Radial Arm Saws for Dummies, Redux

Dewalt Radial Arm Saw

Unlike some online sites, we make a habit of checking our content for broken links. That's how we find out when a website (especially in the Leaf domains) has deleted the original content and redirected the link to something that – at least in their eyes – corrects its "errors" (hence the red entries in our index of DotD winners). The problem, of course, is that the same people are vetting the new stuff, which may or may not be (and often isn't) any better. That's where we are today, with a little piece at HomeSteady.com called "How to Use a Radial Arm Saw,"¹ which was penned by eHowian Michael Straessle.

We found this one while checking the link to "How to Use Craftsman Radial Arm Saws" by Patrick Nelson. Patrick's version was pretty bad; Straessle's is marginally better but still qualifies for the award. Though Michael claims to "written professionally about the construction industry since 1988," that journalism BA seems to have prevented him from getting any hands-on experience.

Straessle's  unfamiliarity with radial arm saws (and perhaps carpentry in general) is apparent in several passages:

• "A radial arm saw has a capability that not many realize. More than just making good, clean perpendicular cuts, the radial arm saw can help make some complex cuts as well... Not only does it make straight and angled cuts, it also allows for cerf [sic] cutting, making that hard to cover radius a snap." – We're fairly sure anyone buying a power tool worth several hundred dollars knows that it does more than crosscutting (the word he wanted instead of "perpendicular cuts"). Oh, yeah, and it's a kerf, not a "cerf."

• "Most radial arm saws will only cut 24 inches, so the material to be cut should fall within that range. Also, when setting up an angle, some of that distance will be lost." – We're fairly sure no radial arm saw has a 24-inch crosscut capability (and none can cut 24-inch stock, if there is such a thing...), but more importantly, you don't lose capacity when cutting miters, you gain capacity!
• "Another feature that some radial arm saws have is tilting. This feature allows for miters. Locate a lever (or knob) near the body of the saw and loosen it. Set the desired angle and tighten the lever back down." – Sorry, Michael, you're talking about a bevel; not a miter.
• "This saw will also setup to rip wood as well." – Cool! How do I do dat, Mikey?

By this point, we hope you've realized that Straessle knows zip about radial arm saws, yet he continued writing about them – not to mention writing hundreds of other eHow articles. Oh, goody! we suspect we've found another rich vein of Dumbass of the Day candidates!

Safety Recall Note: if you own a radial arm saw built by Emerson before about 1992 (this includes many Craftsman saws), 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_2331093_use-radial-arm-saw.html

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