DeWalt old style radial saw and table

[71SandbugCharger]

Picking this up from a friend tomorrow who doesn’t want it in his garage anymore. It runs slow, so I’m going to restore it and probably then sell it. Anyone know anything specific about it?

 

[493 Mike]

Picking this up from a friend tomorrow who doesn’t want it in his garage anymore. It runs slow, so I’m going to restore it and probably then sell it. Anyone know anything specific about it?
View attachment 1775894

I have a Craftsman model and it comes in handy, depending on the project. I would think that is a good quality machine. I had to replace the carriage bearings on mine as it sat too long before I purchased it.
Mike

 

[YY1]

I have an extremely similar one.
The lock knobs on mine are white cones.
The height crank is at the front.
Mine is mounted on the matching roll cart.

I use it a LOT.

My model was made between 1954 and 1964.

If I were you, I'd not spend a lot restoring it.
They don't sell for much.
Mine was $25 at a yard sale.
Look on CL. $25 is not a bad price.

 

[YY1]

 

[BSB67]

I was given for free a 1958 Chraftsman RAS about 25 years ago. Truly a beautiful piece of equipment. I did nothing to it. Used it a bunch, then gave it away 3 years ago, still needing nothing.

If you want it, go for it. If the plan is to work on it to flip it, your time would probably be better spent elsewhere.

Also, old non-commercial RASs have accuracy and precision limitations if you’re into that kind of wood working.

 

[YY1]

I will say this-

I rarely use my table saw since I acquired my RAS.
It does 85% of what a table saw can do, and is easier to do it on.

 

[SGTPaul]

I have an old DeWalt / amf radial arm from the 50s / 60s and a delta table saw from the 90s. Use them 50/50. I would not spend any money restoring the DeWalt. No real market for the old saws. New ones are far more accurate and powerful.

 

[YY1]

Mine is certainly not hurting for power.

As you can see, I've ripped a few 2x4's and 4x4's.

 

[Davefinan]

I know my dad had one just like it. It introduced me to woodworking and I got hooked. The arm saw is very versatile but later in life I added a table saw to my tools and found I preferred it. When I added a sliding miter saw I hardly used the arm saw anymore.

 

[YY1]

We also have a 10" sliding, compound miter saw.

I still use the RAS more.
Partially because it's at workbench height vs repeated kneeling, stooping.
...and has a better default support area for the workpiece.

 

[j-c-c-62]

Picking this up from a friend tomorrow who doesn’t want it in his garage anymore. It runs slow, so I’m going to restore it and probably then sell it. Anyone know anything specific about it?
View attachment 1775894

First Dewalt Radial arm saw I had was built I believe in 1947?. It was a brute and workhorse. It built many thousands of speaker cabinets.

At the end of the day your right cutting arm would give Popeye a run for the money.

That obviously is a newer smaller version, but I would guess equally as robust.

I bought a newer model Dewalt, but this is where it sat in good working condition for over 10 years before I sold it a few hundred dollars.

The problem is the newer chop saws will do almost the same tasks and you can throw them in the PU by yourself and cost one tenth as much and take up much less room.
It's worth fixing up for your own use, but IMO it is not a high dollar flip as one might think, sadly.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Compound sliding miter chop saws have made radial arm saws obsolete. I gave my dad’s Craftsman radial arm saw away 23 years ago.

 

[BSB67]

Just seen a nice looking old Craftsman RAS on Marketplace. The price was reduced from $100 to Free.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Just seen a nice looking old Craftsman RAS on Marketplace. The price was reduced from $100 to Free.

That tells you all you need to know. He'll be taking it to the scrapyard when no one takes it for free.

 

[493 Mike]

I like my RAS. Sometimes for repetitive jobs I set it up for one operation and use the table saw for a different cut. Can the compound sliding miter saw rip cut long boards?
Mike

 

[YY1]

That's what I was going to say.

I can rip a foot off of a 4x8 sheet of plywood and it will be a straighter cut than a table saw.

Miter saw can't do that.

 

[j-c-c-62]

That's what I was going to say.

I can rip a foot off of a 4x8 sheet of plywood and it will be a straighter cut that a table saw.

Miter saw can't do that.

I've owned all three simultaneously, and that is a tall claim IMO for a RAS vs a table saw, but I don't know your table saw.

 

[Davefinan]

A lot of the time it comes down to what type of In feed and out feed support you are using.

 

[zyzzyx]

Alot of DIY'ers got hurt using these saws and so companies like Craftsman quit making them. At one point
they even offered $100.00 for the motor off of them so they would be out of service! Liability insurance.
If you find a good one, grab it! Most are now only commercial models that are way more expensive.

 

[YY1]

I suppose if you had a very large table built around the saw, not just the saw it's self.

I don't have room for that, so my RA saw does a better job on a project like that.
I find it much easier to control against the fixed fence vs the adjustable on on a table saw.

However, my reply was primarily aimed at the miter saw vs the RA saw.
My RA saw will also diagonal 45 degree cut about 24 inches.
Very few miter saws will do that.