Woodworker's Journal 2006-30-2, страница 56

TOOL REVIEW

yoke for making beve! cuts, and it swivels parallel to the fence for ripping — yes, this saw can miter, bevel and rip. Ripping safely with a radial arm saw is one of those hotly debated topics, but it definitely can be done with the proper guards and anti-kickback provisions in place (see the sidebar on page 60).

Tile tabletop on a radial arm saw is made of MDF, with a simple fence that clamps between a couple of slats in the table. Making any through-cut on a radial arm saw involves lowering the blade until it grazes the table, so the tabletop is meant to be replaceable. Raising or lowering the blade happens by cranking the big arm up or down on its vertical support column. The overarm blade configuration is perfect for dadoing or erosscutting heavy or long stock that would be unwieldy to move over

In 1986/ Hitachi introduced the first compound miter saw.

That development drove the first nails in the casket for

the venerable radial arm saw.

a table saw. For dadoing, you simply raise the blade to match the dado depth and pull it though like an ordinary cut. It's highly accurate, but you have to be especially diligent to avoid overfeeding the blade.

Real-world Testing

I could have included a couple of 10" radial arm saws in this test group (see sidebar, page 64, for more on these saws), but 1 focused on three 12" models instead. They offer more crosscutting capacity and power. All

three have reinforced heavy-gauge steel bases and 2 HP. 220-volt induction motors. These saws aren't cheap, but they're simply in another league from today's lightweight, universal-motor miter saws.

To test sawing capability and general performance. I installed a triple-chip tooth CMT crosscutting blade and put these three saws through their paces on a variety of materials, including 2 x 12 Southern yellow pine, 3" oak and plywood. Rather than make this a torture test, I set out to get a good feel for general performance on a variety of cuts. I made rip cuts, crosscuts, bevel cuts and miter cuts. I also tested two of the three machines for dadoing capabilities. Here's what I learned about each machine.

Tool Review continues on page 58 ...

Anatomy of a Radial Arm Saw

Each radial arm saw has its own unique configuration of controls. Aside from getting used to cutting on the pull stroke, your biggest learning curve will probably be finding your way around the machine's many knobs and levers. It takes a bevy of gizmos to raise, turn, tilt and swing the blade through four distinct cutting operations. Here's an overview of the controls on Delta's 33-595X: 1

Track arm lock