Old DeWalts

[Arlin Eastman]

Then along came the internet and a guy that had never used a Radial Arm Saw declared that they were deadly dangerous and a few more guys that had never even seen one agreed and it became the "truth" that they should all be scrapped and never used. Kinda like right tilt table saws.

Me personally I think what killed it was its mobility or lack there of when the Chop saw came into being.  I do think a lot of people liked the RAS but could not take it to building sites and then more people seen it at the work site and wanted one and so on.

The other thing that killed it was how they were making the RAS so badly or cheaply and not as good as the older ones.

[Arlin Eastman]

I am thinking when the Non profit is done and I get the building I would love to have one of the bigger 16" RAS for everyone to use.  When I get the building in hand I will start searching for one here first.

[bandsaw]

Around here in the 50's, 60's, and 70's there was a radial arm saw at every jobsite. The first thing set up was the temporary power pole and the next was the RAS. It was installed on a site built table with 8 or 10 foot infeed and outfeed tables. A "roof" was built over the saw which was outdoors for the length of the job. Lumber was "mill run" - no cut studs, in fact all lumber was random length and had to have an end trimmed and then cut to length. No plywood and lots of shiplap to cut. The RAS became obsolete on the jobsite with the arrival of pre cut studs, plywood, and trusses. Not so much to cut anymore. The crapsmans were recalled or scrapped but for years there were lots of good RAS available and in use. But the internet fear thing resulted in the final zero value. Good for old guys - I got my Delta 12" compound like new for 5 bucks.