# Vintage 9" Radial Arm Saw Worth Keeping?



## a1481155 (Dec 2, 2012)

I inherited this Craftsman 9" Radial Arm Saw model #113.29350 circa 1965 w/ extra blades and accessory kit. Needs a little cleaning and TLC but I plugged her in and she started right up...That sound reminded me of my father (RIP). FWIW...I have a low end miter saw w/ portable stand but don't have table saw. 

That said, CPSC, Emerson Tool Co. Announced Recall of Craftsman® Radial Arm Saws Sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. because the radial arm saws were sold without a guard that covers the entire blade. The recalled Craftsman® 8-, 8?-, 9- and 10-inch radial arm saws have a model number beginning with 113. Emerson will provide $100 for the return of the saw carriage of recalled radial arm saws. Is this worth keeping and using?? Or perhaps safer to just sell and/or use recall and put the $ towards a more guarded recent tool???


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

In sentimental value , it's priceless.

But in practicality, how much will you be using this, and will the $100.00 buy anything comparable.

A question, how does that Chuck fit on this?

At least keep all the accessories, some of them look unused.


ED


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## a1481155 (Dec 2, 2012)

Priceless, indeed!

The $100 would go toward something like the DEWALT 10-in Carbide-Tipped Table Saw Model # DWE7491RS, which retails for $579

As for the Chuck, I can only go by the Owner's Manual, which says the following on pages 13-14:

ROUTING AND DOVETAILING
Routing and dovetailing are accomplished with the motor
indexed and locked 90 ° from horizontal, except that this
time the externally threaded stub end (opposite the normal
blade end) is between the motor and table top. The following
chucks will mate, with this external 1/2-20 thread.
(See figure 30.)
O-inch to 1/4-inch Chuck
5/64-inch to 1/2-inch Key Chuck
The following routers and dovetails are recommended:
1/8-inch router
1/4-inch router 3/8-inch dovetail
3/8-inch router 1/2-inch dovetail
t/2oinch router
5/8-inch router

Routing may be performed by either moving the work with
a stationary router, or by clamping the work to the table
and moving the router. Always approach the router bit
from the left-hand side of the saw.

BORING
The saw may be converted to a horizontal drill for boring
by using one of the recommended chucks and proper drill.
For drilling holes on an angle, the radial arm should be
positioned to the desired angle


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

There's just about no market to sell something like this so I would either keep it and use it or toss it out.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

a1481155 said:


> Priceless, indeed!
> 
> The $100 would go toward something like the DEWALT 10-in Carbide-Tipped Table Saw Model # DWE7491RS, which retails for $579
> 
> ...


Well there you go, a horizontal boring machine, and a router table too.

I ain't too old to learn something after all.:vs_karate:


ED


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## a1481155 (Dec 2, 2012)

stick\shift said:


> There's just about no market to sell something like this so I would either keep it and use it or toss it out.


Thanks!
I'm going to keep it and use it.


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## a1481155 (Dec 2, 2012)

de-nagorg said:


> Well there you go, a horizontal boring machine, and a router table too.
> 
> I ain't too old to learn something after all.:vs_karate:
> 
> ...


I was also surprised to learn, it can be used for...

MOLDING OR SHAPING
This work is performed with Craftsman Molding Cutter
Heads, and a set of cutters depending on the type of molding
cut desired. The saw is positioned in the same manner
as that described for rabbeting. (See figure 29.) Since the
position of the cutters can be adjusted with respect to the
fence and table top, any or all of the cutter shapes may
be used. The Molding Cutter Guard should be used with Molding
Cutter Head.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I had a 10 and a 12" Radial arm saw given to me.
I had them on Craigs list for sale cheap to just get rid of them.
Not one call for a year, so I tried to use them, has to be the most dangerous tools ever invented.


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## Bent Nail (Mar 22, 2017)

Radial saws can be dangerous, without a doubt, but so can table saws, vertical drill presses, skil saws, and, might as well say it... driving. But unlike driving, the risks involved with using power tools can be managed entirely by the user, whereas with driving, there are obviously others out there who we cannot control.

So, I think you made a good choice to keep your father's radial saw, as long as you have room for it. A few reasons why have already been mentioned... horizontal line boring, routing, etc. But there is also dadoing, and I see you have what looks like a dado blade pack new in the package as part of the group of accessories you have.

Cutting, say, a 3/4" wide dado trench in one single clean precise pass is not something a typical dual bevel sliding compound miter saw (hereinafter referred to as DBSCMS) can do, as dado blades don't fit in those types of saws. But they do in Craftsman Radial arm saws.

I have both... a classic 10" Craftsman radial arm saw (hereinafter referred to as RAS) that I got new back in 1983, as well as a new 12" DBSCMS that I just recently bought in 2017 and set up at an offsite remodeling project I'm currently working on. While one key difference is the easier portability of the DBSCMS compared to the RAS, there are many ways these saws are redundant. 

While the RAS is generally a fixed in place tool that does not travel well, it can do some tasks that a DBSCMS cannot do as well, or as easily. The reverse is also true, especially when the DBSCMS has a larger blade (12") than the RAS. Yet while your RAS only has a 9" blade, there are some RAS's that have 16" blades, such as those found in lumber yards and even Home Depot (not for sale, but for employee use to cut material for customers). 

When I got my recall from Emerson, they sent me an entire new blade guard assembly, vacuum and dust shroud, and even an entirely new table deck. The box that came to me was huge, and weighed at least 80 lbs (mostly due to the pressboard table). That's too bad that they are now only issuing a $100 credit, but I don't blame them, because they had to be losing their shirt sending out all the new equipment that they sent me for my saw. Although, that cost, multiplied by all the other customers who actually took the time to respond to the recall, still pales in comparison to the liability from users cutting their fingers off. 

But then again, that all goes back to the user. I got all that nice new table and equipment, but I haven't installed it yet, because frankly, I'm too used to the way my RAS is currently set up... and I have cut several different profiles of push sticks which I keep handy by hanging on the base of the RAS, in order to remotely pin down the work and still keep my fingers far away from that blade.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

a1481155 said:


> I was also surprised to learn, it can be used for...
> 
> MOLDING OR SHAPING
> This work is performed with Craftsman Molding Cutter
> ...



Many years ago i had a Craftsman radial, the thing that scared me the most was that moulding head, when you started it up with the 3 cutters in it, the sound alone it made scared the bejesus out of me, i shut it down and never mounted it again, was the first thing i got rid of.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I had a couple of the Craftsmen RAS given to me, a couple things I hated about them was they were hard to stay in adjustment and and they would climb upon the wood before you knew it. The old Dewalt saws didn't do that, because they wouldn't raise up like the Craftsmen did.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

The other thing about them that scared me was ripping a board, what a hair raising experience that was.


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## NickTheGreat (Jul 25, 2014)

I love my RAS, but agree with the comment on ripping boards. EEK!


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