I just wanted to know what people like about either tool, and what they personal use.
I am radial arm saw kind of guy just like the look and feel of them.
I used to own a DeWalt 10" RAS and loved it but it was ruined through an unfortunate set of circumstances. I would get another one in a heartbeat if I had room. All I have now is an older DeWalt miter saw and it serves the purpose.
I have had several of each, the best RAS I had was a 16 inch blade Dewalt. I really liked that saw but I also had three other ones I did not like. I don't recall how many miter saws I have had over the years but I by far favor the compound slide over a RAS any day. They each have better functions in different areas, so I would say they both are good to have but I have always use the miter saw much more than the RAS.
I am with BigJim…. owned several of both and currently have a 12" RAS and a 12" slide CMS.
Both have their areas where one is better than the other (and not as good as the other).
Although I cannot really say why, but I do use the slider more than the RAS.
Radial arm saws are famous for being difficult to reset the arm after changing it from 90 degrees and back or to different angles like 45 degrees, however there is a solution! A miter jig made from a 90 degree corner and a bottom base, held against the fence will make perfect 45 degree miters.
The sliding arm miter saws are known for better return to position accuracy than RAS's and are lighter to carry to your work site. They have a slightly different operational process in that you can push down as well as slide the blade back and forth when making your cuts. I'm not sure how important that is to accuracy, however.
I love my Craftsman 12" RAS, which I leave set to 90 degrees at all times. I just set it and forget it. When I need to make miters I'll either use my Incra miter gauge on the table saw or dust off the sliding compound mitersaw, a huge 12" Dewalt 708. Here's my extended table on the Craftsman 12" RAS:
So, it's not always a choice of one or the other. If you are making "tons" of frames with miters then it's worth making the sled if you don't want to spend the money on a sliding arm saw. RAS's you can get really cheap on Craig's List because they take up a large space and folks don't understand how to use them safely. I own about 5 of them I purchased off the "list". They are an interesting machine, but I've got them figured out and found that the carriages are inter-changeable! So, I have one carriage all set up with a dado for 3/4" shelves, and another with the standard crosscut blade a 60 tooth Diablo blade. For a big bookshelf project I just switch to the dado carriage and make all my grooves: https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/shelf-spacing-made-simple-using-ras-47095/
we have an Original radial arm saw in the shop, its the first stop when wood comes off the rack to break it down to size. it works very well for that. it is not where we bring wood to be cut accurately, regularly. radial arm saws just seem to not hold at precision levels and nice clean cuts. so the sliding miter gets the call there.
you can tune a radial arm saw quite a bit tho. besides all of the regular adjustments, i've installed a sacrificial throat that gets mounted into the table (a routed out pocket) in the path of the cut that helps improve the tearout quite a bit. and a high quality (negative tooth angle) blade will give better results also.
Because of their bad rap by so many used ones can be picked up for a very reasonable price so it is always interesting to walk through a production shop and see the ways that radial arm saws have been altered to do one particular function of a product.
For most a sliding miter saw is probably adequate, but if there is room for both it will make a lot a jobs easier.
When I was residing my house with 8" ship lap Cedar, I made my own 2 and 3 story wood scaffolding. I actually took apart my 10" RAS and dragged, pushed, and pulled it up to the second story for cutting the 30 and 60 degree angles on the siding ends. I was stronger then and "fearless" .... LOL. :|
I have both a Delta turret RAS and a Bosch compound miter The RAS saw is used just for cross cutting and it holds the setting very accurately @woodnthings posted about a 5 degree negative rake Oshun saw blade for them both but I just got the blade for the RAS as the one in the Bosch is pretty new but the negative rake makes as smooth of a cut possible and it makes the saw much easier to cut with, almost have to pull it through the wood versus stop it from jerking into the wood
I bought a used Craftsman RAS 45 years ago for $125. It was pretty old when I bought it but the seller gave me all his blades and a set of molding cutters. He was worried that I might hurt myself so I took some night classes at the local high school. It was the only power saw I had for many years but the night school had a 24" planner, 8" jointer, table saws, etc. I ripped on it as well as cross cut. Over the years I bought a jointer/planner, table saw, Shopsmith with a bandsaw attachment, power mortis machine and a 12" Dewalt sliding compound miter saw. All the equipment is in my basement shop except for the RAS. It remains in the garage. I use it to rough-cut long boards before sliding them down the basement steps where they get re-cut on the Dewalt. I loved the RAS for years but it really didn't hold square like I needed and I didn't feel it was as safe as my other saws. Some day soon I will give it away to someone who knows how to use it or is willing to take a safety course on woodworking.
My radial arm saw (RAS) was my 1st Christmas gift from my wife, nearly 40 years ago.
My RAS is also the centerpiece of my shop, it is mounted, and I built a dust collection system for it. It would take a day or 2 of disassembly to move it..
Of course for ripping I prefer the table saw (even though rotating the head 90 degrees on the RAS it is possible)
To be honest if I didn't have the RAS ,the modern sliding miter saws are a better bet.. but since I have the RAS and it is central to my workshed / shop, it gets more use.. granted I do tweak it periodically to keep it square.
This fellow shows how versatile the radial arm saw really is:
Notice how many feather boards and work holders he uses to keep the stock against the fence and to keep his fingers way out of the way. Notice that he still has all 10 fingers as well. Safety first is very important in any shop!
My earlier years of when I was inexperienced with a RAS and the things I did with one because I didn't have a jobsite table saw at the time, made me very leery of them. I was ripping with a RAS and it threw a 1X6X8 foot out the door of the shop. I never to this day have tried to rip with one again.
All I ever used my RAS for was cutting 90 degree parts, or an occasional counter top on a 45 degree. It was just too hard to adjust from angles back to square for me, and time was a very important factor when I was in business. I did love my ole 1957 Dewalt, it had a 220 5 hp motor and took forever for it to stop when turned off.
My earlier years of when I was inexperienced with a RAS and the things I did with one because I didn't have a jobsite table saw at the time, made me very leery of them. I was ripping with a RAS and it threw a 1X6X8 foot out the door of the shop. I never to this day have tried to rip with one again.
Christmas day 1980, our 1st Christmas together.. I assemble the RAS my wife got me.. proceeded to rip a 2 x 4 (for the thrill of it) fed it the wrong direction,, shot that baby across the basement right into my tool box. put a decent dent in it..:surprise2: I am 39 years wiser now..:wink: THAT has never happened again.. the Lord taught me a valuable lesson that day at the minor expense of a dented toolbox..
There are rare occasions when I use my RAS for ripping (real long boards), but generally I use the table saw.
Frank Howarth - Frank Makes - has about 5 DeWalt RAS but I don't recall seeing a miter saw in his shop. It doesn't appear that he's missing out on anything by not having a miter saw.
Craftsman 10" RAS has been my go to saw for 40 years, once set up correctly it will give accurate cuts. Now I regulate it to crosscuts since I got a table saw. I have one cut in the fence which makes lining up the cut easily, I know a sled would do the same thing on the TS but with long boards its easier for to support it on the RAS. Ripping and miters I do on the table saw, I had a miter saw that I never used and gave it to my son.
After seeing the jig for miter cuts on the RAS I'm going to make one.
I used a cheapie B&D radial arm saw for framing a new porch structure for my in-laws, and making some simple (low class) bookcases. That saw is long gone, so now I have a 10" Bosch jobsite table saw and a 10" Bosch compound miter saw. Both the Bosch saws get used. The table saw is the newer acquisition, I had not realized how useful it can be. It rolls away under a counter-top when not in use.
I have both, in fact I have 2 Miter saws, one that is a sliding version and one that is not. I have a RAS that I purchased from a friend with me, that almost new and never used. I use both and at time all three. I prefer the RAS for larger cuts the sliding miter won't handle. Most of the time I have a stacked Dado blade in the RAS (once it set up, it more convient to leave it alone). Just my $.02 worth.
In the old days (pre-having a drill press), I used my RAS as a horizontal boring machine when I needed multiple holes perfectly drilled (I made a fooseball table years ago). I have used a molding head with it, but the table saw works better for that (I made the molding for our house)
I see several folks also post ideas.. I have one.. For the fence on my radial arm saw I dado out a slot and incorporate a yardstick. Sure makes it handy for some projects.. say I want to cut 10 dowels @ 7" I clamp a block @ 7" and cut away.. And taking this picture makes me think.. It might be time for a new fence....
Yrs ago a radial arm saw took up about 16' of wall space,to me it just was not worth it.But if I had the rm I would have one with 8' on both sides of the saw.But I had a Sears and I just could not keep it square,so maybe a better saw than Sears sure would have been nice if I had space to spare
Have both use both but my Craftsman RAS is my go to for about half the work I do. Table saw is first and distant third is the Dewalt Miter Saw. The RAS has far more capability than a Miter but most people just can tune or use a RAS.
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