The Radial-arm Saw

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Welcome to the world of Woodworking and crafts.

When assembling a list of necessary shop tools, the radial-arm saw is often overlooked, or at least relegated to a lower spot on the list of priorities. This is likely due to its relative expense when compared to other woodworking and craft tools. However, few woodworking machines are as versatile, especially when one considers the number of operations it can perform.

Once you add one to your arsenal of woodworking and craft tools, you may never want to be without one again.

Unlike most types of woodworking woodworking and craft machinery, the radial arm saw has a clear genesis: it was invented by Ramond De Walt of bridgeton, New Jersey. De Walt applied for patents in 1923, which were issued in 1925.

De Walt and others subsequently patented many variations on the original, but De Walt's original design (sold under the moniker Wonder Worker) remained the most successful: a circular saw blade directly driven by an electric motor held in a yoke sliding along a horizontal arm that is some distance above a horizontal table surface.

Before the advent of the radial arm saw, woodworking and craft tablesaws and hand saws, were most commonly used for crosscutting timber.

Table saws can easily rip stock, but it is awkward to push a long piece of stock widthwise through a table sawblade.

In contrast, when a radial arm saw is used for crosscutting, the stock remains stationary on the saw's table, and the blade is pulled through the stock.

Beginning about the late1970s, the compound mitre saw began to replace the radial arm saw somewhat, but only for crosscuts and miter cuts since it is unable to perform rip cuts.

The radial arm saw can be less safe when used by an inexperienced or untrained operator, but is not dangerous when used properly. In the hands of an experienced operator, the radial arm saw can safely cut compound miters necessary for woodworking and crafts, picture and door frames, rip lumber precisely to width, cut tongues and grooves, and make variable dadoes.

Most cuts are followed with a fit and require more material be removed, sometimes a tiny amount (which is easy to do). Like the compound mitre saw, the radial arm saw can make these cuts with absolute precision, but is capable of making a wider variety of cuts, including more complex ones.

In the home woodworking and craft shop the radial arm saw is an alternative to the table saw.

Both machines can rip, crosscut, do simple and compound miters, dado, mold or shape, make tenons, make open mortises, taper cut, and rabbet.

The radial arm saw requires less clearance or space in the woodworking and craft shop to handle long stock. A radial arm saw only requires clearance on the sides, whereas a table saw needs clearance to the sides, in front, and in back.

The radial arm saw is perfectly efficient backed up against a wall, where as the table saw wants to be placed in the center of the woodworking and craft shop to give all around clearance.

With some accessories the radial arm saw can be used as a shaper, a disk or drum sander, a grinder, a surface planer, or a horizontal boring machine, whereas a table saw's secondary uses are limited to shaper and disk sander. The only short coming of the radial arm saw is that it cannot make finger lap joints which the table saw can.

As with all tools in your woodworking and craft shop, be sure to read and thoroughly understand the instructions that accompany your power tools before you begin to use your radial-arm saw.

Making sure that your saw is set up properly as per the manufacturer's specs will not only teach you the features of the saw, but how to use it safely.

When in your woodworking and craft workshop,and cross-cutting with a radial arm saw, set the blade depth just below the surface of the table.

If you're using your saw for the first time, you'll end up cutting some grooves into the table sacrificial table top, so you'll want to lower the blade to the cutting position after the saw's motor is up to speed.

Also, never free-hand any work on a radial-arm saw. Always hold the stock securely against the fence.

Keep in mind that as you pull the saw toward you, through the stock, that the blade's rotation is cutting away from the body. This will push sawdust away from the user, but also can cause the saw to lurch forward as it cuts through the stock.

With this in mind, keep a firm grip on the handle and don't let the saw determine the speed of the cut. The motion of pulling the saw toward your body and then holding it back while the blade is cutting can take some practice, but you'll get the hang of it in time.

That’s all for now and until the next woodworking workshop,
Be happy