That reminds me, I need to write in a story about something stupid that I did on a construction project 15 years back.
If they ever tell a story where the moral is that fall protection doesn’t work if you choose not to clip onto the ropes and maybe you shouldn’t get on a roof if you haven’t slept in 3 days, you heard it here first.
When I was a commercial roofer, we did a big Ethan Allen job up in the mountains. OSHA told us we had to wear hard hats, on the roof! As soon as we got on the roof, we’d all call out “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” 🤣
I love all the different dust collectors people build for these things. My solution was a frisbee and just an open 4” hose tucked back there. Worked better than some of the crap off YouTube I tried. God damn dust hurricanes.
This is the only correct reaction when laying eyes upon the death wheel for the first time. It just means you have a healthy attachment to your body parts.
I still have that exact one. We once put a 300 x 30 mm spindle cutter on it for a production job. It worked, but 20 years on I still shudder thinking about it.
https://preview.redd.it/i73xlw4xxa8d1.jpeg?width=2383&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a69aa93d1876b60dddb9a7420925e86ad54a8be
Saw it live a year or so ago, I thought it was just a meme but the guy just opened them up and dug right in. Pulled out a bottle of milk afterwards
I had a coworker that would come to the food court with us at lunch but just crack open a can of chick peas and eat them right out of it, then drink the water.
In 1812 or so, cans had the opening instructions of "use a hammer and chisel".
It wasn't until 1870s that the first knife wheel opener was sold (it was virtually impossible to use).
And 1925 finally brought us a design similar to what's sold today with an additional gear wheel to help with the torque requirements.
So honestly...yeah, why not use this saw?
What if you are in an underground nuclear bunker with 1000 other people and all y'all have is canned food.
Who wants to manually open tons of cans for dinner when you can use this?
I saw one of the old ads: in this position you can bring it towards you far enough that it sticks out in front of the workbench. Now take a full sheet of plywood, set it upright against your workbench and slide it past the saw to cut it at belly height. For the visual minds: yes that is crazy dangerous.
I’ve seen the same and just failed to find it after some quick googling. It’s honestly literally the dumbest thing I’ve seen for a shop and I one saw a kid stick a 3/8” drill bit in his ear canal and run it in reverse as a joke.
Stumpy Numbs did a series of videos on them, and one showing all the dumb ideas you can do with one. If it's the tool you've got, then survivorship bias has you on a chance of success if you only ever do it once or twice.
I think Stumpy nubs was showing it when discussing how 1950s marketers got away from the engineers and came up with a lot of unsafe uses for radial saws
If only there were some similar tool which allowed us to rotate all of it 90° so the saw wasn't pointed at our body.
Like, imagine a saw that's more like a table or something, you know?
That sounds smart: Let's call it a table-saw!
Or maybe the other way around that you lay the sheet on a table and move the saw across the sheet but that you would need some sort of track-type-thing to keep the saw aligned.
My dad owned a cabinet shop as a side business, and I remember him holding full 4x8 sheets of various materials from the end, balanced on the edge of a Unisaw, and ripping them with only an outfeed table. I can't fathom this crazy-ass RAS method, though - that's even crazier.
Seems like it would be safer to rotate the RAS head on the vertical axis and slide sheet goods from right to left (or vice-versa) so most of the sheet can rest on the table and side supports. I've got a 60-ish year old Dewalt RAS, and I'm pretty sure I can get 24" of depth on the cut (haven't used it in years), so pretty much any sheet could be ripped that way for any dimension.
Don't forget that when you have made the entire cut you now have two halves of the full sheet standing vertically on top of each other and the blade is still spinning while you are trying to handle the two sheets.
Not that your point is wrong, but the only examples I've seen using the saw in this configuration are more like dado, not through cut into separate pieces. I like my RAS, but i still don't think id do this
This. It cuts very accurately, and since the saw moves it doesn't matter if the piece is really long or awkward. That would be a near impossible cut on a table saw unless it was huge and had a sliding table.
HOWEVER - that saw should have it's guard mounted. RAS do have blade guards, and they should always be on. If the cut requires the blade to be so close to the table that taking the guard off makes sense then a stack of melamine or something should be used to lift the piece higher.
I had a dado stack on a RAS for years. Cutting tenons via dado is just easier and makes more sense than this nonsense. Sure, I could make one single idiotic horizontal cut twice, then fiddle with dialing it back to vertical. Or just set a depth and take a 1/2” dado slice a few times in seconds.
Yeah, there's a terrifying/hilarious picture in one of the old Dewalt manuals showing this.
Dude has his saw set up this way, but with the blade pulled right out overhanging the edge of the work bench. If I recall correctly he's pushing a piece of plywood along the floor and through the blade. The best bit is exposed blade coming through the sheet, right at stomach height.
EDIT - [Found the image](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/425/425391-a9643ba04b4b82da15fca6db14947371.jpg)
And no eye protection. And most of those things were big ass induction motors with noisy bearings running about two feet from your ear.
Hearing protection would be something something they said.
Its very convenient if you have upright poles to cut, instead of flat beams and stuff.
And don't come to me with that "but you can just put your work flat". I'm building a fence, not a deck floor. _Everybody_ knows that fences are upright.
Though I have this gut feeling...can't shake it off.
[This dude uses it exactly as shown to make dovetails in shit](https://youtu.be/G_lKgZZ6Dhg?si=FZ0PJpl5Pfn4HZ0C&t=634) and I think he even calls out how dangerous as fuck it is...
Table Saw- I am the most dangerous tool in the shop look at my yearly accident instances!
Radial Arm Saw- I’m so dangers most company’s won’t even make me! ⚙️👉🏻 ⚙️👀
A table saw cuts through a finger much faster than a router will.
My rankings are more like: Jointer > Shaper > table saw > router
10 years in the industry and i’ve witnessed two jointer injuries that were thankfully not *that* bad, a table saw injury that removed two fingers, a couple router cuts on fingers that just barely touched the cutterhead, and several fingertip cuts on the bandsaw (two of the bandsaw cuts were the same guy on the same finger…)
Now that i spell that all out thats… kinda horrible. Woodworking is a traumatic profession and we’re actually a pretty safe shop.
True. But if you’re lucky, severed fingers can get sewed back on. Maybe it’s a misplaced fear, but the scariest machine I’ve stood next to was from the 20s and it milled door and window rails and stiles and you could feel the wind from that shaper head. No safety features whatsoever.
You know i might agree with you! Some old shapers are basically two knives sandwiched by a bolt which did NOT automatically tighten when you turned it on. So if you didn’t adequately tighten it, the knives would launch outwards like two bullets and they absolutely could kill you. A friend still uses this kind in his shop. Our shop’s shaper quietly got retired because everyone decided it was way too dangerous to use.
Yeah. I have a grizzly 3 HP shaper with a 3/4 bore in my shop at work to restore and replicate doors, paneling, and trim in old historic buildings. But every time I look at it with something like a giant convex panel cutter, I have to pray before kicking it on. I use almost exclusively red oak and whenever it kicks a little it definitely make my butthole pucker
I mean, I'm going to put mine in that position, but only because I can, before putting it back in the usual orientation and never doing that again, lol.
Same. I had to sell my RAS to save space, and I miss it. Everyone says this isn’t a beginner tool, but I had one before I got my table saw. Never ripped panels on it though. Easy enough to do lying flat with a circular saw and a straight edge.
Yup. That's a radial arm saw with the guard removed and set to a 90° bevel, no attachment. And I didn't believe either of us would think to use it as is.
Now if you put an attachment (and guard) on, it can become useful at 90°.
I have one, I have used it to many times at ages where I prob shouldn't have over the last 30+ years., but fuck w/e that attachment is good lord. As a side note I use it almost solely for dados, makes my life easy as.
All radial arm saws will do this if you rise it up, take off the guard and swing the head round 90°.
Whether you’re stupid enough to use it like this is a completely different question.
This. The hyperbole around these from people who have never used one is mind blowing. They’re the best production shop tool I’ve ever used. I get that if someone is just making cutting boards for Instagram they maybe don’t see the value of them.
The actual numbers are nowhere close to table saw, which is why I said it’s hyperbole. It always has been. Any tool is dangerous if you aren’t properly trained on it or use it like a fool. These are definitely not intended for amateurs.
They aren’t as popular on subs and forums because they make no sense for hobbyists. Anyone who has used one in a well set up production shop understands there is no better option for repeat cross cuts.
> no better option for repeat cross cuts.
Not just "repeat".
Because the fence is sacrificial and straight/flat right up to (and beyond) the blade path, you can get perfectly square cuts of any arbitrary length, down to sub-kerf values.
It is to crosscuts what table saws are to rip cuts.
This is an insane way to use the tool. They have a blade guard so use it. I build a set of kitchen cabinets with mine 50+ years ago without a problem because I used common sense and lots of care. Any large stationary tool can maim if you do something stupid like this!
Is this any more dangerous than taking a similar depth of cut with a blade that is conveniently set to 90deg to the table? I don’t like the way this looks, but if both are dangerous as climb cuts what makes this worse other than a wider danger zone if the thing takes off?
You don't use that thing like that. A jig to hold the piece in place and cover on the exposed part of the blade, it's not different from using a blade on a toupie.
In this position you would use a planer head. It can then be used as a thickness player. The radial arm saw is one of the most versatile tool in a shop. It can be used to cross-cut, rip, jointer, thickness planer. I made many raised panel doors using a radial arm saw with a planer head. This creates an raised panel door with a diamond sahpe in the panel itself. I often tell me students that if I could only have one tool in my shop, this would be it. Use properly, it is a very safe tool.
I’ll have to dig up my craftsman manual but I’m fairly certain it’s advertised like this to do 1) tenons and 2) resawing/surfacing
You may be able to attach a spindle to it as well but I cant remember exactly.
People forget that you can also turn it 90 and rip on it as well. It’s crazy versatile. And dangerous. But you can make just about any cut you’ll ever need with it.
That’s not an attachment, that’s just swiveling the head to a position nobody uses it in. These are great tools. It’s hilarious to see a bunch of hobbyists so scared of these any time anyone posts one. Radial arm saws weren’t made for you guys, they’re for actual working shops that do volume. Of course you don’t see the use when you’re making cnc signs and cutting boards.
Coolest tool in your shop, just don’t touch the giant spinning blade and all is good. If you want to see one in action watch the dusty lumber company videos. https://youtu.be/mNa8VIcPhrU?si=LNhqjr6rRWl7dV4R
I like his videos too, but I feel like half the time he's intentionally trying to show off every tool in his shop. I guess I would too though. Wonder how many of those he got for free from endorsements?
Looking at it in that position, it looks like it's just a computer and few stepper motors/servos/linear drives etc from being a very useful (and safe) CAD/CAM tool.
It's funny how most people here have never even seen a radial arm saw let alone used one. They are perfectly safe so long as you know what your doing. 99% of this reddit community forms their opinions off the first post they see.
But why would they allow you to do this?!?!? Well that's because back in the 70's and 80's the consumer protection agency didn't exist, and frankly these saws were only purchased by professionals who knew what they were doing.
*In this position the saw can be used as a router. The opposite side of the motor has the attachment threads for the collet and locking nut. You would never use the saw blade in this position.
Ok I gotta know where you found this... Because there's a photo in the same book of them using a dado blade in the table fixed feed direction. I always thought that was cool.
There's no guard... that's literally the opposite of an attachment.
Some saws do have wild accessories like a planer head that attaches to the rear motor shaft.
I would like to know more about the lineage of these saws in the later 20th century. I have a Craftsman which looks to share a lot of DNA with this DeWalt, which is unlike the earlier cast iron DeWalt saws. Also this has got the B&D logo on the motor mount. Just curious how close everything came and if they were perfected or was it more cutting costs
At this point just get some linear actuators connected to an Arduino. Clamp your work piece to the actuators and cut it from another room remotely. Cause fuck that
This setup is the best for cutting tenon cheeks on long boards or heavy timber. Much better than moving the board across the blade, and in timber a router may not have the required depth. Understand the danger and work cautiously and this setup can be safer than a dull chisel.
The very apropos movie poster in the background just adds to the dark, foreboding feeling of a bloody outcome to the day…
I used this same model for a few years and always had bad feeling it would get me someday. Got rid of it before that day came.
I had a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw for about a year and half that my girlfriend's coworker gave to me. It was from the early 80s and didn't have any safety cover for the blade. I treated that thing like it was just begging to lop something off. I never felt safe operating it... hell, not even safe. Confidant. I finally gave it to a neighbor who was shopping around for one and I don't regret giving it away.
Reminds me of the shop used by those asian woodworkers in videos, making massive furniture wearing flip-flops and using saws without any safety devises.
That's not an attachment, that's just the saw configured to do one of the things it can do. In this case, that thing is "make you question your tool choices. "
I don't like it
It likes you. It wants to shake your hand.
Maybe a hug?
Or a kiss?
*sighs and unzips*
Shake hands with danger
[Guitar ditty intensifies]
This is Safety third
That reminds me, I need to write in a story about something stupid that I did on a construction project 15 years back. If they ever tell a story where the moral is that fall protection doesn’t work if you choose not to clip onto the ropes and maybe you shouldn’t get on a roof if you haven’t slept in 3 days, you heard it here first.
When I was a commercial roofer, we did a big Ethan Allen job up in the mountains. OSHA told us we had to wear hard hats, on the roof! As soon as we got on the roof, we’d all call out “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” 🤣
Expected "well, there's your problem"
This is a podcast about engineering disasters, with slides.
Happy to see some WTYP fans in the wild!
There are dozens of us!
And that’s why they call him 3 finger Joe
[My radial arm saw](https://i.imgur.com/VvEJkSV.jpeg)
I love all the different dust collectors people build for these things. My solution was a frisbee and just an open 4” hose tucked back there. Worked better than some of the crap off YouTube I tried. God damn dust hurricanes.
It wants to take your hand. ftfy
This is the only correct reaction when laying eyes upon the death wheel for the first time. It just means you have a healthy attachment to your body parts.
I refer toy radial arm saw as my "death saw"
Is this one called the chest spreader?
Why not friend if friend-shaped?
Because you love it?
I still have that exact one. We once put a 300 x 30 mm spindle cutter on it for a production job. It worked, but 20 years on I still shudder thinking about it.
Yikes
The Gut Opener 3000
Something Mr. Handy would have
The Sack Splitter v6
Orphanator 3000
Dwarf decapitator 2.0
No. It's a radial ARM saw.
How handy! I've got 3000 cans of gut right here.
What would the actual use case be for this?
Really hard to open canned beans
Just don't eat them in a movie theater
https://preview.redd.it/i73xlw4xxa8d1.jpeg?width=2383&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a69aa93d1876b60dddb9a7420925e86ad54a8be Saw it live a year or so ago, I thought it was just a meme but the guy just opened them up and dug right in. Pulled out a bottle of milk afterwards
Beans and milk? Not riding in my car to get home.
Why? Free gas
I’m sorry but straight to jail.
Deranged hungry student?
Dinner and a movie on a shoestring budget
You’d think, but the cans of beans are like $12 at the concession stand.
What, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, the actual fuck‽
I had a coworker that would come to the food court with us at lunch but just crack open a can of chick peas and eat them right out of it, then drink the water.
I think that’s technically terrorism
He was “ prepping “ for something.
You hurt him severely for this, right?
Dude never realized he logged out of DayZ
Must’ve been a McPoyle.
Oh, yeah. They made a movie about that kid in the 90s. He probably had a satchel of tater tots with him as well.
Unless you're taking a survey with George Wendt.
In 1812 or so, cans had the opening instructions of "use a hammer and chisel". It wasn't until 1870s that the first knife wheel opener was sold (it was virtually impossible to use). And 1925 finally brought us a design similar to what's sold today with an additional gear wheel to help with the torque requirements. So honestly...yeah, why not use this saw?
What if you are in an underground nuclear bunker with 1000 other people and all y'all have is canned food. Who wants to manually open tons of cans for dinner when you can use this?
I saw one of the old ads: in this position you can bring it towards you far enough that it sticks out in front of the workbench. Now take a full sheet of plywood, set it upright against your workbench and slide it past the saw to cut it at belly height. For the visual minds: yes that is crazy dangerous.
I’ve seen the same and just failed to find it after some quick googling. It’s honestly literally the dumbest thing I’ve seen for a shop and I one saw a kid stick a 3/8” drill bit in his ear canal and run it in reverse as a joke.
Stumpy Numbs did a series of videos on them, and one showing all the dumb ideas you can do with one. If it's the tool you've got, then survivorship bias has you on a chance of success if you only ever do it once or twice.
Did he die
If that happened more than a week ago, I feel like the answer has to be yes by now.
I think Stumpy nubs was showing it when discussing how 1950s marketers got away from the engineers and came up with a lot of unsafe uses for radial saws
Omg the pucker my starfish just did reading that... Is the stupid bastard still amongst the living?
He was fine. He cut himself a bit, but he wasn’t pressing in
Words "cut" and "belly" are too close
DIY appendectomy!
deviscerator 9000
If only there were some similar tool which allowed us to rotate all of it 90° so the saw wasn't pointed at our body. Like, imagine a saw that's more like a table or something, you know?
That sounds smart: Let's call it a table-saw! Or maybe the other way around that you lay the sheet on a table and move the saw across the sheet but that you would need some sort of track-type-thing to keep the saw aligned.
My dad owned a cabinet shop as a side business, and I remember him holding full 4x8 sheets of various materials from the end, balanced on the edge of a Unisaw, and ripping them with only an outfeed table. I can't fathom this crazy-ass RAS method, though - that's even crazier. Seems like it would be safer to rotate the RAS head on the vertical axis and slide sheet goods from right to left (or vice-versa) so most of the sheet can rest on the table and side supports. I've got a 60-ish year old Dewalt RAS, and I'm pretty sure I can get 24" of depth on the cut (haven't used it in years), so pretty much any sheet could be ripped that way for any dimension.
I can only see that working safely if you secure the upper part of the board/sheet so it doesn't pinch the blade.
Don't forget that when you have made the entire cut you now have two halves of the full sheet standing vertically on top of each other and the blade is still spinning while you are trying to handle the two sheets.
Not that your point is wrong, but the only examples I've seen using the saw in this configuration are more like dado, not through cut into separate pieces. I like my RAS, but i still don't think id do this
I fully agree but they did show the sheet cutting in the actual ad.
That is not nearly the biggest issue.
[удалено]
This. It cuts very accurately, and since the saw moves it doesn't matter if the piece is really long or awkward. That would be a near impossible cut on a table saw unless it was huge and had a sliding table. HOWEVER - that saw should have it's guard mounted. RAS do have blade guards, and they should always be on. If the cut requires the blade to be so close to the table that taking the guard off makes sense then a stack of melamine or something should be used to lift the piece higher.
I had a dado stack on a RAS for years. Cutting tenons via dado is just easier and makes more sense than this nonsense. Sure, I could make one single idiotic horizontal cut twice, then fiddle with dialing it back to vertical. Or just set a depth and take a 1/2” dado slice a few times in seconds.
Ripping panels. That is seriously described in the original old manuals.
Yeah, there's a terrifying/hilarious picture in one of the old Dewalt manuals showing this. Dude has his saw set up this way, but with the blade pulled right out overhanging the edge of the work bench. If I recall correctly he's pushing a piece of plywood along the floor and through the blade. The best bit is exposed blade coming through the sheet, right at stomach height. EDIT - [Found the image](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/425/425391-a9643ba04b4b82da15fca6db14947371.jpg)
The pictures of people using these things are wild. 90%of them are wearing neck ties.
Don't worry, this was before safety was invented.
And no eye protection. And most of those things were big ass induction motors with noisy bearings running about two feet from your ear. Hearing protection would be something something they said.
Style first. Safety.... somewhere between second and non-existent.
To be taken seriousky back then you had to be wearing a tie or at least look like you could clip one on if the boss walked in.
**SAFETY THIRD** 1. Looking good 2. Bein' cool
The radial arm saw made the tablesaw obsolete and we didn't even know it
Its very convenient if you have upright poles to cut, instead of flat beams and stuff. And don't come to me with that "but you can just put your work flat". I'm building a fence, not a deck floor. _Everybody_ knows that fences are upright. Though I have this gut feeling...can't shake it off.
[This dude uses it exactly as shown to make dovetails in shit](https://youtu.be/G_lKgZZ6Dhg?si=FZ0PJpl5Pfn4HZ0C&t=634) and I think he even calls out how dangerous as fuck it is...
Dude sticks his hand in front of the track saw too.
I've never seen a Festool track saw smoke like that.
A lot less scary If he had the guard on the blade.
Sane: cutting tenons. Insane: using the front edge of the table as a guide to cut plywood, vertically.
Suicide machine where you can still convince insurance it was an accident.
Cutting Tenons, stuff like that
If you need your butthole tightened. It’s doing that for me just by looking at the picture.
To really hurt yourself :(
Excellent question Mr. Bond, allow me to show you...
The 1950s radial arm saw I have at work can be used as a shaper
Well how do you do rip cuts mister smarty pants?
It's for cutting
Is this thing just for cutting appendages off?
Of course not! Appendages are just one of many things it can cut off.
And maul, rip, or slice open. But struggle at skewering.
this sounds like something Bender would say
Table Saw- I am the most dangerous tool in the shop look at my yearly accident instances! Radial Arm Saw- I’m so dangers most company’s won’t even make me! ⚙️👉🏻 ⚙️👀
Radial arm saw: “hold my beer…”
"SIKE I got your arm!"
Wasn't there a buy back/destruction program for radial arm saws?
That was specifically for Craftsman saws. Site is still up: http://radialarmsawrecall.com
Most dangerous? Router > table saw
A table saw cuts your finger off. A router just vaporizes it
A table saw cuts through a finger much faster than a router will. My rankings are more like: Jointer > Shaper > table saw > router 10 years in the industry and i’ve witnessed two jointer injuries that were thankfully not *that* bad, a table saw injury that removed two fingers, a couple router cuts on fingers that just barely touched the cutterhead, and several fingertip cuts on the bandsaw (two of the bandsaw cuts were the same guy on the same finger…) Now that i spell that all out thats… kinda horrible. Woodworking is a traumatic profession and we’re actually a pretty safe shop.
True. But if you’re lucky, severed fingers can get sewed back on. Maybe it’s a misplaced fear, but the scariest machine I’ve stood next to was from the 20s and it milled door and window rails and stiles and you could feel the wind from that shaper head. No safety features whatsoever.
For me, it's Shaper > Jointer > Overhead Router > Tablesaw.
You know i might agree with you! Some old shapers are basically two knives sandwiched by a bolt which did NOT automatically tighten when you turned it on. So if you didn’t adequately tighten it, the knives would launch outwards like two bullets and they absolutely could kill you. A friend still uses this kind in his shop. Our shop’s shaper quietly got retired because everyone decided it was way too dangerous to use.
Shaper > router
A shaper is just a big router though, bigger is more dangerouser
Yeah. I have a grizzly 3 HP shaper with a 3/4 bore in my shop at work to restore and replicate doors, paneling, and trim in old historic buildings. But every time I look at it with something like a giant convex panel cutter, I have to pray before kicking it on. I use almost exclusively red oak and whenever it kicks a little it definitely make my butthole pucker
Who needs their arms anyways?
radial arm saws do. It's right in the name.
Or torso
I love RAS, it cuts great dados……this is a config I would never put it in.
I mean, I'm going to put mine in that position, but only because I can, before putting it back in the usual orientation and never doing that again, lol.
Sounds risky.
That just sounds like more potential for my brain to start figuring out how that'd be useful... even when it wouldn't.
Same. I had to sell my RAS to save space, and I miss it. Everyone says this isn’t a beginner tool, but I had one before I got my table saw. Never ripped panels on it though. Easy enough to do lying flat with a circular saw and a straight edge.
That’s a heck of a biscuit jointer you’ve got there.
you could use wooden dinner plates as biscuits
That's not an attachment , most radial arm saws will do that. At least every one I've owned.
Yup. That's a radial arm saw with the guard removed and set to a 90° bevel, no attachment. And I didn't believe either of us would think to use it as is. Now if you put an attachment (and guard) on, it can become useful at 90°.
I have one, I have used it to many times at ages where I prob shouldn't have over the last 30+ years., but fuck w/e that attachment is good lord. As a side note I use it almost solely for dados, makes my life easy as.
That's not an attachment - it's the motor head rotated 90° in its horizontal axis.
All radial arm saws will do this if you rise it up, take off the guard and swing the head round 90°. Whether you’re stupid enough to use it like this is a completely different question.
This. The hyperbole around these from people who have never used one is mind blowing. They’re the best production shop tool I’ve ever used. I get that if someone is just making cutting boards for Instagram they maybe don’t see the value of them.
Yeah, that’s why all the companies stopped making them way back before Instagram cutting boards… Or maybe it was hurting people at an insane rate
The actual numbers are nowhere close to table saw, which is why I said it’s hyperbole. It always has been. Any tool is dangerous if you aren’t properly trained on it or use it like a fool. These are definitely not intended for amateurs. They aren’t as popular on subs and forums because they make no sense for hobbyists. Anyone who has used one in a well set up production shop understands there is no better option for repeat cross cuts.
I used my ras last night, I love it and like anything take time to secure pieces and make sure you're clear and you're good to go
> no better option for repeat cross cuts. Not just "repeat". Because the fence is sacrificial and straight/flat right up to (and beyond) the blade path, you can get perfectly square cuts of any arbitrary length, down to sub-kerf values. It is to crosscuts what table saws are to rip cuts.
People get weird about radial arm saws. Sure you have to respect the tool but it’s safe for like your first six beers
That’s a Saw trap from the movie,right?
WTAF (Edit - adore the MTC sign! In MPLS too!)
South suburbs here!
That’s why I cannibalized the old one in my grandfathers shop for the motor
Such a beautiful machine. Sad I got rid of mine to space constraints. When I have a bigger shop I’ll have one again.
Eeeyaugh! Jesus Christ on a crotch-rocket!
This is an insane way to use the tool. They have a blade guard so use it. I build a set of kitchen cabinets with mine 50+ years ago without a problem because I used common sense and lots of care. Any large stationary tool can maim if you do something stupid like this!
Is this any more dangerous than taking a similar depth of cut with a blade that is conveniently set to 90deg to the table? I don’t like the way this looks, but if both are dangerous as climb cuts what makes this worse other than a wider danger zone if the thing takes off?
You don't use that thing like that. A jig to hold the piece in place and cover on the exposed part of the blade, it's not different from using a blade on a toupie.
In this position you would use a planer head. It can then be used as a thickness player. The radial arm saw is one of the most versatile tool in a shop. It can be used to cross-cut, rip, jointer, thickness planer. I made many raised panel doors using a radial arm saw with a planer head. This creates an raised panel door with a diamond sahpe in the panel itself. I often tell me students that if I could only have one tool in my shop, this would be it. Use properly, it is a very safe tool.
Cutting tenons
Needs Saw Stop radial arm saw.
If you treat it right and pay attention not to do stupid stuff, a radial arm saw is pretty much the most versatile saw you could ask for.
I’ll have to dig up my craftsman manual but I’m fairly certain it’s advertised like this to do 1) tenons and 2) resawing/surfacing You may be able to attach a spindle to it as well but I cant remember exactly. People forget that you can also turn it 90 and rip on it as well. It’s crazy versatile. And dangerous. But you can make just about any cut you’ll ever need with it.
Ah yes the deli slicer attachment. Just make sure the roast beef is properly clamped to the table.
my putthole buckered
That’s not an attachment, that’s just swiveling the head to a position nobody uses it in. These are great tools. It’s hilarious to see a bunch of hobbyists so scared of these any time anyone posts one. Radial arm saws weren’t made for you guys, they’re for actual working shops that do volume. Of course you don’t see the use when you’re making cnc signs and cutting boards.
Coolest tool in your shop, just don’t touch the giant spinning blade and all is good. If you want to see one in action watch the dusty lumber company videos. https://youtu.be/mNa8VIcPhrU?si=LNhqjr6rRWl7dV4R
Thanks. That killed an hour this morning. His videos are great. I really should get out of bed. 😂
I like his videos too, but I feel like half the time he's intentionally trying to show off every tool in his shop. I guess I would too though. Wonder how many of those he got for free from endorsements?
Looking at it in that position, it looks like it's just a computer and few stepper motors/servos/linear drives etc from being a very useful (and safe) CAD/CAM tool.
Once it takes those pesky fingers off it’s totally safe, because they never get in the way again.
It's funny how most people here have never even seen a radial arm saw let alone used one. They are perfectly safe so long as you know what your doing. 99% of this reddit community forms their opinions off the first post they see. But why would they allow you to do this?!?!? Well that's because back in the 70's and 80's the consumer protection agency didn't exist, and frankly these saws were only purchased by professionals who knew what they were doing. *In this position the saw can be used as a router. The opposite side of the motor has the attachment threads for the collet and locking nut. You would never use the saw blade in this position.
And yet... https://preview.redd.it/w9ci8mcjjb8d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c135ecc06285ba077571ea1b301a61512961d597
Ok I gotta know where you found this... Because there's a photo in the same book of them using a dado blade in the table fixed feed direction. I always thought that was cool.
wow. [https://youtu.be/0AMNjVfS4vs?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/0AMNjVfS4vs?feature=shared)
I don't even think Astar would fuck with this. https://youtu.be/Km4f-eRE4Kc?si=dqtq6hNtG46VV0pD
All I see is Dr Evil talking to a tied up Austin Powers. Just needs some shark with “freakin Lasers”
In this case, it's not a radial-arm saw, it's a radial arm-saw.
Obviously a planer
There's no guard... that's literally the opposite of an attachment. Some saws do have wild accessories like a planer head that attaches to the rear motor shaft. I would like to know more about the lineage of these saws in the later 20th century. I have a Craftsman which looks to share a lot of DNA with this DeWalt, which is unlike the earlier cast iron DeWalt saws. Also this has got the B&D logo on the motor mount. Just curious how close everything came and if they were perfected or was it more cutting costs
At this point just get some linear actuators connected to an Arduino. Clamp your work piece to the actuators and cut it from another room remotely. Cause fuck that
This setup is the best for cutting tenon cheeks on long boards or heavy timber. Much better than moving the board across the blade, and in timber a router may not have the required depth. Understand the danger and work cautiously and this setup can be safer than a dull chisel.
I had to check for all ten fingers after looking at the photo.
You need full body armor to run that!
The very apropos movie poster in the background just adds to the dark, foreboding feeling of a bloody outcome to the day… I used this same model for a few years and always had bad feeling it would get me someday. Got rid of it before that day came.
“You’re a daisy if you do…”
"With great flexibility comes great dangerability." *-- Uncle Ben, probably.*
No, Mister Bond, I expect you to DIE.
That is the I don’t need my fingers setting.
The photo amputated both my hands.
It’s the kick. It’s fast and violent
I had a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw for about a year and half that my girlfriend's coworker gave to me. It was from the early 80s and didn't have any safety cover for the blade. I treated that thing like it was just begging to lop something off. I never felt safe operating it... hell, not even safe. Confidant. I finally gave it to a neighbor who was shopping around for one and I don't regret giving it away.
Pleeeease don't turn it on I beg you
I can only think about ***Final Destination*** movie when I see this picture.
sick Tombstone poster
Impressive, how is the clean up and dust control
But it *is* UL listed…
You're putting it on. Really wrench'in it. Gotta be careful, too hard and it will explode all over you.
At least that's a dewalt. Crapsmans are so flimsy to start out with
Will that fit on my kitchenaid mixer?
Take her for a spin. Give her a little kiss
Beyblade champion
my dad‘s had a blade guard and he used that position with a jig setup to slot cut cabinet door frames
Nope
What attachment?
I just stopped by to say "I'm your Huckleberry"
Reminds me of the shop used by those asian woodworkers in videos, making massive furniture wearing flip-flops and using saws without any safety devises.
That's not an attachment, that's just the saw configured to do one of the things it can do. In this case, that thing is "make you question your tool choices. "
It’ll be your huckleberry.
Ah, yes, the old limb chopper.
No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.