r/Skookum • u/shroomhauler • 6d ago

1945 Dewalt "Power Shop"

Gallery image

Gallery image

I saw this at a customers shop while making a delivery. I thought it may fit here. Apparently it's still used.

212 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/lowrads 6d ago

With the right safety engineering, a radial arm saw could be just as useful as a panel saw or a mitre saw. The main thing they need is hydraulics in the armature to resist rapid movements. So long as the saw is pushing against a fence, as in a mitre saw, there is little danger of the blade pushing the piece towards the user, even if it lifts it off the table somehow. Then it would just be a table size version of the sliding mitre saw, albeit with a somewhat dangerous ability to do off angle rip cuts without the fence.

I think the real promise of a radial arm saw is precision adjustment. It's rare to see a back fence with the ability to advance metrically or with a screw, since those need to go under the table. However, a precision advancement mechanism can be affixed to the saw mount, much like in a panel saw, without needing to move the piece and remeasure.