Radial Arm Saw

[jud]

Anyone set up their radial arm saw to cut planks, timbers, etc.? Those saws can cross cut about 18" and can rip the same direction or if longer lengths are needed, can be turned to the rip position to crosscut or rip depending how the wood is arranged on the table. Would need to make a dedicated table but I can see some real advantages to using that saw instead of the table saw for repetitive cuts.

jud

Edited September 18, 2014 by jud

[Bob Blarney]

Jud, I'm a vistor-browser here (not a modelbuilder), but  I've used a radial saw for many years, and there are a few things that I would suggest. 

 

1. The  best saws that you could find are from the late 1950s era DeWalts - MBF, or  925, which are 9" saws. Saws from later years are not so well-built.

 

2. The saw must be aligned, and the most important alignment is eliminating blade heel.  By this, I mean that the plane of the sawblade is perfectly parallel to the trackarm.

 

3. The choice of sawblades is very important. Do >not< use a tablesaw ripping blade. I favor a thin-kerf 8-1/2" blade for a sliding miter saw with a negative hook angle, or maybe up to +5d.  Generally, positive hook angles are too aggressive and can be dangerous.

 

4. The biggest problem I see, is holding the stock for cutting.  It's not a good idea to place the end of a narrow board against the fence for ripping.  I would make up a larger board (at least 12" square) to hold it, and would probably attach it with woodturners doublesided tape.    Then, I would not cut completely through the stock.  Assuming that you're using 3/4 stock, set the depth at 11/16", thus leaving a 1/16" web.  Then I would split the pieces off and clean them up with a block or violin plane.

 

5. You might get some ideas here, from something I posted about 10 years:  http://www.mimf.com/old-lib/hammond_radialarmsaw_jigs.htm

Edited September 21, 2014 by Bob Blarney

[Q A's Revenge]

Welcome to the forum Bob, glad to have you on board. Only just had a quick look at the linked article but it looks to contain lots of very good information, thanks for posting!

[jud]

Thanks for the tips and cautions Bob. What I had in mind in using that saw was for making repetitive cuts from a large sheet of the proper thickness, such as making hull or deck planks and using a on guide to the right of the blade for controlling width and feeding the stock from the left. Seems like if properly setup would be a time saver over a table saw jig like many use with success. Agree about ripping small standard stock, there are better saws for that. The link is worthy of some further study.

jud

[Bob Blarney]

Here's another little hint, when cutting very small pieces, whether on a radial saw or especially a table saw:

 

On the side where the small parts are cut away, put a vacuum cleaner nozzle near to there. But first cover the aperture of the nozzle with a piece of screening - e.g 1/4" hardware cloth - so that the sawdust can pass through, but the workpieces will be caught by the screen.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Bob Blarney