Craftsman RAS on CL
#24
The ***23100 model number Ez-Duzit mentioned seems to ring a bell, It was given to me by a friend, and I think thats the model I had for ten years or so.  It was an EXCELLENT machine, It remained so well aligned that I'd only check it maybe once a year, and I also used it with a sled, to straight edge hundreds and hundreds of feet of rough cut material. 

I found a 12" Delta like Norm's for not much money and gave my Craftsman to a new woodworker, asking only that he pass it on as he received it.  

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#25
That sure looks like mine.

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Wood is good. 
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#26
(09-12-2017, 05:35 AM)fredhargis Wrote: Some of them were/are good saws, most are not. They way they are made there is some sort of wishbone/yoke/f0rk or such that holds the arm in place. Clamp it down with the handwheel too hard and the yoke bends open....that gives the arm too much play (side to side)  to stay precise. Most of us that had them (I had 2) clamped them down quite hard to keep them locked, and in the end that made matters worse. It was a more complicated design than it needed to be compared to the cast iron arm Dewalts. Having one that you have to keep at 90˚ just seems to defeat the purpose of having one to me. With the Dewalts you can move the arm around whenever you want and still return to a dead nuts 90.

I've had over a dozen CM ras's. 3 of that model, that I used for a while.
They were (IMHO) the best CM made. That fudge , Fred mentions is one of the weak links. When it gets spread, the saw is useless. Removing it, beating it with a hammer, and reinstalling it cures the problem. Getting it out and back in is a pita.
I always thought the spread was from someone bumping into the arm. 
I finally switched to a Dewalt 7790, 12" running a 10" blade, and the difference is HUGE! 
At $75 you made $25+ any blades, etc that came with it.
All of my ts blades in my shop, except for a 24 tooth rip blade, came with CM recalled ras's.
Using a bungi cord to retract the carriage helps a lot to prevent self feeding. (or stalling) With the Dewalt 7790, which has a lot more power, self feeding/stalling is not a problem, unless cutting thicker stock. Cutting a piece of 3/4 ply, with the 7790, I just pull the carriage fairly fast. As fast as would stall the old CM. And that's with a Freud + hook blade. 
Sometimes there is no substitute for more power!
Good luck with it. Try to remember where you put your miter gauge in a year or so! It's been a while since I crosscut on the ts.
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