radial arm or table saw?
I have a good chop saw (compound). My basic shop use is household general stuff; though soon I'm going to start building some kitchen- style cabinets; possibly some clocks; maybe an entertainment center. If I must have both saws, I could probably make it work. Please let me know what you thank. Jim... I have a radial arm saw. Don't own a chop or table saw (yet). Surprise! If I had a good chop saw, I'd buy a table saw rather than a radial arm. The chop saw will handle most cross cuts while the table saw with a sled can handle the big cross cuts. So now for the rip cuts...I hate my RAS for rips. Never felt safe...never will (to me). No matter where I stand, to get to the other side of a cut requires reaching around the vertical columm or a spinning blade. With a table saw, there is no vertical columm...and the amount of potentially exposed blade is way less. I've heard the following argued both ways, but personally I think a table saw is generally more precise. The length of the vertical column and reach of the radial arm is a source of more "slop" than what I think exists in a RAS. Personal opinion...my next large saw purchase will be a table saw. Ideally with a sliding table. Joel
At work I have a 14-inch Delta radial arm and a panel saw. I'm trying as hard as I can to get district to exchange the radial arm for a 12-inch sliding compound miter saw--for most of my associates, the SCMS would be a lot safer to use than the radial arm. (When a radial arm kicks back, the whole saw head comes at you. This has cut the hell out of a lot of people.) Also, 12-inch blades are less expensive than 14-inch blades--and we carry them, which means we wouldn't have to pay the guy $200 every time we needed him to come from Charlotte to put a new blade on the saw. (We're putting a new store in Burlington, and if they make me the lumber department head I will specifically ask for a SCMS instead of a radial arm.) At home I wouldn't have a radial arm. IMO the only real justification for a radial arm is crosscutting miters, and the compound miter saw (especially the sliding compound miter saw) does it better and safer than the radial arm. I have a table saw. On your 220 question: if you have a motor that can be wired either 110 or 220 and you have the 220 already in your shop, wire for 220. The 220-volt wiring allows the motor to draw less amps, which makes it last longer. -- --jmowreader
I have an older Craftsman that has been incorporated as a permanent fixture in my primary work bench. Had I not already had the saw, I certainly would not have gone out and bought one, but it is a very handy item in my rather small garage converted to a cabinet shop. To give myself more work area and versatility, I have added a detachable table section to my table saw, which when I remove the saw to a job I can fold up the legs and take it with me. The radial arm is only used as a cross cut, but it does alleviate the problem of having a space for the compound when I'm only making simple cross cuts, I'm also able to use jig clamps on the fence when wanting to make numerous accurate cuts that are of equal length. So, yes it is a real handy addition to the shop, but probably not worth the price if you don't already have one. My older Craftsman, back when they still had some quality, is all cast ironwith ball bearing runners and holds its accuracy remarkably well. Dale