From: rhaar@albert.cs.gmr.com (Bob Haar)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Safest way to use radial arm saw?
Date: 18 Dec 92 18:09:51 GMT
Reply-To: rhaar@albert.cs.gmr.com
Organization: G.M. Research Laboratories

In article 181292095032@asc438.asc.slb.com, Treble@asc.slb.com (John Treble) writes:
|>This may sound like a stupid question, but I'll risk the ridicule
|>anyway....
The only stupid question is one that you don't ask because
you are afraid of looking stupid.
|>
|>My father died recently and I inherited his old Sear radial arm saw.  I
|>have only part
|>of the owners manual. Unfortunately, the part that descibes the setup of
|>the table is missing. 

You might call the nearest SEARS Service Center. If you have the 
saw's model number, they might be able to find you a complete
owner's manual.

The single best book for working with a daial arm saw (RAS) is
"Fine Tuning your Radial Arm Saw" by Jon Eakes. As the title suggests,
this is about performing setup orperations. But that is crucial 
if you want to get safe and accurate results with a RAS. Many
of the operations Eakes describes are illustrated with pictures
of a Sears RAS.


I have an old(er) Sears RAS from the days when they used a double
yoke which rides on heavy tracks. More recently, I added a 
table saw. But the RAS is quite capable of performing almost
everything that the table saw can.

|> I would like to know what the safest recommended way
|>to use this saw.
|>Do I set up the fence so that the saw is parked the furthest away from me
|>behind the fence? Or do I park the saw closest to me in front of the fence?
|> Is it best to push the blade through the work, or pull it through the
|>work?

This depends on what you are doing. 

Most often, I use my RAS as a cut-off saw or for cross cutting
dados in long work pieces. In this mode, the work is held
against the fence and the yoke (with motor, blade, etc.) is
moved across it. You want to be pushing the work piece
backwards against the fence and pulling the saw forward.
[note "forward" == towards the operator]

About the only time you actually move the work piece against the 
saw is when you are ripping.  Personally, I find this operation 
scary on a RAS, so I avoid it.

Many RAS tables are set up so that the fence can be install in 
different positions. I keep mine in the most forward postion
unless I am working with wide pieces of wood.

If you are going to use the RAS very much, you might want to build
in into a long work bench. If it is in the middle of a long wall
with at least 8' of space on each side and with workbench surfaces
on either side that are the same height as the RAS table, you get
good support for large work pieces.



|>
|>I also have one of those wobbling dado heads, and consider it to be the
|>most vicious tool I've ever seen!  How do you put the guard on that beast?
|>

I have both a wobble blade and a stacker set. On my saw, the
standard guard works just fine with both of these for dados up
to 3/4" wide. I do move the anti-kickback device out of the way.



---
  	Robert Haar               InterNet : rhaar@gmr.com 
	Computer Science Dept., G.M. Research Laboratories
DISCLAIMER: Unless indicated otherwise, everything in this note is
personal opinion, not an official statement of General Motors Corp.


Newsgroups: rec.woodworking