# Dewalt RAS Restoration



## milbert (May 23, 2010)

*Planning my new saw!*

I have been inspired by web findings on Lumberjocks and elsewhere to restore a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw (GS). Currently, I don't have a real wood shop because I am in college and all of my woodworking was done at home (in my dads workshop). Although I do have the necessities, as far as tools go, I don't have the right tool-set for woodworking. So fixing up this old saw is the closest to woodworking I can get. It also gives me a chance to ignore homework!

This saw is in great working condition! The motor purrs and all the bearings, moving parts, etc work how they should (could use some lubrication). The gentleman that had it previously used it on a regular basis. However, he reached a point where he could no longer do any work and generously gave it to my dad and I. Since I've been away at school, it has just been in the garage collecting rust. I feel like its my responsibility to bring it back to life.

*Plans:*
- Strip all surfaces clean (remove every spot of rust)
- Prime/Rust prevention
- Paint
- Replace or clean any bolts, nuts, bearing, parts, etc that are in bad condition.
- New switch box and power cords
- New table

*Pictures of the Dewalt RAS*




































*Progress So Far:*
Thus far, I've removed the saw arm and assembly from the base. All of the legs have been stripped, primed, and painted. Originally I was going to replace all of the bolts. Instead I decided to see how well they cleaned up, so they were soaked in a rust remover then cleaned with a wire wheel. Most of them turned out in brand new condition while only a few had bad threads and need to be replaced.

Once I finish cleaning and painting the base, I will put up some pictures of it.


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## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

milbert said:


> *Planning my new saw!*
> 
> I have been inspired by web findings on Lumberjocks and elsewhere to restore a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw (GS). Currently, I don't have a real wood shop because I am in college and all of my woodworking was done at home (in my dads workshop). Although I do have the necessities, as far as tools go, I don't have the right tool-set for woodworking. So fixing up this old saw is the closest to woodworking I can get. It also gives me a chance to ignore homework!
> 
> ...


Have fun, I did it to my RAS and was really satisfied.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

milbert said:


> *Planning my new saw!*
> 
> I have been inspired by web findings on Lumberjocks and elsewhere to restore a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw (GS). Currently, I don't have a real wood shop because I am in college and all of my woodworking was done at home (in my dads workshop). Although I do have the necessities, as far as tools go, I don't have the right tool-set for woodworking. So fixing up this old saw is the closest to woodworking I can get. It also gives me a chance to ignore homework!
> 
> ...


*WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo !!!!!!!*

I'm going to THOROUGHLY enjoy watching your progress. I just finished the mechanical restoration (cosmetics are okay, for now) of my 1956 MBF. If interested … click on my home page, go to my "blog" page, and … see what I did.

If there's anything I can do to help … just give me a shout !

OhByTheWay ….

FREE ???

You suck


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## lumberhack (Mar 20, 2011)

milbert said:


> *Planning my new saw!*
> 
> I have been inspired by web findings on Lumberjocks and elsewhere to restore a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw (GS). Currently, I don't have a real wood shop because I am in college and all of my woodworking was done at home (in my dads workshop). Although I do have the necessities, as far as tools go, I don't have the right tool-set for woodworking. So fixing up this old saw is the closest to woodworking I can get. It also gives me a chance to ignore homework!
> 
> ...


I love my old DeWalt!! I even have the original manual









Cheers! Mark


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

milbert said:


> *Planning my new saw!*
> 
> I have been inspired by web findings on Lumberjocks and elsewhere to restore a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw (GS). Currently, I don't have a real wood shop because I am in college and all of my woodworking was done at home (in my dads workshop). Although I do have the necessities, as far as tools go, I don't have the right tool-set for woodworking. So fixing up this old saw is the closest to woodworking I can get. It also gives me a chance to ignore homework!
> 
> ...


OhByTheWay:

Two forums that are all about the DeWalt RAS's (in addition TO the OWWM/Vintage Machinery gurus):


http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DewaltRadialArmSaw/

The Delphi Group has a particularly knowledgeable couple of folks.

Also … for you, or for anybody else that might eventually come to this thread …..

*LINKS:*


http://home.comcast.net/~dewalts/dewalt-nonamf-mbb-gw-gs.pdf
http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/delta_getting_the%20_most_out_of_your_radial_saw_1956.pdf
http://www.giftsofwood.com/ebook/rebuild%20a%20dewalt%20mbf.pdf
http://theoldmachine.com/journal/dewalt-ge-radial-arm-saw/
http://people.delphiforums.com/snotzalot/sawdust/
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Radial_Arm_Saw_Setup.html
http://www.wolfemachinery.com/
http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/dewaltrebuild.pdf 
http://www.joewells.org/owwm/DeWaltMBF/

DeWalt page:

 http://owwm.com/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=252&tab=3

Serial Number Registry:

 http://www.owwm.com/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=252&tab=5


http://mrsawdust.com/pdf/Sawdust_Chap1.pdf







http://www.giftsofwood.com/ebook/rebuild%20a%20dewalt%20mbf.pdf
http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/delta_getting_the%20_most_out_of_your_radial_saw_1956.pdf
http://www.johnsonphotographic.com/goodstuff/owwm/Adjusting_DeWalt_Radial_Arm_Saws.pdf
http://www.americanfurnituredsgn.com/Radial%20Arm%20Saw%20Tune-up.htm
http://home.comcast.net/~dewalts/dewalt-nonamf-mbb-gw-gs.pdf
http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/dewaltrebuild.pdf
http://dewalt925rebuild.blogspot.com/2009/12/day-1.html
http://www.asiteaboutnothing.net/cr_radial-arm-saw.html
http://www.asiteaboutnothing.net/cr_ras-mr-sawdust-table.htm
http://dewaltgwiresto.blogspot.com/

SEARS parts has some parts:

 http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/part-model/Dewalt-Parts/Saw-Parts/Model-3436RADIALARM/0280/0744500

*BEARING REPLACEMENT:*


http://wiki.owwm.com/Default.aspx?Page=DeWaltMBFMotorBearings&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
http://wiki.owwm.com/DeWaltMBFRollerheadBearings.ashx
http://wiki.owwm.com/(S(ifj0m5zkhyjwrebyv2ldoq45))/Print.aspx?Page=DeWaltMBFRollerheadBearings
http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=31085
http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=30990
http://wiki.owwm.com/ReplacementBearingList.ashx#DeWalt_27


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## milbert (May 23, 2010)

*Base Finished!*

I decided to tackle everything in sections because I have limited space and can't have everything spread out all of the time. So the first thing I tackled was the base.

Everything was disassembled. Rust remover was used on the legs and base. After this a wire wheel cleaned everything up and I was back to bare metal. Everything was primed with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer which prevents rusting, then painted with Rustoleum Smoke Grey.

Originally the plan was to replace all the bolts but I started to clean some up and they turned out to be in great shape. I only found a couple of bolts that had thread damage. Then let them sit in a zip lock coated in oil until I was ready for them.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

milbert said:


> *Base Finished!*
> 
> I decided to tackle everything in sections because I have limited space and can't have everything spread out all of the time. So the first thing I tackled was the base.
> 
> ...


Ah. Working from the ground up, I see 

Very nice job on the base.

And … yeah … once the rust is gone … as long as the heads and threads are in good shape … no need to replace fasteners.

Thanks for the update ! Will still be following happily along….


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

milbert said:


> *Base Finished!*
> 
> I decided to tackle everything in sections because I have limited space and can't have everything spread out all of the time. So the first thing I tackled was the base.
> 
> ...


Rebuild it….
and they will come!

I (and many others) will be watching your restoration with great interest.

I have an old DeWalt RAS that needs TLC and restoration. Seeing other rehabs will hopefully provide the motivation I need to tackle this project. First, of course, I have to complete the setup of my basement shop.










BTW: Excellent work on the base of your saw! Keep it up.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

milbert said:


> *Base Finished!*
> 
> I decided to tackle everything in sections because I have limited space and can't have everything spread out all of the time. So the first thing I tackled was the base.
> 
> ...


That looks good!


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## Dwain (Nov 1, 2007)

milbert said:


> *Base Finished!*
> 
> I decided to tackle everything in sections because I have limited space and can't have everything spread out all of the time. So the first thing I tackled was the base.
> 
> ...


Man, I love the machine restoration blogs! Excitied to follow your progress.


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## milbert (May 23, 2010)

*Motor and Motor Carriage*

Continuing to work up the saw I got the next big chunk of work done, the motor and the motor carriage. I followed pretty much the same process I used while doing the base. Like I said before, this saw is in great working shape and had been used daily by the gentleman that had it before. I both the motor bearings and track bearings had already been replaced. They were in good shape so all I needed to do was give them a thorough cleaning.

I also hand painted the embossed DeWalt logo 'keep saw sharp' label on the blade shroud. It seemed like something fun to try and I don't think it ended up too bad. I settled on red simply because it's my favorite color and the caution label to the right was already red.

*Before*









*After*




































To be continued….


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## bubinga (Feb 5, 2011)

milbert said:


> *Motor and Motor Carriage*
> 
> Continuing to work up the saw I got the next big chunk of work done, the motor and the motor carriage. I followed pretty much the same process I used while doing the base. Like I said before, this saw is in great working shape and had been used daily by the gentleman that had it before. I both the motor bearings and track bearings had already been replaced. They were in good shape so all I needed to do was give them a thorough cleaning.
> 
> ...


Real nice job, she is looking real pretty
I have a blog going on a DeWalt MBF here http://lumberjocks.com/bubinga/blog/22838
although I'm not going to paint it, I am putting a new bearings in the motor cleaning her up


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

milbert said:


> *Motor and Motor Carriage*
> 
> Continuing to work up the saw I got the next big chunk of work done, the motor and the motor carriage. I followed pretty much the same process I used while doing the base. Like I said before, this saw is in great working shape and had been used daily by the gentleman that had it before. I both the motor bearings and track bearings had already been replaced. They were in good shape so all I needed to do was give them a thorough cleaning.
> 
> ...


Nice job!


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

milbert said:


> *Motor and Motor Carriage*
> 
> Continuing to work up the saw I got the next big chunk of work done, the motor and the motor carriage. I followed pretty much the same process I used while doing the base. Like I said before, this saw is in great working shape and had been used daily by the gentleman that had it before. I both the motor bearings and track bearings had already been replaced. They were in good shape so all I needed to do was give them a thorough cleaning.
> 
> ...


That looks absolutely fantastic!!!


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## milbert (May 23, 2010)

*New Tabletop: Final Pictures*

This has been done for quite a long time, I am not sure why I have never updated the blog but I wanted to post the final product!

I made the tabletop according to the Mr. Sawdust book and I must say that I am extremely happy with it. The top is a couple of pieces of plywood glued together with 3/4" steel bars on edge for re-enforcement. I transferred the bolt holes from the old table.

The top layer is 1/4 hardboard. This will be easily replaceable if it gets too beat up. I spent a great deal of time aligning the top and saw according to the book. Although the RAS can be used to tons of purposes, I am only using it for its crosscut ability. It makes absolutely BEAUTIFUL cuts… I don't ever want to use another machine for crosscuts 

Tabletop - 2 layers of 3/4" plywood









3/4" Steel re-enforcement on edge









1/4" Hardboard top with countersunk screw holes









Side View









Full View









Before Restoration


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

milbert said:


> *New Tabletop: Final Pictures*
> 
> This has been done for quite a long time, I am not sure why I have never updated the blog but I wanted to post the final product!
> 
> ...


Great refurb job


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

milbert said:


> *New Tabletop: Final Pictures*
> 
> This has been done for quite a long time, I am not sure why I have never updated the blog but I wanted to post the final product!
> 
> ...


Nice refurb job!


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