i have seen your Unisaw restoration and Rockwell bandsaw videos. Love watching restorations. I have done a couple of DeWalt radial arm saw restoration, GWI and 1400. Nothing major. Mostly clean up , paint , and bearing replacement, and of course the alignment. I find the radial arm saw very useful. I am amazed by how accurate these older machines are. you can actually crosscut pieces without holding them down. So smooth. Keep up the great work.
@@MikeFarrington Thank goodness for that; I've been having to give myself song recommendations and come up with my own puns. Worse even, I've had to actually do woodworking and carpentry instead of watching you do it.
Just now seeing this…great video! Also, when you can, check out The Pineapple Thief. Saw them in concert last night in Dallas, TX. You and the bass player, Jon Sykes, have an eerie resemblance. Great prog rock band f you’ve never heard of them.
Hola! 🖐Really enjoyed this video. MY WIFE, believe it or not, found a Craftsman 10" at a Yard Sale and picked it up for $20. Fully functional and BONUS, sits on a Heavy Duty Machinist Tool Chest. I have yet to use it but once I get my shop set up, I plan to put this guy to some good use. Take care and have a good one, Adios! 👊
Now you can put the rip blade in the table saw and leave it there. 30" stroke is absolutely awesome. These saws are in big demand by professionals and the longer stroke ones are very hard to find. I am glad you got it, I think you really deserve it. It should have been looking for you. Art from Ohio
Thank you so much for the insight. I have a 12 inch RAS that I have not pressed into service as of yet. When I was in my early twenties I worked in a custom mill work shop operated as part of a modular home building business. The equipment we used was always old top of the line cast iron. As the new employee I did the grunt work no one else wanted to do. I usually built peak ventilators, prefabbed boxing, ran miles of stock through a rip saw, made thousands of feet of dentil molding on a old Dewalt RAS. The saw held a 20 inch blade and a 12 inch dado set. I was always afraid of that machine. But often ran it days on end. Brings back may memories seeing your fire up. Be safe Sir.
Having a nice full sized radial arm saw like this one is a fantastic addition to a cabinet shop, mine gets used for dado's constantly. It saves so much time. You are going to love this saw.
Awesome saw and good build. A good radial arm saw is invaluable in any workshop. Build a Mr. Sawdust table for it and you’ll have a great platform to dial-in a precision machine.
I used this exact model for over 11yrs. I used to work for an orange store and this was the saw we would use to cut dimensional lumber and LVLs. Its a beast and can be a little dicey when it came to cutting PT.
I have two RAS built into my miter saw station. One I keep set up to cut tenons like you mentioned. We cut all of our tenons on this saw and it’s worked great for us for years.
I had one of these exact saws years ago. Made short work of cutting boards to length. I also used it to cut thousands of herringbone strips. Brings back memories.
When I was a kid I remember my dad had a radial arm saw that he could work magic with, so it was cool watching this one come back to life. Will be interesting to see if you and it become besties or frenemies. Keep up the good work.
Great video as always Mike. I own two 12" Delta RAS's. They are late 70's, early 80's vintage. I use them one dedicated for dadoing and the other for cross cutting. Enjoy your new saw. 30" of cross cut... Amazing really.
When you fired it up, all I could think about were the cartoons with damsels in distress. The ones were the said damsel would edge closer and closer to the saw! 😨😁 Enjoyed the rebuild!
Nice video as always. I was on the seat of my chair waiting for a song recommendation. I guess I’ll have to listing to all the songs from the Actone band…….
very nice to see the differences between the old model and the newer ones and why sometime if not most times older is usually better for tools. p.s. -thanks for taking us along for the ride. always enjoy watching you restore machines and work on stuff, even if I don't have the time or setup to I can watch you do a good job.
This is a tool i used to have and that i really miss. I moved and just didn’t have the space for it. I did so many cool things with it. I of course had a cheaper 10 inch Version and its cool to see one like this. Thanks for the video!
I love you’re square-peg/round-hole line, but I always thought that phrase was a misnomer at the hands of non woodworkers. You as well as I know the square peg has a place in the round hole. Love yr stuff Mike !
I picked up a free 18-in Delta radial arm saw on craigslist. Looks just like this but supposed to be able to fit a bigger blade. I haven't purchased a blade for it yet but I did a little research in there about $300. Not looking forward to that purchase. Still working out the wiring for it. 220, single phase but I think it requires 25 amp circuit and I'm only running a 20 amp circuit. Can't get the motor to start up without popping the breaker. But I also may have wired it wrong or my bees in the wrong capacitor. But great job on the rebuild. Have fun with it
Nice rebuild. 16 inch, sweet. I still have a 10" from decades ago (make that a half century) that like many old units was built to last. Serious dust makers though. I located a 10" x 14" dust trap (usually used under table saw or in router cabinet ) Behind blade and hooked up to 4" dust sucking system .
Thank you. Yes, lots of dust, and dust that is moving much faster than from most tools due to the blade tip speed. I am planning a collection system as we speak.
Love how big that saw is. That is also my only issue with RAS's. They can be large. I have a very serviceable old Craftsman 10" saw. I need to square up the table. Got mine before i bought a table saw so I've experienced with all the unusual cuts the manual showed. Love it and at times fear it. Thanks for a drama free video.
Great saws. Used to run one in a lumberyard in the Yukon in the 70's. It was in a shack open on the front and covered in canvas tarps on the sides. Mainly for ripping 2x4's into 2x2's and pointing survey stakes. We gave that saw no mercy and would run it in below -40F temps with no whimper from the saw, turning entire lifts of 2x4's into 2x2's. The whine from the saw would turn into a whistle at really cold temps and the wind from the blade would freeze your face, but the biggest worry was when ripping 2x4x16's and you would get a kickback. The inner part would shoot out of the end like an arrow and get lodged in the tarp covering the end of the saw shack. After a while you got used to it and to my recollection no-one ever got hurt on that saw. That thing is probably still running somewhere in the Yukon today.
Nice machine to rescue, what a beast. The local “old school” lumber yard by me (non big box) has a couple of old saws like this they use to cut down material for customers.
Yes, I have been collecting stuff for a couple years now for the Mighty Miter Saw Station build. I now have everything I need, minus some plywood and drawer slides.
I used to bid on a lot of industrial auctions in a previous life and end up with a couple of these radial arm saws that I couldn’t even give away. Ended up scrapping them a few years ago, even had a cool Art Deco looking Northfield uni point radial arm saw that was just plain cool looking.
I have a 5HP single phase Milwaukee Rockwell Delta RAS, serialnumber MX3 1013. I hope to restore it soon. I used it for more than 20 years then set it aside in storage. Condensation has it rusted a lot. I hope it's not past saving. When I retired this saw about 15 years ago, I gave my 5HP Dewalt saw to a contractor friend. My favorite is the Delta.
I've got a DeWalt Model GE 16" built in the 40's. 5 HP 3 phase. Parts are available thru a company in Iowa. The original stand is solid. The start button is on the end of the arm. There is an after market blade guard covering the sides of the blade to meet OSHA. The carriage return is a shop built pulley and weight system that meets OSHA. Dust collection is a fabricated hood. In the last 30 years I've replaced the carriage bearings and the bronze nut for raising the arm.
I had a modern radial arm for a while, similar capacity to yours, 16" blade etc. It was only a few years old, switch on the handle and a blade brake, which was a big plus. As you're no doubt aware the blade will spin for minutes once you cut the power. In the end I found it to be a massive pain in the butt to do anything but cross cut. A simple mitre cut was more of a process than I had expected and took quite a bit of fine tuning. In the end I just couldn't justify the space it took up for the function it provided. A simple T square and a circular saw (of a track saw) does all the wide cross cut I need and I honestly think that compound mitre saws are superior to the ol' RAS. Sold it to a saw mill.
Years ago radial arm saws were every where. They can cross cut, angle cut, rip, dado, and more. They came in many different sizes but there is a learning curve to them. Many cabinet shops had them for fast and repeatable cutting. They all but disappeared once the chop saw came on the scene.
Love the resto! Ahhh the sign of the Devil! Rockwell Delta built machines during one of the first cost cutting periods. Companies like Oliver avoided this for a bit longer but finally also broke down. The Rockwell badge is known as the sign of the Devil! It wasn’t till Pentair got Delta during the Norm Abram years that quality improved. Some of the best delta is Delta-Milwaukee. Later they moved to Mississippi. The issues of the Devil were brought up in your resto. The older saw columns including DeWalt were plated with Cadnium. A heavy metal. While not as hard as chrome it offered durability and corrosion resistance. And you gotta love that blade! It’s a real meat slicer….. ummmm…wood cutter:)
Very good info, thank you for sharing. The cadnium plating is interesting for sure. The cost cutting is totally apparent when two tools are place side by side. Kinda sad.
@@MikeFarrington I have been involved in this racket for a long time. The best machines were built from about 1920 to 1965 to 1970. They are getting hard to find!!!! I ran several Homag CNC machines from Germany. Brutal expensive! Even they are showing modern cost cutting. The SCM machines are a pain. You have to pay a subscription fee to just access spares. Grizzly has an issue. They rotate models so frequently that they don’t have spares. And the consensus is that the RAS is dead…. Replaced by chop saws. The big boy RAS can not only cross cut 6 in beams but it can swing a trencher or a shaper cutter. On a big boy RAS like my GE, I can cross dado a cabinet side 24 in wide!
@@devemch7851 I agree with when the best machines were built. As to new stuff I've had good luck with SCM. My jointer and planer are both SCM. They have wacky wiring, but the machining on the tools is really good.
@@MikeFarrington You said it! New machine use DIN tail electrics. The Germans often use Siemens or pepper&fuchs. The Italians use brands that are prone to failure. So you most popular failure mode is electric. Depending on the machine it can become a real pain. I gutted the Italian DIN tail on my metal bandsaw and replaced with NEMA Allen Bradley from eBay. It looks like a chop saw on steroids but the saw head is a 14 inch liquid cooled bandsaw. I can slice wafers off a steel log so thin that you can staple them together
I have a few of those old saws .2 of them have the long arm great for cross cutting. I remember there were shims underneath the column I believe or at tbe top. Great Saws
First, love seeing you bringing this “arn” back to life. Around the 4:25 mark, a bit of a quibble though. I’d argue that cost-cutting was a consequence, rather than a cause, of changes that drove Delta out of business. Basically, Delta built a tool whose mechanical life (with maintenance/restoration) exceeded its useful life-you don’t see many radial arm saws anymore. I think this is what happened to America-made woodworking machinery in general. They invested lots of money in producing machines that the industry stopped wanting. It’s not their fault per se-they didn’t have crystal balls-but it’s hard to fault them for trying to survive later, e.g. cutting costs.
Another great rebuild video Mike. Cutting dados with a radial arm saw is equally as fun as turning your table saw upside down and moving it across your cabinet sides (in other words, not fun at all).
Tenons: you can cut tenons very nicely in a RAS with a lot less exposed blade than a table saw. Usually there's a provision for a secondary guard alongside the blade on the motor side, which makes for a very nice setup. Flip the blade into the horizontal position and add a flat guard over it. You can then make a simple sled that slides along the fence, with the work piece clamped to it going over the fence, under the guard, and into the saw blade. You then just slide and cut, using the vertical adjustment to set the width of the tenon very precisely. The blade is entirely behind the guard and the fence and the wood projects through the gap.
Glad you found your hammer along the way! Nice tip about the leather pad. I am sure you already know this but it is worth mentioning that a good welder could braze that cracked casting and make it better than new. Worth considering. Question: Are you planning to let this saw and the miter saw share the same benchtop? I have often wondered if that could be a good setup both for use of space and for dust collection and wondered what you thoughts might be about that.
Thank you. I could easily have it fixed but we are talking about a tool that cost a couple hundred bucks, its just not worth it. Yes, I am mid design of my new miter saw station, I will have a chop saw and this saw all in one. They will share an automated dust collection system. Not my main collection system, as I don't want that many amps cycling on and off a million times a day.
Hey Mike, I have a 1959 DeWalt RAS. I set it up next to its (much younger) kid brother as part of my chop saw station. Like yours, Or r only does cross cuts and I keep it at 90 at all times.
Build an extension base to your Mitre saw bench so that the radial saw table is at the. Same height. This can stabilize the saw ad provide extra length for long posts, columns, joists, etc. you will also find that this type of saw is useful for cutting long angles on sheet materials and can cut long beveled miters that a mitre saw cannot.
My prediction: you will fall in love with this saw. I had a brief love affair with a smaller model a few years ago. It turned out to be a dalliance and nothing long-term. She had been around for a while and hard use had taken a toll on her. I wanted her to help me build some garden gates with large timbers and deep dadoos, and she was able to do this, but just barely. I knew that she needed a rebuild from the bones on up, but I'm no Mike Farrington, and she and I both knew it, so we knew her time had come. I still think of her fondly.
Did you ever re-grease the carriage bearings? Just a tip, you can just toss the bearings in a cup filled with grease, then stick it in a small pressure tank at 30 psi, and it will push the grease into the bearings without needing to physically do anything to the seals.
i have seen your Unisaw restoration and Rockwell bandsaw videos. Love watching restorations. I have done a couple of DeWalt radial arm saw restoration, GWI and 1400. Nothing major. Mostly clean up , paint , and bearing replacement, and of course the alignment. I find the radial arm saw very useful. I am amazed by how accurate these older machines are. you can actually crosscut pieces without holding them down. So smooth. Keep up the great work.
I totally agree, a good radial arm saw is an accurate tool.
Welcome back, Mike! We've missed you over here in the magical land of TH-cam.
Thank you. Playing catchup. I'll have some more videos out sooner then the last one.
@@MikeFarrington Thank goodness for that; I've been having to give myself song recommendations and come up with my own puns. Worse even, I've had to actually do woodworking and carpentry instead of watching you do it.
@@matthewbizzell4601 Haha! Great comment. Thank you.
Just now seeing this…great video! Also, when you can, check out The Pineapple Thief. Saw them in concert last night in Dallas, TX. You and the bass player, Jon Sykes, have an eerie resemblance. Great prog rock band f you’ve never heard of them.
Wonderful to have another well-crafted film of a well-crafted restoration from a great craftsman- Many thanks Mike
Thank you.
Hola! 🖐Really enjoyed this video. MY WIFE, believe it or not, found a Craftsman 10" at a Yard Sale and picked it up for $20. Fully functional and BONUS, sits on a Heavy Duty Machinist Tool Chest. I have yet to use it but once I get my shop set up, I plan to put this guy to some good use. Take care and have a good one, Adios! 👊
That is awesome!
Now you can put the rip blade in the table saw and leave it there. 30" stroke is absolutely awesome. These saws are in big demand by professionals and the longer stroke ones are very hard to find. I am glad you got it, I think you really deserve it. It should have been looking for you.
Art from Ohio
Thank you. Agreed, lucky find.
Thank you so much for the insight. I have a 12 inch RAS that I have not pressed into service as of yet. When I was in my early twenties I worked in a custom mill work shop operated as part of a modular home building business. The equipment we used was always old top of the line cast iron. As the new employee I did the grunt work no one else wanted to do. I usually built peak ventilators, prefabbed boxing, ran miles of stock through a rip saw, made thousands of feet of dentil molding on a old Dewalt RAS. The saw held a 20 inch blade and a 12 inch dado set. I was always afraid of that machine. But often ran it days on end. Brings back may memories seeing your fire up. Be safe Sir.
Good stuff, a 20" blade would be crazy.
If this whole woodwork thing doesn’t pan out for you, you clearly have a future in machine restoration.
Thank you. I wouldn't mind doing more of this kind of work. If people were willing to pay me for my time, I would totally dive in.
He's probably making over 100k just off TH-cam
@@staytight6340 I wish.
@@MikeFarrington he means 100k half pennies? lol
@@1320crusier That would be a little closer.
Having a nice full sized radial arm saw like this one is a fantastic addition to a cabinet shop, mine gets used for dado's constantly. It saves so much time. You are going to love this saw.
Thank you. So far its been nice to have.
Awesome saw and good build. A good radial arm saw is invaluable in any workshop. Build a Mr. Sawdust table for it and you’ll have a great platform to dial-in a precision machine.
I'm going to build something similar to the Mr Sawdust table.
These old machines are a joy to work on/ restore.
Agreed.
I used this exact model for over 11yrs. I used to work for an orange store and this was the saw we would use to cut dimensional lumber and LVLs. Its a beast and can be a little dicey when it came to cutting PT.
Thank you.
I have two RAS built into my miter saw station. One I keep set up to cut tenons like you mentioned. We cut all of our tenons on this saw and it’s worked great for us for years.
Thank you. That is my plan as well.
I had one of these exact saws years ago. Made short work of cutting boards to length. I also used it to cut thousands of herringbone strips. Brings back memories.
Thank you. Good stuff.
When I was a kid I remember my dad had a radial arm saw that he could work magic with, so it was cool watching this one come back to life. Will be interesting to see if you and it become besties or frenemies. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, time will tell.
Great video as always Mike. I own two 12" Delta RAS's. They are late 70's, early 80's vintage. I use them one dedicated for dadoing and the other for cross cutting. Enjoy your new saw. 30" of cross cut... Amazing really.
Thats my plan with this one. General cross cuts, then a dado stack for tenons, dados, etc. Thank you.
It is sketchy dadoing with a radial arm saw.
@@jeffshackleford3152 I disagree.
When you fired it up, all I could think about were the cartoons with damsels in distress. The ones were the said damsel would edge closer and closer to the saw! 😨😁 Enjoyed the rebuild!
Ha! Thank you.
A much-maligned tool. One of my favs.
Mike, your level of craftsmanship, and video content, are the best on TH-cam. Thank you for what you do.
Thank you.
I really liked all the soft humor inserts. Good job with the restoration.
Thank you.
You have a great new addition to the shop. I think you'll love your new work horse...
I think so too!
Very cool that you could pick the best parts between the older and newer versions of the saw. Subscribed.
That was a pretty neat turn of events. Thank you.
You're a man with multiple talents
Yesss. It's a Farrington. My evening is complete 😃 regards from Denmark 🇩🇰
Thank you.
Nice video as always. I was on the seat of my chair waiting for a song recommendation. I guess I’ll have to listing to all the songs from the Actone band…….
Ha! I'll have a song for the next video.
very nice to see the differences between the old model and the newer ones and why sometime if not most times older is usually better for tools.
p.s. -thanks for taking us along for the ride.
always enjoy watching you restore machines and work on stuff, even if I don't have the time or setup to I can watch you do a good job.
Thank you very much.
Nice vid. I love my 12 inch Delta Rockwell RAS. I use it for cross cutting only. With the dust collection system I made it’s my favorite saw to use.
This is a great restoration. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.👍👍👍
Thank you.
This is a tool i used to have and that i really miss. I moved and just didn’t have the space for it. I did so many cool things with it. I of course had a cheaper 10 inch Version and its cool to see one like this. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for sharing!
I love you’re square-peg/round-hole line, but I always thought that phrase was a misnomer at the hands of non woodworkers. You as well as I know the square peg has a place in the round hole. Love yr stuff Mike !
Thank you. I agree with the non woodworker comment, so true.
I have a similar saw but the Dewalt version.
Great video that has provided some inspiration for some of my “vintage” tools.
Thanks for the content 👌
Thanks for watching!
I picked up a free 18-in Delta radial arm saw on craigslist. Looks just like this but supposed to be able to fit a bigger blade. I haven't purchased a blade for it yet but I did a little research in there about $300. Not looking forward to that purchase. Still working out the wiring for it. 220, single phase but I think it requires 25 amp circuit and I'm only running a 20 amp circuit. Can't get the motor to start up without popping the breaker. But I also may have wired it wrong or my bees in the wrong capacitor. But great job on the rebuild. Have fun with it
A kindred spirit. You would be a great neighbor. My shop is very well stocked, but not as big as yours. Love the final product.
That’s a monster. Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait for the table build.
I'll get to the table and cabinet soon.
Nice rebuild. 16 inch, sweet.
I still have a 10" from decades ago (make that a half century) that like many old units was built to last.
Serious dust makers though. I located a 10" x 14" dust trap (usually used under table saw or in router cabinet ) Behind blade and hooked up to 4" dust sucking system .
Thank you. Yes, lots of dust, and dust that is moving much faster than from most tools due to the blade tip speed. I am planning a collection system as we speak.
Gorgeous radio alarm saw rebuild.
Nice job of taking the best from both tools and making a great tool.
Thanks 👍
So good to have you back brother
Thank you.
Love how big that saw is. That is also my only issue with RAS's. They can be large. I have a very serviceable old Craftsman 10" saw. I need to square up the table. Got mine before i bought a table saw so I've experienced with all the unusual cuts the manual showed. Love it and at times fear it. Thanks for a drama free video.
Thank you.
Nice job! It’s always great to see you give life back to an old tool.
Thank you good sir.
Nice job Mike another old Quality tool brought back into service 👍
Thanks 👍
Great work, young brother!
Thank you kindly!
Can't wait to see your restoration of a toaster. Pins and needles Mikey... pins, and needles.
I sure do enjoy these video! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for watching!
Great saws. Used to run one in a lumberyard in the Yukon in the 70's. It was in a shack open on the front and covered in canvas tarps on the sides. Mainly for ripping 2x4's into 2x2's and pointing survey stakes. We gave that saw no mercy and would run it in below -40F temps with no whimper from the saw, turning entire lifts of 2x4's into 2x2's. The whine from the saw would turn into a whistle at really cold temps and the wind from the blade would freeze your face, but the biggest worry was when ripping 2x4x16's and you would get a kickback. The inner part would shoot out of the end like an arrow and get lodged in the tarp covering the end of the saw shack. After a while you got used to it and to my recollection no-one ever got hurt on that saw. That thing is probably still running somewhere in the Yukon today.
Man that is a behemoth. Just thinking about operating it makes my hair stand up. Great vid.
It is intimidating for sure.
yeah, a little intimidating a 16in circular saw blade being pulled to your chest. what a beast. hey thanks for the vid. love seeing well built tools
Thank you.
Awesome love radial arm saw more on the use with this please
On the way.
Nice machine to rescue, what a beast. The local “old school” lumber yard by me (non big box) has a couple of old saws like this they use to cut down material for customers.
Thank you. My old lumber yard had a 20" DeWalt. Crazy huge saw.
Mitre Saw Station. 👀
Great video on the radial arm saw
Yes, I have been collecting stuff for a couple years now for the Mighty Miter Saw Station build. I now have everything I need, minus some plywood and drawer slides.
@@MikeFarrington
Great news
Hope you and the shop apprentices are doing well 👍
These are fantastic for cross-cutting. Consider picking up another one for dedicated dado.
I used to bid on a lot of industrial auctions in a previous life and end up with a couple of these radial arm saws that I couldn’t even give away. Ended up scrapping them a few years ago, even had a cool Art Deco looking Northfield uni point radial arm saw that was just plain cool looking.
Those uni points are really neat saws. I would like to play around with one. The low cost of these tools is part of the reason I ended up with two.
Great restoration as usual. Thank you!
Thank you too!
I have a 5HP single phase Milwaukee Rockwell Delta RAS, serialnumber MX3 1013. I hope to restore it soon. I used it for more than 20 years then set it aside in storage. Condensation has it rusted a lot. I hope it's not past saving. When I retired this saw about 15 years ago, I gave my 5HP Dewalt saw to a contractor friend. My favorite is the Delta.
always love your restoration videos
Thank you very much!
Nice to see another video...
More to come!
I've got a DeWalt Model GE 16" built in the 40's. 5 HP 3 phase. Parts are available thru a company in Iowa. The original stand is solid. The start button is on the end of the arm. There is an after market blade guard covering the sides of the blade to meet OSHA. The carriage return is a shop built pulley and weight system that meets OSHA. Dust collection is a fabricated hood. In the last 30 years I've replaced the carriage bearings and the bronze nut for raising the arm.
I had a modern radial arm for a while, similar capacity to yours, 16" blade etc. It was only a few years old, switch on the handle and a blade brake, which was a big plus. As you're no doubt aware the blade will spin for minutes once you cut the power. In the end I found it to be a massive pain in the butt to do anything but cross cut. A simple mitre cut was more of a process than I had expected and took quite a bit of fine tuning. In the end I just couldn't justify the space it took up for the function it provided. A simple T square and a circular saw (of a track saw) does all the wide cross cut I need and I honestly think that compound mitre saws are superior to the ol' RAS. Sold it to a saw mill.
I used to have the craftsman 10" ras. This is just plain intimidating. Nice work.
What a nice add to your shop. 👍🏽
Haha 😂 never thought of that acetone. Glad to see you back
Thank you.
Years ago radial arm saws were every where. They can cross cut, angle cut, rip, dado, and more. They came in many different sizes but there is a learning curve to them. Many cabinet shops had them for fast and repeatable cutting. They all but disappeared once the chop saw came on the scene.
Yup, my hope is that this saw will be more accurate than a standard chop saw.
Love the resto! Ahhh the sign of the Devil! Rockwell Delta built machines during one of the first cost cutting periods. Companies like Oliver avoided this for a bit longer but finally also broke down. The Rockwell badge is known as the sign of the Devil! It wasn’t till Pentair got Delta during the Norm Abram years that quality improved. Some of the best delta is Delta-Milwaukee. Later they moved to Mississippi. The issues of the Devil were brought up in your resto. The older saw columns including DeWalt were plated with Cadnium. A heavy metal. While not as hard as chrome it offered durability and corrosion resistance. And you gotta love that blade! It’s a real meat slicer….. ummmm…wood cutter:)
Very good info, thank you for sharing. The cadnium plating is interesting for sure. The cost cutting is totally apparent when two tools are place side by side. Kinda sad.
@@MikeFarrington I have been involved in this racket for a long time. The best machines were built from about 1920 to 1965 to 1970. They are getting hard to find!!!! I ran several Homag CNC machines from Germany. Brutal expensive! Even they are showing modern cost cutting. The SCM machines are a pain. You have to pay a subscription fee to just access spares. Grizzly has an issue. They rotate models so frequently that they don’t have spares. And the consensus is that the RAS is dead…. Replaced by chop saws. The big boy RAS can not only cross cut 6 in beams but it can swing a trencher or a shaper cutter. On a big boy RAS like my GE, I can cross dado a cabinet side 24 in wide!
@@devemch7851 I agree with when the best machines were built. As to new stuff I've had good luck with SCM. My jointer and planer are both SCM. They have wacky wiring, but the machining on the tools is really good.
@@MikeFarrington You said it! New machine use DIN tail electrics. The Germans often use Siemens or pepper&fuchs. The Italians use brands that are prone to failure. So you most popular failure mode is electric. Depending on the machine it can become a real pain. I gutted the Italian DIN tail on my metal bandsaw and replaced with NEMA Allen Bradley from eBay. It looks like a chop saw on steroids but the saw head is a 14 inch liquid cooled bandsaw. I can slice wafers off a steel log so thin that you can staple them together
Excellent TH-cam face thumbnail. May The Algorithm shine it's heavenly light upon thee.
I have a few of those old saws .2 of them have the long arm great for cross cutting. I remember there were shims underneath the column I believe or at tbe top. Great Saws
One had a shim, the other did not. Funny how that works.
Awesome acquisition and fantastic restoration :)
Thank you.
I used one in a truss yard many years ago. It was a beast.
Good stuff.
I’m convinced you and Blacktail Studio are brothers or at the very least distant cousins. Love your content
Ha! Maybe. He's a good dude for sure.
I love your style!!
Thank you.
First, love seeing you bringing this “arn” back to life. Around the 4:25 mark, a bit of a quibble though. I’d argue that cost-cutting was a consequence, rather than a cause, of changes that drove Delta out of business. Basically, Delta built a tool whose mechanical life (with maintenance/restoration) exceeded its useful life-you don’t see many radial arm saws anymore. I think this is what happened to America-made woodworking machinery in general. They invested lots of money in producing machines that the industry stopped wanting. It’s not their fault per se-they didn’t have crystal balls-but it’s hard to fault them for trying to survive later, e.g. cutting costs.
Another great rebuild video Mike. Cutting dados with a radial arm saw is equally as fun as turning your table saw upside down and moving it across your cabinet sides (in other words, not fun at all).
Thank you. I'll run some tests and see what I come up with.
Totally disagree. I use mine for dados and ripping and love it. To each their own.
Awesome find!
Thanks!
Wow ! Thank you so much for all that you do!
nice job on that very intimidating saw
Thank you.
Nice job on the rebuild!
Thank you.
Outstanding
Thank you.
I love that saw. I had an older one in my shop years ago
Finally you make a video! Miss you.
Thank you.
Hi Mike, another awesome restauration. I have dropped you an email and IG message. Cheers from Denmark
Great video and very informative, as always. Thank you.
My pleasure.
I need the next video of this saw!
I have used it in a few videos, and I built it into my chop saw station. Have a look around my channel.
Welcome back!
Thank you.
Nice video and restoration; but I would recommend some sort of drop down/rotate around blade guard to reduce exposed blade height.
That is a good idea.
Beautiful restoration.
Well that’s huge.
A virtual planetoid.
Has its own weather system.
Like the new plywood walls too.
Thank you. I'm planning a video on showing what I did to the walls as well.
What an awesome tool. All it needs now is a flame paint job and it’ll be a full blown hot rod!
I wish I knew how to paint flames. There would be lots more tools in my shop with flames.
HAHA same here man
Tenons: you can cut tenons very nicely in a RAS with a lot less exposed blade than a table saw. Usually there's a provision for a secondary guard alongside the blade on the motor side, which makes for a very nice setup.
Flip the blade into the horizontal position and add a flat guard over it. You can then make a simple sled that slides along the fence, with the work piece clamped to it going over the fence, under the guard, and into the saw blade. You then just slide and cut, using the vertical adjustment to set the width of the tenon very precisely. The blade is entirely behind the guard and the fence and the wood projects through the gap.
Thats the plan.
@@MikeFarringtonI think you'll be very happy with the results.
Great video. Would love to see more on the table build, if you get to that.
Thanks! Will do!
It has been a while, missed your videos these past few months!
Thank you. Its good to be back.
Glad you found your hammer along the way! Nice tip about the leather pad. I am sure you already know this but it is worth mentioning that a good welder could braze that cracked casting and make it better than new. Worth considering. Question: Are you planning to let this saw and the miter saw share the same benchtop? I have often wondered if that could be a good setup both for use of space and for dust collection and wondered what you thoughts might be about that.
Thank you. I could easily have it fixed but we are talking about a tool that cost a couple hundred bucks, its just not worth it. Yes, I am mid design of my new miter saw station, I will have a chop saw and this saw all in one. They will share an automated dust collection system. Not my main collection system, as I don't want that many amps cycling on and off a million times a day.
@@MikeFarrington Thanks for the reply. I will be very interested to see that project.
@@don1031 Should be fun. Stay tuned.
It is a beast.
Thank you.
still interesting...you do a good job
Thank you.
Hey Mike, I have a 1959 DeWalt RAS. I set it up next to its (much younger) kid brother as part of my chop saw station. Like yours, Or r only does cross cuts and I keep it at 90 at all times.
That is my plan with this saw. 90 degree only. Also, this will not replace a chop saw, it will work with it.
Build an extension base to your Mitre saw bench so that the radial saw table is at the. Same height. This can stabilize the saw ad provide extra length for long posts, columns, joists, etc. you will also find that this type of saw is useful for cutting long angles on sheet materials and can cut long beveled miters that a mitre saw cannot.
Totally agree with all that. I ended up building a miter saw station with the saw built into it.
Nice to see you back at it Mike. I feared your parole had been revoked.
You and me both!
Impressive heavy metal!
“Everything’s slicker then snot on a doorknob.”
Can you name that movie Mike?
Ha. I like the saying. I can not name the movie.
My prediction: you will fall in love with this saw. I had a brief love affair with a smaller model a few years ago. It turned out to be a dalliance and nothing long-term. She had been around for a while and hard use had taken a toll on her. I wanted her to help me build some garden gates with large timbers and deep dadoos, and she was able to do this, but just barely. I knew that she needed a rebuild from the bones on up, but I'm no Mike Farrington, and she and I both knew it, so we knew her time had come. I still think of her fondly.
Thanks for sharing Pat. I have a few similar projects in the works. I think this saw will really help.
That is huge. We have a Makita beam saw/ circular saw that uses that size. It's actually Pretty smooth and not scary to use 😍
I love those beam saws.
Did you ever re-grease the carriage bearings? Just a tip, you can just toss the bearings in a cup filled with grease, then stick it in a small pressure tank at 30 psi, and it will push the grease into the bearings without needing to physically do anything to the seals.
That is a really neat tip. Thank you.
Love old tools!