Radial Arm Saws for Dummies

Anatomy of a radial arm saw

Our founder has been in mourning for several months over the loss of his Craftsman radial arm saw: the motor went belly-up, and you can no longer buy parts for the saw. Instead, there's a safety recall, and owners must destroy the saw to get a $100 rebate, Oh, well, it had a good life: about thirty years' worth. At least he knew how to use the saw, something he doubts about Patrick Nelson, even though Patrick had the nerve to try to explain "How to Use Craftsman Radial Arm Saws"¹ for eHow.com.

Nelson, supposedly a music journalist; clearly reveals that if he'd ever used a radial arm saw in his life, it was a l-o-o-ong time ago. Patrick opens his post with this throwaway information:

"Radial arm saws are designed for crosscutting wood--cutting wood against the grain. They can be used for ripping---cutting with the grain, but a regular table saw is better for that. Try it, though. Attachments are available for Sears' Craftsman Radial Arm Saws to convert them into a sander and a router. The Craftsman Radial Arm Saw uses a wooden table rather than a metal one. The fence is also wood, so you may need to replace it from time to time."

Yup, that's the size of it: no discussion of why the words "radial" and "arm" appear in the tool's name; no note that, unlike a table saw; for crosscuts, the workpiece remains stationary while the cutting blade is drawn across it. Likewise, there's no mention of why a RAS has a wooden table – none of the information that would actually define a radial arm saw (as if that's necessary at all, even if required by DMS).

Nope, all Nelson managed to do was copy-reword-paste a few notes from a Craftsman tip sheet for radial arm saws and power miter boxes (aka chop saws). That's where he ended up with these tips, which he thoughtfully suspends in an absolute vacuum:

Test making a cross cut... Make the cut so the kerf is on the scrap side. Test making a dado or rabbet. Raise the blade to the height you'd like... Cut on each side of the notch, and make cuts in the interior. Try a rip cut or beveled rip cut. Rotate the saw so the blade is parallel to the fence and board. Angle the blade to the desired angle. Hold the board very firmly. Kickback is a problem with this kind of cut. Feed the board into the blade and pull the board through. Leaving us a few things to ponder, such as: The "scrap side" of what? What "notch"? "[Rotate] the saw"? How would you do that?

It's quite clear, especially from point 3, that Nelson is unfamiliar with this type of saw -- come to think of it, based on past posts we've featured he's pretty much unfamiliar with most power tools!
Radial arm saws are complex tools capable of multiple adjustments to the motor carriage and the arm, which allow a competent user to make crosscut, rip, bevel, miter, and compound miter cuts. Nelson's "description" of the saw's use, regardless of the number of times he says, "Keep your hands away from the blade," is dangerously simplistic. Hence once again, Patrick's insistence on misinforming consumers makes him our Dumbass of the Day.

NOTE: if you own a Craftsman radial arm saw sold before about 1992, check here to see if your saw has been recalled.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_5614989_use-craftsman-radial-arm-saws.html

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