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Age of Sears Radial Saw?

650 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  JayArr, 
P
I have 2 Sears Craftsman radial saws. I would like to determine which is the newer but I have been unable to find out how to tell the year from the Model No. I found the 113 means it was made by Emerson but that's all I've been able to discover.
One model is 113.196321 / Serial No. 94082PO134 (I'm guessing this was made in 1994)
2nd model 113.23100 / No Serial No. that i can find but it does have a 4 digit Mfg. No. on the plate 1776
Which is the older one?
There were my Father's who passed away. I'd like to keep the newer one and sell the older one.
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subroc
Check the information here. Might not be definitive but should be close enough.

Sears | Craftsman - Photo Index | VintageMachinery.org
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Beezapilot
The 113's are Emerson's... I think the recall is still open, if you can't sell it they will pay you $50 to decommission it.
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woodnthings
regarding the radial arm saw recall:

craftsman radial arm saw recall at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.
duckduckgo.com duckduckgo.com

Go here and enter Sears Craftsman in the Manufacturer's index:

VintageMachinery.org | Welcome

vintagemachinery.org
this shows up:
Then based on the 3 digit prefix, it will list who manufactured the machine and in what years.
Like this short sample:

Emerson Electric Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org

vintagemachinery.org
click on (113) for Emerson Electric

Here's the photos for the Emerson Electric machines:

Emerson Electric Co. - Photo Index | VintageMachinery.org

vintagemachinery.org
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F
It appears the 113.23100 is from the mid to late 1970's, haven't seen a listing for the 113.196321 but a 113.196320 is listed as from 1993.

I would take a good look at the condition of both saws, if the older model is in better condition then it may be wise to hang on to it.

Chech out the recall model numbers to see if either fall into that category as well.
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S
The age of the saws isn't really important. The newer one may have been used more. Either one would probably last the rest of your life. I would just go by which one was in better condition as to which one to keep. I have one which I bought new in 1972 and I'm still using it. I also have a Dewalt saw which was used in a government factory in WWII.
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Kudzu
Sears really value engineered their saws badly as time went on. They got worse and worse. So the older saw may be the better saw.

BUT as others have said it is all about condition. A heavily used saw maybe have sloppy slides and not be able to make good quality cuts. I was given two and got rid ot both because they were junk.
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FrankC said:
It appears the 113.23100 is from the mid to late 1970's, haven't seen a listing for the 113.196321 but a 113.196320 is listed as from 1993.

I would take a good look at the condition of both saws, if the older model is in better condition then it may be wise to hang on to it.

Chech out the recall model numbers to see if either fall into that category as well.
Click to expand...
thank you so much!!!
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P
Kudzu said:
Sears really value engineered their saws badly as time went on. They got worse and worse. So the older saw may be the better saw.

BUT as others have said it is all about condition. A heavily used saw maybe have sloppy slides and not be able to make good quality cuts. I was given two and got rid ot both because they were junk.
Click to expand...
thank you! Good insight.
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J
I own several of these and I will agree with those who recommend that you keep the older saw. The turret is one piece machined instead of a clam shell and it keeps it's alignment far better. The 23100 saw is only a 10" but if you ever see a 12" motor it will install onto the same rails as a 1 minute upgrade.

If you decide to get rid of the older one shoot me a PM, I may be interested.
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Biotec
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@Pippyk04
if you look at the last page of each manual you see a date

113.23100 printed 06/77 old style guard open blade.
113.19621 printed 06/96 new style guard covered blade.

since you have both try them both see which one is do the work you want.
the one with the full blade has a lot limitations. if this not a problem.......

if you decide to keep the older one then, in this forum and others there is homemade guard add on to cover the blade

model & serial number should be at left hand side of the base a sheet metal tag with rivets
sometimes on the base
Rectangle Line Parallel Font Table


Line Engineering Gas Parallel Auto part





model & serial number should be at left hand side of crank near the table top in the base is a depressed the the sheet metal. sometimes in the back

Furniture White Table Human body Rectangle

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H
Just noticed this thread. I've used or owned both the machines Biotec showed. The newer one, the bottom of the column is bolted together and IIRC it's aluminum or something comparable. The older one the bottom of the column is solid and cast iron from what I can tell. I bought the older one new, and other than checking the alignment every few years it's been a solid saw. One thing I don't recommend though is using a molding head on it, too dangerous IMO.
My 2 cents
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woodnthings
I own 2- 10" and 2 - 12" models.
One of the 10" has a cast iron column support one piece, the other is bolted together in two pieces, cast iron both.
Both 12" are one piece cast iron, no bolts.
I agree a molding head is dangerous and I wouldn't recommend a novice use one unless they had considerable experience on a router table first.
Feed direction is very important and having proper guards in place as well.
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J
One thing I don't recommend though is using a molding head on it, too dangerous IMO.
Click to expand...
I love my molding head, I've got the three blade one and I have done door moldings, baseboards and trim with it and this last year I bought a feeder and started making rail and stile cabinet doors with it. There's a thread on this forum somewhere showing how I built the fences and sleds to turn the RAS into a molder/shaper.

It's not dangerous if you just follow some basic, common sense logic and use the guards!
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