sirhalo291

Stgeorge above who signed his post paul, I promise I am not picking on you when I say this but i have to address what you said. YOu said you are a teacher in a woodshop...If you dislike it and wont teach it then you could be part of the problem. My father taught me well!!! If teachers would do the same instead of teaching that it is a chop saw with a big motor the new woodworkers would not be afraid of the RAS. I consider it one the safest tools I use. It has its guards and the overhead arm lets me see everything all the time. I can control the wood using the kickback guards and It does everything. I have some very expensive tools in my shop but use the old RAS more than any of them. Yes it is loud but that is why I have hearing protection. I replace the table on it as needed and keep on going from there. Im concerned that it is a tool that has truly caught a bad rap. I have worked with carpenters that are scared of it until I show them all that it can do safely. Teaching is the key!!!

Wow I am not believing this article. I am a woodworker that does it for a living and I sware by my 1971 Montgomery Ward radial arm saw. It was my dad's and he Showed me the art of using it correctly. It is lubed and in tune and I can change settings in seconds. I have thrown more boards out of a table saw than I ever have a RAS. Mine and many others I have seen have teeth that prevent kickback when adjusted properly. I now have a full shop of tools but still use the Ras everyday. FOR EVERYTHING!!! I use it to route, with sand, cut and even have used it for a drill press. I have dual speed spindles opposite the blade and I can change chucks blades and do everything faster than I can put dados on my table saw. People have not been properly trained. AS far as a shopsmith is concerned I would take one in a heartbeat. Again any tool that does multiple jobs take up a lot less space it is just a matter of knowing what to do to use it properly. I own a makita, rockwell and delta chop saws and they are not even mounted in my shop I dont use them except on job sites. I have a full shop including a shaper, lathe and drill press...Personally the detail work I can do with an overhead router on the RAS far supercedes the detail I can accomplish on a router table which I also own. I guess it boils down to preference...but probably mostly about training, or should I say the lack of it!