several years since I replaced the blade the
newer blade that i bought at that time didn't improve the cut at
all. Besides, I have a comparably old (and comparably used) 8-inch
table saw and it cuts the same piece of wood with ease, cross cut
or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it
to a sears repair store?

What do you mean, "the cut is warped"? Do you mean it isn't straight
(how can that be?)? If so, something isn't straight. Might be the
carriage in relation to the wood (most likely), might be a bent blade,
might be a dull blade. I reckoned the first as most likely since you
tried a different blade. Are you holding the wood tightly against the
fence and pulling the carriage? Got the blade on backwards? The
teeth should point down in the direction of rotation...teeth at the
bottom should point back, away from you. Is the saw kerf burned?

As far as stopping dead in a 2x4, that isn't all that unusual...the
saw isn't exactly a powerhouse and if you try to feed too rapidly - or
if the wood is warped and moves - stopping is what you get.
Especially with hard wood.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

weak radial arm saw
 

On Aug 21, 10:25 am, Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair
store?

If your blade is sharp and the alienment is good, that eliminates
almost 60% of the problems.
Before sending it out for repair, remove the moter housing from the
saw and give it a good cleaning an dlube job. Even though that series
of saws had shelf lubed bearings, overtime thay do become gummed up
with dust and grime. Also check your bearings for wear and tear along
with the moter brushes. A quick check is to grab the spindle and see
if you can move it in the bearing housing.
The newer Craftsman saws are garbage, and I know this since I
worked on repairing them for 5 years. Before I would ship this to a
repair center, once I found the causes, I would order the replacement
parts and do the repairs myself. The cost of parts plus bench fees and
taxs are worth as much has a new saw. Why do that when doing it
yourself maybe only around $50.

weak radial arm saw
 

Tommy T wrote:

| Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
| inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it
| to a sears repair store?

Try cutting on the 'pull'. If the board is slightly curved away from
the fence at the blade, that should cause the kerf to want to open
rather than pinch the blade.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

weak radial arm saw
 

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:56:49 -0500, "Morris Dovey"
wrote:

Tommy T wrote:

| Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
| inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it
| to a sears repair store?

Try cutting on the 'pull'.

How else do you crosscut on a radial arm saw?

shudder!!!!


--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

weak radial arm saw
 

Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw
(113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut
is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction.
I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at
that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably
old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears
repair
store?

How long is the cord and what gage? If you've got it on a long
extension cord or there's a long run to the fuse/breaker panel then it
may not be getting enough current.


Are you ripping or crosscutting?

If you're ripping then not only is alignment an issue but that saw is
a lot happier with a rip blade.

If you're crosscutting are you cutting on the push or the pull? You
should be cutting on the pull, and _control_ the movement. Is the
blade parallel to the arm? If not then it's cutting sideways even if
it's perpendicular to the fence.

If you don't already have it, get a copy of "Fine Tuning Your Radial
Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes. It's out of print but you should be able to
find a used copy on ebay or Amazon or see if anyone who got the PDF
when it was available (for pay from the author) will email you a copy.

Go through the step by step procedure in that book for setting up a
Craftsman saw and the problem will likely go away.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

weak radial arm saw
 

Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair
store?

Check the spindle or motor bearings.....Last winter on my 28 yr. old Sears
RAS(bought new) I repeatedly went through the alignment process, to no avail
until I checked for run-out. I pulled the motor and a basic electric motor
repair shop replaced the bearings for around $100. According to the shop the
bearing are epoxied in place. I think it likely(best guess) that sometime
back when I did a careless sloppy cut and bent a saw tooth I knocked the
bearings off center a bit as well.

Incidentally last week I picked up a spare saw (couple of years older) on
Craigslist for $20.00......They commonly sell around here for $50-$150. I
still think the repair compared to buying used was worthwhile though at
least for sentimental reasonsG.....Rod

weak radial arm saw
 

LRod wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:56:49 -0500, "Morris Dovey"

wrote:

Tommy T wrote:

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly,
inconvenient, and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it
to a sears repair store?

Try cutting on the 'pull'.

How else do you crosscut on a radial arm saw?

shudder!!!!

However there are those who don't figure it out for themselves and
need to be told.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

weak radial arm saw
 

Tom ... I had the same problem with the low power and I replaced the
plugin on the cord and it took care of that. I had noticed that the
selenoid looking thing in the motor was not starting up first, I can't
remember what it is called but it does something like rev the motor up
at startup so that it doesn't surge as much or something. (Which that
part might also just not be working) AL

weak radial arm saw
 

Is the motor and blade square with the arm. The lock may be out of
adjustment and not aligning perfectly.

Dick

--
RHN Custom Billiard Cues
Building fine cues for real pool players at
affordable prices. All work guaranteed.
Dick Neighbors Cincinnati OH
(513) 233-7499
web-site http://dickiecues.com
e-mail
"Tommy T" wrote in message
ps.com...
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair
store?

weak radial arm saw
 

You might check with Sears about a product recall on your RA Saw. Mine
is on the list. You can get $100 for the motor.
The recall is for a guarded blade cover.

Dave N


Tommy T wrote:
I have had a Craftsman 10-inch electronic radial arm saw (113.198211)
for about 20 years. For years it has not made a clean cut. The cut is
warped. Lately it can barely make it through anything thicker than
3/4" pine. This morning it stopped dead trying to cut a 2x4. I've
adjusted the blade many times to make it square in every direction. I
don't believe it's the blade because, although it has been several
years since I replaced the blade the newer blade that i bought at that
time didn't improve the cut at all. Besides, I have a comparably old
(and comparably used) 8-inch table saw and it cuts the same piece of
wood with ease, cross cut or rip.

Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin the costly, inconvenient,
and most like unsatisfactory experience of taking it to a sears repair
store?