Radial Arm Saw Debate

[art3427]

Someone mentioned safety issues with the RAS. When OSHA was going full force in its beginning years, RAS were one of the first tools they would look at in a cabinet shop. It got so expensive, liability insurance wise, to keep one in use that the MS was put on market to replace RAS on small cut jobs. Panel saws and sliding table top saws to get around the second tier cost of an RAS also became more common. As MS's have improved, RAS have really fell out of favor for the small manufacturer. I remember a major woodmachine supplier in my area who had so many 16 - 24" DeWalt RAS's from trade ins that he sold them for scrap rate just to get them out of his warehouse. A rash of lost liability suits for personal injuries against the major manufacturers was the death of the RAS for most manufacturing processes. Many producers not only ceased manufacturing these saws, they were forced into bankruptcy and out of business by liability judgments.

As for tenons, you can actually cut them on many MS models today. I believe DeWalt is one of them. They have an adjustment that limits the amount the blade will drop into the material which makes it possisble to set to cut a fixed tenon shoulder depth. Some will even hold dadoes up to 1/2" wide.

art

[imahic]

I have thought about getting one if the price were right just to set up for dadoes. As others here have stated though, space is the big consideration. I have a SCMS that I use for most crosscuts. Anything wider than 12 inches I just cut on the TS. My Rigid TS won't let me use the stacked dado set to a full 3/4 inch so I guess I will just have to use the router for dadoes.

Mike

[dmswood]

A lot of the bad safety rep of RAS comes from people using a TS blade on them.They fit but the positive hook of the blades causes them to climb up over the wood where a negative or zero hook blade allows control of the cut and helps prevent the saw from climbing over the work.Something my foremen at my old job never did understand.