How the hell have I missed this thread...im in.

I have a small woodshop...ive never really built anything for fun...just drawers and cabinet doors etc for some rentals.

I've always dreamed of building something cool...just never done it.

That is a good idea but liability insurance would kill ya.

Understand, thumbs and all. But 1.5k for a hobbyist? Just don't be in a hurry. That dewalt 745 looks nice. I don't need to roll the saw around at a job site. I have some space to mount it on a table.

So the big question is what to do with the relic, built like a tank 1923 old table saw? E-bay?

Home Dept will usually rip to dims free or slight charge after so many cuts. That panel saw is pretty slick.

Other than that I would rather rip with a table saw just build a rip bench. Radial arm saws unless you buy a very good one have adjustment troubles at the head swivel. If you can find a old powermatic 70s era Montgomery Wards they were made by Rockwell when they were good. My dad had one now owned by my brother and that thing is legit.

Can you turn the miter saw sideways to act like a table saw and rip long boards? True, a radial arm saw can't rip a 8x4 plywood board in half. But it can rip ~ 20" boards 16' long (with bracing). It can also rip that same board at a 45 degree angle. Can do a cross cut 43/19/24 degree angles. Dado?

Dunno. As for utilitarian/jack of all trades/flop a board/flip a switch thingie? (I speak VERY contractie speak). Bang for the buck?

Out, gotta go home a watch a football game.

(now a football thread:) )

BTW, I wish I had found this thread earlier. Now need to read all the posts.

Thanks

All truth. I just sent the head of my craftsman radial arm saw into the manufacturer for $100 recall buyback, used the base for my planer. I don't have he cash to drop on a good RAS, just use my other saws.

Can we build a wooden cornerback? Would be better than Gaines or Acker.

I rip wood, dato, etc. with a table saw, and yes my 12" compound sliding miter can cut up to 60 degrees angles.

I have a nice radial arm and it might get used once every two years. Maybe.


I am also a guy that owns every wood tool known, and 2-3 each to keep multiple job sites running. I am a tool whore.

My dad's got a nice collection of tools and does mostly hobby work. He's done a few commissioned pieces like baby cribs and stuff. He helped me get into woodworking by introducing me to turning pens, and it's a hobby I had for about seven years before some unknown jackass stole about $1000 worth of supplies from me. Really turned me off from woodworking at all. Need to get back out in the shop..

The only non-pen piece I ever finished and was proud of enough to keep:


A few pens:

DARN...NICE. Beyond me. Cool.

When you said "pens", I first thought Hog Pens (ref Hog Farmer), or some special pin thingie.

I love WRITING pens. I am trying to re-learn cursive writing. Side note, my son of 18 couldn't read my Mom's B-Day cards and many other old farts cursive writing. I am into the old style "fountain" pens. In the old days, a way to judge a persons character was in the way they wrote. Now with the internet, type out and print what you want to say, no need (as my son told me)...except when you have to write a thank you note, hand written or printed:( Lost art.

Cool ass bowl. I have not gotten into lathe work. Yet!

You have MUCH more knowledge then I do. But for a basic hobbyist, you can't rip wood with a miter saw. Yes, nice angles, but not rip.

If space is an issue and not portability, I think the 2 main saws should be a radial arm saw and a table saw. I could very well be wrong. What can you do with a miter saw that can't be done with a non-portable RAS?

If I, as a hobbyist, with limited space and budget...me thinks those two. JMO.

Nice discussions though.

Thanks for the kind words! I agree that penmanship is a lost art, and I am certainly not the one who will bring it back. My teachers joked that I'd make a great doctor just based on the way I write. ROFL

I just finished one side of the star. Looks cool. I can't seem to remember how to download it from my phone to my computer.

Anyway, the daughter tonight said I should have at least looked online. She found one for $25. Of course I have. Nothing like this exists (what do teenage daughters know, except EVERYTHING).

It is a pain making the first one...many errors. I did get a new table saw, a Bosch portable worksite saw. It was rated the top saw for $499. Love it. Not gonna lose anymore thumbs!

As too having someone manufacture them for me, there is an Amish village close by. I say this as last night finishing up just one side and cussing up a blue storm, somebody more qualified has to be out there. So I will go there or "try" to call them.

Someone stated about my "work", I found a pic of the stairs I made in our bedroom to go up into the loft rather then a ladder. Sorry side wise pic. You get the idea.

Opps, not a finished pic. Dang computers:(

Stairs look great!


My neighbor has the same Bosch table saw, most likely. It is impressive, much fancier and more precise than my Craftsman. :thumb:


I spent two days this week planing, cutting and jointing the last 20 white oak boards I bought last year.
They were pretty fresh when I got them and have shrunk a lot.

They were 8 1/4 wide x 1 1/4 thick by 8ft long. Wow that stuff is hard and heavy. Had to cut most of the them to 4ft lengths by 3 7/8 to get them flat.

Never found the need for a radial arm saw except for making wide cross-cuts that you'd find in a cabinet shop or making cutting boards. In a cab shop, you're probably investing in panel saws anyhow.

Having one in the home garage seems stupid to me. They are dangerous saws because of kickback and the blade exposure when using it to rip and the fact that they pull through wood in either cut. Remember, you're essentially turning a radial arm into a straight line rip less the anti-kickback fingers and guards. You're asking to lose your digits...

I think it's smarter to get a table saw and compound sliding miter unless you really know wtf you are doing with a radial arm. I think you'd spend your money more wisely investing in a jointer and a planer to expand capabilities, than waste money on a radial arm.

Whatever floats your boats.