A Pretty Big Dog RAS
#11
I decided to look for an old Dewalt with 24" of crosscut capacity.  It will eliminate the need to use my giant TS sled when crosscutting panels wider than the 14" my other RAS's can muster.  With a 14" blade I'll be able to cut most molding vertically, too.  With some sage advice from Doug Tapper, I looked for a medium arm GA, and found one for a good price, but 7 hours away.  Oh well, I went 5 hours for my MiniMax J/P, what's another 2 hours.  

Last week I took my trailer to Philidelphia to get it.  It was being used in a cabinet shop for rough cutting stock, a fate many an old Dewalt is tasked with.  Great guys running this business making high end cabinetry, Philidelphia Woodworking should you care to see what they do.  The saw looked to be in as good a shape as the photos they had sent me.  3 hp, single phase motor on it.  It was the last machine in the 9000 sq ft shop.  They are moving to a new 15000 sq ft facility and won't need to saw anymore because they bought a new upcut saw with automated Tiger Stop system.  They sold the saw for $300, which I thought was a fantastic price.   

I cut the cord near the motor and pulled the motor and carriage off the arm and put that into my car.  I also blocked the arm with a piece of wood and strapped it to the table, and wrapped the arm and column with stretch wrap.  We drug it over to the loading dock and got it onto my trailer for the trip home.  Here it is just across the street from their shop.  

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It was an uneventful trip home other than a couple of the new straps I bought from HF kept loosening.  After retightening them twice I took them off and replaced them with some other ones I had with me, not quite as stout but at least they stayed tight.  Once home I slid the saw off the trailer into my garage and began the disassembly process in order to get it down into my basement shop.  

I jacked the arm up off the column with a scissors jack.  

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Once it cleared the column I lowered it as far as I could and then picked it up.  It weighed far less than I anticipated, fortunately, maybe 60 lbs.  Getting the column out of the base turned out to be the hardest challenge.  It slid easily in the base casting except for the last couple of inches.  I ended up tipping the table over, removing the column and base casting from the table, and then whacking the base casting with a rubber mallet to get it off.  

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The legs are bolted to the table, which was important, because together they would be too large to fit through the doorway to my basement.  

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So, it's apart and the parts are all down in my shop now ready for reassembly and then a new table.  Stay tuned. 

John
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#12
That is a great looking machine with an impressive cross cut capacity.  

I'm looking forward to seeing it set up.
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#13
Great find John! Looks like a nice one and will look forward to the reassembly. I'm sure you'll find it was well worth the effort!

Doug
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#14
I would think the motor/carriage assembly would weigh more than the arm. Great saw, it would be a nice addition to any shop.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#15
Nice! They don't make them like that anymore!
Frank
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#16
(01-21-2025, 01:13 PM)fredhargis Wrote: I would think the motor/carriage assembly would weigh more than the arm. Great saw, it would be a nice addition to any shop.

You are right, Fred.  The motor/carriage is substantially heavier than the arm.  They might even weigh more than the table base. 

John
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#17
Reassembly went easier than taking it apart.  I cleaned everything as best I could, especially where it counted with the carriage bearings and ways in the arm.  I could see a slight
amount of wear in one of the beveled ways, but it was really minimal and uniform.  I'm not worried about it causing any problems.  Getting the arm back on the column was the reverse of getting it off.  I jacked it up, pivoted it over the column, and then lowered it down.  A little rocking and it started to slide down.  I removed shims as I went until it was in place.  

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Lifting the motor/carriage back onto the end of the arm was about all I wanted, but it's back on and rolls very smoothly.  I still need to check if they need some adjustment, however.  

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Now I need to design and build a new table for it and get it wired.  

John
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#18
I used a similar version, I believe 16", back in 1976 when working a summer job in a pre-fab shop at a new housing development. It was a beast...Good luck with it, it will be a great addition to your shop...
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#19
I built a new table for it.  Having a CNC makes some tasks a lot easier, like drilling and countersinking all the holes for the top, and cutting out the back table.  

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The back table is a shameless steal of one Doug Tapper showed me he designed for his GA.  Thanks Doug.  

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There are so many machine screws, washers, and nuts used to attach the top to the saw that it's a long, arduous process to level it with the saw.  I had it all done once, only to realize that the arm sags a little if you don't look it in place.  I had left it unlocked so I could swing the arm side to side to check my progress.  OK, I did it again, with the arm locked, just going front to back at whatever angle I had it set at, until that wrench hanging down just scraped the table wherever I moved it.  If it's off it's only a few thousandths.  

I got power to the motor and fired it up.  When I shut it off it ran and ran and ran some more, many minutes.  I definitely need to change the bearings.  It's a safety issue if nothing else.  I may also look into a motor brake.  

Now to build some dust collection and get the saw tuned, and order motor bearings.    

John
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#20
This is my dust collection setup, not perfect but it gets most of it.

   
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