bigcu

Bought 10 inch RAS in 1966 when I got off of active duty in the Army and was living in a rental house with only a 12 by 16 foot storage area to work out of. Moved two years later and had a dedicated 8 x 10 area. Used the RAS to build furniture and for mods to my house. Bought a used 12 in craftsman RAS at a commercial shop going out of business sale and donated the 10 in model to a charity where the maintenance guy didn't have any saw. Used that 12 in radial for the next twenty-five years. 10 years ago mover into a new house with a dedicated 34 x 32 foot shop. The RAS still in an intergral part of my shop and sits in the middle of one of the 24 ft walls. It is the most used tool in my shop, mostly now for crosscut ( rough and finished) and for dados. I now have a shaper and routers but find that the RAS is still the most versitle for certain kinds of moulding operations. The key to its use is checking that it the settings are still acurate and buildind jigs which have good safety guards attached to prevent injury when things could get jammed. My table saw (10 in craftsman) gets the most use for ripping but I still carefully use my 12 in RAS for ripping thick 4 by material. As my old Industrial Tech woodshop teacher always said: "respect that they can bite you and you won't get hurt" . Thr RAS may be fading but I don't think that it will dissapear. Thanks to all for their comments. PS I reciently lost my electric brake, any suggestions on where to start looking for over 30 yr old parts?