JTAdams

I have always had a RAS and don't understand the fuss about table saws. Seems to me that table saws are trying to copy everything that RAS have done for decade. I consider the table saw more dangerous than my RAS. It may be that I have never had one that was very big or didn't have the proper fence or something that I was doing wrong. I recently bought a brand new RAS at a yard sale. The owner was a carpenter by trade. He hated the RAS and I got it for $20.00. I'm talking a brand new 10" Craftsman with laser light and all! He swore it was useless and that it couldn't cut a simple 90 degree cut.

When I got it home and checked it out I discovered he had screwed and bolted the back fence in place! Do I need to say it was not mounted straight. A 3 1/2 inche cut would be off by 1/4 of an inch! I disasembled the machine and put it back together using the instruction manual that was still in the plastic bag that had never been opened! I don't have to worry about living in a house that he might have framed. I would know it!

I already had a RAS that I love! I could not find anyone that I could give it to. No one had room in their small shops or garage. I finally sold it to my neighbor for the same $20, who stuffed it into a small shed with his other treasures. It is currently supporting a bag of ferilzer and a few yard tools! This seems to be the disadvantage of the RAS. People just do not have room for it!

Last week I killed some time in the tool department at Sears while my wife shopped. Sears only had one RAS on display and probably had 20 Miter Saws.

A long time ago I put my saw on locking casters. I framed in the area beneath the saw and had a rather large cabinet to store all kinds of stuff. I made a contraption to catch the majority of the dust but most of the time I roll it outside when I'm going to use it so dust is my neighbor's problem. I built a second sacraficial table on top of the original and every few years I will replace it. The table is a little over sized which helps in ripping large, hard to handle stock. I see people who mound their RAS as part of their work bench and to me that turns it into a Miter Saw. I can cut right and left compound miter cuts that the Miter Saw engineers are still dreaming about!

I recently put crown molding up in three rooms of my house. I made a jig that in essence is nothing more than a second fence. I didn't have to turn the molding upside down and backwards to make my cuts! I placed the molding in the second fence just as it would be on the wall. I also used a 12" miter saw. Between the two of them I couldn't understand all the fuss about the difficulties in cutting crown molding. I will admit to reading many back issues of FHB before I started the project. Out of 10-12 inside corners and half that on outside coeners I didn't make more that 2 cuts at the wrong angle and I credit that to the RAS and reading FHB. This was the first time I've done crown molding and it was easy with both saws.

My shop will always have a place for both, provided they don't wuit making RAS to where I can't get a replcement when the time comes!