Craftsman 3 Hp 10 Radial Arm Saw Reviews
Last updated on September 26th, 2021 at 09:11 pm
Yet thinking about getting the radial arm saw for your projects? Well, if you haven't already known yet, as of today, only one company even so produces information technology.
Before the 1970s, when the idea of the compound miter saw has not yet been conceived, the radial arm saw reigned supreme among woodworkers. It was one time the go-to tool every woodworker turned to in his workshop for crosscuts, miter cuts, bevel cuts, and fifty-fifty rip cuts.
However, every bit before long as the power miter saw was invented in the 70s, its production and utilise underwent a huge pass up.
Nowadays, you'll find yourself lucky to find one in any woodworking store or local hardware store sitting in that location being used or bachelor for purchase.
What happened to this once popular woodworking tool? What happened to the Radial Arm Saw?
The history
In 1922, Raymond Dewalt of Leola, Pennsylvania, founder of the now widely popular Dewalt tools invented the radial arm saw, which he chosen the Wonder Worker.
His invention, the wonder worker was a round saw blade driven directly past an electric motor held in a yoke. The yoke slides along a horizontal arm hanging some distance in a higher place a horizontal table that serves equally the work surface.
This radial arm saw or Wonder Worker as Dewalt chosen information technology sold successful before the 70s because it does 1 affair exceptionally well more than table saws and other hand saws. That is cross-cut lumber.
Table saws then and now are all-time for ripping large wood stocks lengthwise, but cross-cutting lumber or pushing a long piece of woods widthwise through a table saw is not only awkward just also highly ineffective.
The radial arm saw however fabricated it possible for woodworkers then to hands crosscut lumber, because unlike table saws where you lot accept to push the stock through the saw while the saw remained stationary, the stock remained stationary with the radial arm saw while you pushed the blade through information technology when making cross cuts.
When the chemical compound miter saw was introduced in the 1970s, the radial arm saw began to lose its popularity.
Although radial arm saws performed many functions such as making crosscuts, miter cuts, rip cuts, dado cuts and so on, the compound miter saw became the main power tool for making crosscuts and miters.
One of the main reason craftsmen favored the compound miter saw to the radial arm saw at that time and even now is considering the miter saw is quite safer to operate.
Every miter saw comes with a blade guide that covers the whole bract equally you brand crosscuts and miters with information technology. The radial arm saw's bract is likewise covered but not totally covered like that of a compound miter saw.
Apart from that, compound miter saws are also cheaper compared to radial arm saws. Thus, it'due south easier and more affordable to ain a compound miter saw fifty-fifty now than to own a radial arm saw.
Agreed, a radial arm saw has more functions than a chemical compound miter saw, but if you lot ain a compound miter saw and a table saw, you wouldn't need the radial arm saw.
That is not to water downwardly the importance or usefulness of a radial arm saw, because one tin can also fence that information technology can perform the combined role of a miter saw and a table saw as well.
However, when it comes to personal preferences, I'd prefer to use a miter saw today for my crosscuts and miter cuts, and become a table saw for my rip cuts than to own one radial arm saw.
Radial arm saw vs table saw vs compound miter saws
How does the radial arm saw compare with a table saw and a compound miter saw?
Well, if yous've read upwardly to this extent, you should have known some of the differences or the major difference between a radial arm saw, a table saw and a chemical compound miter saw.
Like I've mentioned earlier, the chief purpose or use of a radial arm saw is for making cross cuts and miters like a miter saw.
However, if you really know your way around the tool, y'all can use it to make rip cuts, dadoes, cut tongues and grooves, brand open mortises, taper cuts and fifty-fifty rabbets.
Equip it with a few accessories, and you tin fifty-fifty use it as a router tool, a shaper, grinder, horizontal drilling or boring machine, disk or drum sander and even equally a surface planer.
It tips on all its axis (except the vertical slope) making it a very versatile tool for carrying out woodworking projects.
Dissimilar a table saw which practically needs to be placed at the eye of the workshop so it can be operated, the radial arm saw tin can be backed upwards against the wall just like some compound miter saws and thus takes up less space and footprint than a table saw.
Related: How To Choose The Correct Saw Blades For Your Project
Disadvantages – Why the radial arm saw fell then hard from the favor of many woodworkers
Every tool has its disadvantages, especially power tools, if most are not handled carefully, they can cause serious injuries.
However, it seems the disadvantages of the radial arm saw where besides much to be ignored, and with the invention of similar tools like the compound miter saw, many woodworkers quickly moved on from information technology.
Here are some of the disadvantages of the radial arm saw that caused its demise.
The showtime or major reason why about woodworkers have moved on from the radial arm saw is due to safety concerns.
This rubber concern is the fashion the blade rotates. It rotates toward the operator, which in turn causes the motor and bract to walk or self-feed towards him/her.
Because of this, most people are scared of using the saw, and that is quite easy to understand. A saw that can jump or move by itself towards you should be feared. Right?
Another reason why near people have moved on from it today is that it's quite expensive compared to compound miter saws and contractor styled tabular array saws.
Then, instead of spending over a g dollars to get a radial arm saw, you tin get a chemical compound miter saw and a contractor styled tabular array saw for that aforementioned corporeality, and that volition give yous more value for your money.
Thirdly, the main reason why people used radial arm saws was that information technology used to be the best tool for making crosscuts and miter cuts.
Since the compound miter saw was invented in the 70s however, it took the place of the radial arm saw equally the best tool for making cross cuts and woodworking miters.
Finally, the last but not the least reason why it's not and then popular anymore is because using it ways you have to be replacing the wooden tabular array that comes with information technology every once in a while.
The blade tends to cut through the table when making full depth cuts, hence after some time, yous'd need a new table.
When using miter saws and tabular array saws, yous never accept to replace their tables, hence farther reason why the radial arm saw has lost the dear of many woodworkers.
Should y'all get the radial arm saw?
The fact that so many woodworkers don't use it today does non mean no i is using it. In fact, the tool is still being manufactured in the The states by the Original Saw Company in Britt, Iowa.
And so, if you experience you need 1 for your projects, y'all can always get one as long equally you lot know your mode around the tool and you find all safety measures required for operating the saw.
Image Credit: Philip Fibiger / CC Past-NC-ND 2.0
Source: https://craftsmanprotools.com/radial-arm-saw/
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