Mr Bozo strikes again

[Dave C]

Last week I was attempting to move my craftsman radial arm saw out of the garage and into the storage shed. While loading the saw on a small trailer by myself, it got one leg off the ramp and toppled sideways onto the driveway. When I got it standing upright, the blade was 3//4" to the right of the cut line. The angle brackets that the table is attached to were bent, as well as the top of the frame where the main column is attached, causing it to lean several degrees.

The next 2 afternoons were spent tearing the saw apart and getting it back in alignment. I'll save you the trouble: "Clumsy Bastard"

[MikeL46]

We humans learn best by making mistakes. I've learned a lot that way. One of the things I learned is:

Lifting from above is much safer.

Get, borrow or rent a cherry picker. Top heavy items don't topple when lifted from above. My cherry picker folds up and only about 3 sqft of floor space. My neighbor used it to pull fence posts. After I used it to move my shop it gets regular use to move non-running motorcycles into and out of storage. Really like having it around.

Mike

[Dave C]

I have a cherry picker but it was not needed. The saw has casters, and was being rolled onto the trailer. The mistake was doing the job by myself.

[Willy]

Dave, at least you were big enough to admit what went wrong so that others here can learn from you being a "Clumsy Bastard".

The rest of us here never make any mistakes.
Hey I didn't make any mistakes this past Sunday, but only because I didn't do a damn thing and in retrospect that was a mistake. I'll never get that day back again.

Glad you were able to fix things back up with only a dent in your pride and some insight into making that judgement call next time you figure that you're in over your head.

[Fasttrack]

You didn't loose any fingers or toes, nor did you break any bones. All in all, sounds like a success to me!

Most of my machines are well beyond what a cherry picker / engine hoist can handle (either too tall, too heavy or a combination of the two), so I roll a lot of my machines around using toe-jacks, pipe, pallet jack, etc. I do this alone about 80% of the time. One thing to think about in the future are "curbs" for your ramp. To get on and off my trailer, I have the normal trailer ramps and I then lay a sheet of 1/4" steel plate to give myself a smooth surface (plywood would work for lighter machines). I then lay some 2x4s on either side of the steel plate and clamp them to the trailer ramps, sandwiching the plate in between. This helps hold everything in place but, more importantly, it provides some curbs to help keep my rollers / pallet jack from spilling off one side. Something to think about in the future!

[Arcane]

I have one of these but I left the plywood in one piece since cutting it to allow folding just means the cut edges bow down under load. I also added a small lightweight perforated angle iron brace across the top end to prevent it from bowing down under load.

600 lb rated load. You buy the rails and supply the 3/4" plywood yourself. Works great.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/600-lb-8-ft-foldable-utility-steel-ramp-hardware/A-p8118234e

[wdtom44]

Nobody likes it when something like this happens, it's in the $hit happens, category, just fix it and go on, that's all you can do.

[martik]

There is a $100 recall on those saws: http://www.radialarmsawrecall.com

A couple years ago they were sending out free tables and new guard system. I got one and sold it for $250 then got the $100 recall this year.

Tried to sell on CL but no one wants them.

[Paul Alciatore]

Glad you weren't hurt.

I had a Craftsman radial arm saw at my last job. It was quite flimsy and would not stay accurate to any degree. The table actually flexed when it was moved around on the concrete floor. I finally had to bolt it down to the floor so it did not move around. It suddenly got a lot more accurate and the set-up procedure worked. It was actually a good saw when locked down to one place.

In my home shop I have an inexpensive table saw and a Grizzly track saw. They are a much better combination than that radial arm saw was. And it is a lot easier and safer when I cut full, 3/4" panels of plywood all by myself.

I'm not surprised it did not sell on Craig's list: I wouldn't want it either. Even for free.

[lugnut]

The older I get, the more likely I am to getting/asking for help. Most people like when someone needs them for a little helping hand.

[wierdscience]

I ended up with a Sears RAS awhile back.Didn't have any need for it,so decided to fix it up and give it to my uncle who is a lifelong woodworker.I blew all the dust out of it,plugged it in and ran it awhile,made a new table for it and delivered it to him one Saturday.

Monday after I get a call-"umh,did you make sure that saw ran before you dropped it off?I tried it a bit ago and all it does is hum"

Went out and checked it over and the plastic contact holder in the centrifugal switch had broken off and went missing.

Of course Sears used this tiny little cheap POS switch that is now obsolete.But not to be defeated I dug through my junk,found a switch I was able to shoe horn into it and got te saw running again,only lost half a day doing it.

The moral of the story here is,if you find a Sears RAS lying on the side of the road,just ignore it and keep driving

[Dave C]

There is a $100 recall on those saws: http://www.radialarmsawrecall.com

A couple years ago they were sending out free tables and new guard system. I got one and sold it for $250 then got the $100 recall this year.

Tried to sell on CL but no one wants them.

That recall is the result of big brother telling us that the saw needs more guards because some dumb asses weren't paying attention when using it and got hurt

• The owner MUST return BOTH the Radial Arm Saw Carriage and Motor Assembly to Emerson to receive the $100 rebate. Emerson, provides the box and pays for shipping.
• Return of the Motor and Carriage Assembly is intended to and will permanently disable your saw so that it can never be used again.

The rub is that your saw is now unusable junk. I would be more interested in their recall if it was going to replace something, or give me a new saw. I've been using this machine for over 40 years without getting so much as a scratched finger. I got that crappy, particle board table they offered, but stayed with the custom 2" thick one that I made for it years ago.

[martik]

Someone gave me that saw 7 years ago, I used it maybe 5 times, terrible cuts even after setup, compared to my tablesaw . Impossible to sell so was happy to get $100.

The table I received was good, high density MDF and never warped.

[Dave C]

AfaIk, these ra saws were never intended to match a table saw for accuracy. Want to lop a couple inches off a 2x4, go for it. Want to make some Bluebird houses, go right ahead. Want to build some fine walnut furniture? Get yourself a good table saw. That said, back when this saw was fairly new, I bought one of those Grandfather clock kits that were pre cut and supposed to be assembled right out of the box. Turns out, the mitered cuts were off a tad bit and would make a shoddy looking job of the clock's case. I bought a good fine toothed carbide blade, and tuned up the RAS, and re cut all the miters. It didn't take much to clean them up, and feeding the saw slowly to minimize flex, produced perfect joints. Not a job I would recommend repeating, but it did get-er-done.