Saws of the Arm
I have always loved woodworking – it must be in my blood. I have family that were contractors and finish carpenters. My grandpa would spend hours at a time building everything from toys for kids to cabinets and bookcases and I am no different. My woodshop has many different tools that I have collected over the years but there is one tool that I use more than any other aside from the table saw. That tool is the radial arm saw.
The radial arm saw is in my mind one of the most dangerous yet one of the most versatile tools I know of. The first radial arm saw that I ever remember seeing was in my woodshop class in high school. It was an old machine with a 16” blade – I don’t remember who made it but it probably was an old DeWalt unit from the 1960’s. It was big, it was loud, and I was never comfortable with it. The teacher would always have to unlock the power button on it and then relock it so someone couldn’t turn it on if he wasn’t there. Probably a good thing honestly.
What makes the radial arm saw so dangerous? Aren’t all saws dangerous? Well yes all saws are dangerous but the nature of how the radial arm saw functions is what makes it riskier than most. Unlike a compound miter saw which you start pulled out toward you and then push away from you to complete the cut the radial arm saw is different. Instead you are pulling the blade toward you and the trolley can jump toward the operator or have it climb up over the piece while using it. It’s also very easy to have your hand in the path of the blade by accident or by the piece being cut breaking and pulling your hand or arm into the path of the blade.
Along with this the radial arm saw was marketed as an all in one tool and I have seen manuals showing the blade laid on it’s side with a guy running a sheet of plywood all at about chest or belly height. You can rip and crosscut, put shaper heads on them, sanding drums and myriad of other things. Just don’t do that – Midwestern common sense says it’s a bad idea.
Thanks to the number of lawsuits and danger they pose the radial arm saw has become an endangered species and not many home woodworkers have them anymore for good reason. Yet I do and also for some good reasons. I have an old 10” Craftsman I bought at auction for $35 several years ago. They are excellent for making cross cuts of long wide stock that is cumbersome to get onto a tablesaw. The throat on most radial arm saws is deeper than a compound miter saw which is really nice. On top of that the most useful function is for doing dados. I have used it I don’t know how many times for cutting notches and the fact that I can just lay my piece against the back fence and just pull the saw through is so nice. No other saw does this with the ease of the radial arm. Many people also complain about their accuracy and if not properly tuned, yes, they can be inaccurate. I have to adjust mine twice a year to make sure that the arm is square, the trolly is snug to the track and that the blade is perpendicular to the table. All of this can and does go out of whack simply because of use or even weather changes. The saw gets adjusted in the spring and in the late fall in my shop. I also keep some spare parts around for the saw as well simply because of its age.
You cannot buy a reasonably priced new one anymore – there are only a couple of companies that make them now and the price can easily be $10,000+ at the time of this post putting them out of the reach of the average person. But you can still buy them used if you keep your eyes open. Garage sales, auctions or eBay are probably the places to look if you really want one. Check to make sure there isn’t a lot of slop in the trolley and that the adjusters on all parts of the saw aren’t overly warn – it is getting harder to find saws like this as time passes and fewer are on the market.
Do I have a miter saw in addition to my radial arm saw? No. I don’t mind tinkering a few times a year to adjust it and I find mine to be just as accurate as a miter saw. The fact that it is a 10” saw means blades are easy to find for a reasonable price. Do I think that you should get a radial arm saw? It depends. Don’t use them to cut small pieces, keep your hands clear at all times and if you think the cut you are about to make could be risky then don’t. If you are accident prone or are the type of person who has a lot of close calls don’t buy one. A miter saw works just as well in most applications and they don’t take up near the real estate in your shop. But if you realize the dangers they can pose, respect the equipment and are obsessively cautious to the point it irritates your family and friends then sure. They are not for the faint of heart and know that you always use one at your own risk.
Peace always.