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table saw vs. radial arm saw

21K views 39 replies 38 participants last post by  JayCee123 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I just purchased a table saw, however before I did so, my uncle mentioned that either a table saw or radial arm saw would be suitable for most things that I might make at this point. I did negelct to ask him what the differences are between the two aside from the ripping capabilities on the table saw. So I was wondering if anyone on here would be kind enough to fill in the blanks for me.
 
#2 ·
Gav - I have both. Most of the time radial arm saws are used more like giant miter saws. They aren't usually quite as accurate as a miter saw, and most tend to need to be adjusted frequently to maintain accuracy. They can be set up to rip, but the rip capacity is limited to the length of the arm. A lot of radial arm saws have the ability to be set up to do other operations besides sawing, like vertical/horizontal drilling, planing, etc. A radial arm saw "climbs" at you when cross cutting, which creates another set of safety concerns. For 90% of woodworkers, a table saw and miter saw are the way to go. If you only have space or budget for one tool, a radial arm saw will do a respectable job.
 
#3 ·
If I had the room I would get a radial arm saw. I don't thing it could ever replace my table saw but I remember using one when I was much younger and it made some cuts much easier. I am thinking about replacing my 15" chop saw with one of the new smaller versions, the Compound Miter Saw seems to be part radial arm saw but for $600+ I may not get permission from miss bossy :)
 
#4 ·
I've got both and the radial arm saw hasn't seen electricity in 5 or so years. I purchased a 12" sliding compound miter saw a couple of years back and it does everything the radial arm saw does and more only with better accuracy and safety. Now there was a time when all I had was the radial arm saw and it served me well as you can perform a lot of table saw functions albeit with limited ripping capacity. But, if you've aready got a table saw, it seems to me that a scms would be the most bang for the buck.
 
#6 ·
This is a tough one. I have had 3 radial arm saws (RAS) through the years and now have none. I now use a sliding table saw with a 9' slider. It is extremely accurate and I do most cuts on it. The bandsaws get used almost as much.
However, am not against RAS. A good quality one will cut very well and can in many cases cut faster. I once worked for a trim contractor in the late 70's doing a commercial interior out of redwood. We used at least 10,000 BF of redwood plus some 1,500 BF of oak. I was making as many as 3,000 cuts a day on a RAS. Now, w are talking extreme here. But, the cuts were perfect and the machine performed well. Bottom line is that they are fast. The biggest problem I see with RAS is that most are just not accurate enough to warrant the space they take up.
There are many good quality miter saws out there that will cut just as well as a good RAS and take up much less space. They are also mush more portable.
One other thing. I would not recommend using the RAS to rip. These things are too vulnerable to kickbacks and I have seen way too many accidents because of this practice. The wood is trapped between the fence and the blade. The blade does not come from under the table top, rather it is suspended. The guards are normally taken off or at least the plastic flex part is removed. Bad practice? Yes. But it is all too common.

Hope this helps. John
 
#7 ·
I have had 2 RAS's and got rid of both. I have a small workshop and I just couldn't justify the space the RAS took up compared to the use it got. RAS can be as accurate as a compound saw if they are set up properly and not moved. I used a book by Jon Eakes "Fine Tuning Your RAS", but it is no longer in print.
Some things can be done easier and probably better on the RAS. They just take up too much room. I feel the Compound Miter saw has replaced the RAS in most shops.
My $.02 CDN
 
#8 ·
I have a table saw and a RAS and both are very useful. The RAS is perfect for cutting miters, cross cutting and even ripping, but the width of the rip can be the only limiting factor. Using a RAS requires a great deal of attention to prevent accidents.

I really like using my RAS when cutting dados - this can't be done on a miter saw and it is a lot easier than cross cutting a dado on a table saw. A table saw or RAS requires fine tuning to keep them accurate. For me it is what I learned on growing up. I have tried all types of power saws, but prefer these to any other on the market today.
 
#9 ·
I think for dados or rabbets I'd actually prefer the RAS as you can see the cut. But I'd avoid ripping on a RAS like the plague. Even with the right blades with hook angles made for them, they can be notorious for wanting to lift stock and kick it back. I used to have a part time job during high school at a lumber yard that also did a bit of millwork. Even the old timers there were leery of ripping on the 12" (or was it 16"?) RAS. One epioide had a 16 ft 2×12 shot back straight into the entry doorway and flung it open and tore one of the hinges off. I think the guy standing about 20 feet outside the door had to go home and change his pants. Another time I saw it shoot a 8 ft 6×6 missle back and missed the door but knocked 2 cinder blocks out of the wall. This was on a machine run by guys who knew what they were doing with hook angles on the blades meant for RAS use. That lesson has stayed with me a long time.
 
#10 ·
Well my beliefs have changed over the years when it coms to RAS. Wanted one for years, we have two of them. One was setup to use as a pin router after a few years and the other was donated to us. Frankly, I can not recall the last time we used it. Dangerous? IMO yes it can be if proper care isn't used. But as others metion above, even with proper care and saftey it can still be dangerous as all our tools can be. Our reason for not using it is acuracy. Maybe I'm a perfectionist… but the tools we use the most often [TS, MS and drill press] are all set to 90.0 with a digital gauge. The RAS, neither of them will hold the angle. We can set them with no problems but it seems within a few cuts they are off one way or the other. No Thanks. Just my opinion though others may find RAS their best friend. Mine well I'd just as leave sell em both.
 
#11 ·
I have all 3 (Table, Miter, Radial) and wouldn't get rid of any of them. My craftsman radial is awesome and I use it for 95% of all cross cuts. I have T track built into the fence and an adjustable stop for repetitive cuts. Really the only time I use the miter saw is to make miter or angle cuts. Also on jobs away from the house. One thing a sliding miter saw can't do that a radial can, is dado cuts with a dado blade. I make my rabbets for drawers, and dados for bookshelves using the RAS. I have had the experience to work with about 5 different RAS's. I bought myself a used craftman for $200 back in 1998 and still am using it now 10 years later. Had the chance to buy a newer one for my school for the same money in 2002 and jumped on it. However as the old saying goes, they don't make them like they used to. The newer one had a single track that the saw rode on. The older one had 2 tracks with 4 wheels. The newer one basically had wobble to it and couldn't guarantee square even if locked. I have no problems with my older craftsman. We then purchased a Ridgid in 2003 and it was basically a twin to my older craftsman, good saw. At my current school we have an older Dewalt that will rip 16" and it is awesome, I would take in a heartbeat over my craftsman. At our sister school they have the 10" and the 12" Deltas. Those work pretty good also. However the switch is on the saw rather than the arm, kind of making it a nuisence to shut off, all the others have arm mounted switches and can be turned off quickly.

All in all RAS are good tools if you keep them maintained as with all tools. However I would buy a table saw, then a miter saw, and if you have the space, a RAS. it is just safer and less cumbersome to have to get out a sled every time you want to make a crosscut.
 
#12 ·
I prefer by RAS for precision crosscutting, mostly because I find it easier to target the exact mark than with a CMS. However, since I don't have an SCMS, that might be the difference.

I used to use the RAS for ripping, trying to do it accuratly is what led me to get a tablesaw in the first place. The RAS still serves a purpose, but I suspect long term I'll replace it with a SCMS and never look back, the only reason I haven't is because of the cost of the SCMS. The RAS takes up a LOT of room in my shop, and space is at a premium.

However, if you have one, I think they are excellent for precision crosscuts, so long as its kept adjusted and never moved out of the 90 degree position. I use jigs to do miter cuts, rather than changing the arm position, and I never do compound miters on the RAS.
 
#16 ·
Probably the sliding compounds are the way to go these days. I have an older Craftsman RAS that I use for crosscutting, but the others are right it does take up a lot of room, and for that it may have to go one of these days.
It is fast to use, however, and nice because of the large table size for work support, particularly when cutting long boards 6' and up.
Mine was free, so I still have it and use it all the time, and not ready to spend the extra for an sliding miter just yet.
Emerson, the OEM, recently sent me a safety guard upgrade kit, new table board, and handle with trigger that raises the safety guard as it crosses the fence. Just got it, and have to install it. Should shroud the exposed portions of the blade better than the old one.
 
#17 ·
The RAS is a tool whose time has come and gone. It is a great tool for quick cross-cuts but the accuracy proved to be its demise. I agree with most of the others here, I have had both and the RAS is a dinosaur. If you have the choice of one, get the table saw. If you can swing both, get a table saw and a miter saw. Unless someone is giving it to you free I thinnk the RAS is out of date.
 
#18 ·
I have had, one at a time, three RASs, each one "higher quality" and larger capacity than the last.

I don't like them.

They scare me.

They wouldn't hold adjustments even if not moved.

Every time a crosscut caught the blade and it rode up on the work, it destroyed all the adjustments and caused the motor to stall. That can't be good for the motor, the saw frame or my mental state.

When it didn't misbehave it did well and it was fairly good for the pupose it was intended, but the number of malfunctions was too high for me.

Never again.

d
 
#19 ·
I guess I march to the beat of a different drummer. I've had a number of RASs and love them. Dados for book cases, ladders, ornamental work on posts, cross cutting large panels, etc. it just can't be beat.

Reasons I like it:

nice long fence for getting true 90 degree ends

I don't have to worry about messing up my miter saw by cutting rough lumber - I prefer to keep my precision tools for precision work (though I still sweeten miters with a Lion)

big work table for cutting big lumber - don't have to set up 2Xs to hold everything up at the same level as the miter saw.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
My experience is not that wide, but fits with what the guys are saying above - i'd have to say that mine doesn't get much use either.

The biggest problems i've experienced are (a) they take a lot of setting up, and still are not all that precise, (b) the blade draws them into the cut and they can climb the workpiece unless you are very careful (negative rake blades help, but don't stop it), and (c) if they do climb out of the cut they get knocked out of alignment as well as damaging the workpiece and presenting a risk - and need setting up again.

It kind of did my head in that i could never trust the damn thing to be in alignment.

A less significant issue is that the working surface on the table gets chewed up all the time. Plus they take up a lot of space. Mine is a yellow DW 721 (?) which may or may not be representative of a quality example. (it came to me new as a part of a deal for a lot of equipment)

As above perhaps a fraction more versatile, but sliding mitre saws have closed the gap on capacity. I guess whatever advantage they have comes from having a greater range of movement available in swinging the blade/motor around - you can set the blade parallel to the fence (i.e 90 deg from the crosscut position), or for that matter swing the saw spindle so it points vertically downward.

I've advertised mine for sale a couple of times, but got little or no interest….
 
#21 ·
After 5 years of owning one, I got rid of it. The RAS was just too time consuming to keep aligned and was the most dangerous machine in my shop. If you have the money to buy one, invest in a sliding table for your TS instead. Once I installed the slider on my TS, I never turned the RAS on again. A good slider will run you $600 - $1000 depending on the brand, but it will be the best money you ever spent.
 
#22 ·
I build all my own tablesaw sleds. They give me accurate and unchanging cuts for the angles they are designed for. I have sleds for 90º, 45º left and right, and even 22.5º.

The table saw does for me most of what I want to do, but I also use a Grizzley bandsaw, a Delta mitersaw and a Hegner scrollsaw. They provide me with almost everything I want in cutting wood. I do also have a panel cutting setup with a dedicated Porter-Cable circular saw. A number of routers deicated to various tasks round out the arsenel.

Radial arm saw? Huh uh. Not here.

d
 
#23 ·
A radial is an all in one tool, you can cross cut, cut miters, dados and even rip. However, it is the only tool in the shop (an feel free to correct me on this) that is backwards. And by that I mean that every tool in the shop you work against the cutting action, with a RAS you are working with the cutting action. Which if you're not prepared can startle you or if you're hand's in the wrong spot you can get injured. In today's shop, I don't really see the necessity for a RAS since most everything you can do on a RAS you can do on another tool and it will most likely be relegated to doing just rough cross cuts, a lot like mine is. I suggest that if you're looking for a tool to do that, invest in a nice sliding compound miter saw. I'm sure it would see more use in your shop and will cost less, plus they are more portable so if you're pressed for space (and what wood shop can't use more space) you can move it out of the way when it's not in use.
 
#24 ·
I have a radial arm and a tablesaw, both from Sears, I use my radial arm on every project I do.
I do not rip on it, I use it for crosscuts and dados, mine stays accurate as long as I don't mess with it.
I also have a compound miter saw, which will soon be replaced with a slider. However this will not replace the RAS as I like the large table surface for crosscuts…....

Someone back up the thread mentioned cutting up the table, mine has a piece of 1/4" plywood on top, as a disposible surface…..

And the Emerson replacement guard and table, makes it difficult to rip…..
 
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