Radial Arm Saw Blade

Dave Black

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638
Location
Central PA
I just picked up a 33-267 rockwell RAS. Would the freud LU91 be a good blade for that, or is there something better to use? I don't have a miter saw so this will get used for rough dimensioning as well as finished cuts.
 
The LU91 has the correct geometry for RAS or SCMS, and is well regarded, so it's as good a choice as any for what you describe. You don't necessarily need a thin kerf blade for that application though. The Freud LU80 (LU79 TK), Infinity 60T 010-060/80T 010-080/80T 010-280, Forrest 60T WWI/80T Duraline/80T Chopmaster, CMT 210.080.10 or 205.060.10 would also be fairly comparable and might give slightly cleaner cuts. Something with a triple chip grind (TCG) will wear better than any but will leave a bit more tearout.
 
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which ever flavor blade you go with get a 8o tooth blade. they are a ggod for roughimng and finish. A 96 tooth it best for finish cut in stock under 6/4.
 
What ever brand of blade you decide to go with, be it freud, Forrest, or one of Infinity's blades, make sure it is specific for radial arm saws. I cant stress that enough. a good radial arm saw blade needs to have a negative hook angle on it. If you put any other type of blade on there you run a very high risk of it grabbing into the stock and comming back at you.
Also, it is a very good idea to have 2 blades for the type of work you are planning on using this for. One for the general purpose and one exclusively for your finish cross cuts.

Safety safety safety. the ras is one of the most dangerous tools in your shop!
 
What ever brand of blade you decide to go with, be it freud, Forrest, or one of Infinity's blades, make sure it is specific for radial arm saws. I cant stress that enough. a good radial arm saw blade needs to have a negative hook angle on it. If you put any other type of blade on there you run a very high risk of it grabbing into the stock and comming back at you.
Also, it is a very good idea to have 2 blades for the type of work you are planning on using this for. One for the general purpose and one exclusively for your finish cross cuts.

Safety safety safety. the ras is one of the most dangerous tools in your shop!

Rich - You're correct that a RAS (or a sliding CMS) blade should have the recommended geometry for those saws, but as long as the hook angle is sufficiently low, it doesn't necessary have to be negative...upwards of roughly 5° positive hook is still acceptable, as evidenced by the Forrest WWI, Infinity 010-060, and others that are suggested as blades for RAS or SCMS.
 
RU still looking for a blade Dave?

I ordered a freud LU91 which is recommended for scms and ras, Its "shipping soon" from amazon what ever that means. Its for my newly acquired 1975 rockwell delta 33-267. The saws in good shape, it probably should be gone over and adjusted for square and all that, just don't have the time for that for a few weeks. I think when I have some time I will take it apart and paint it build a new table for it and adjust the whole thing. Anybody have any ideas for nice table setups for it. I want something with several feet of support to the let of the saw and a few feet to the right. Any tricks for easily replaceable tops when they get sawed up?
 
Is this going to find a home in the shop and not be moved around? or do you need to put it on wheels? I used to have mine built into a bench about 7 feet long. I had it centered and just used roller stands for very long stock.
Where we are living now I didnt have the room for that and my scms with its bench so the ras bench was dismantled and discarded...
Anyway what I ended up doing was building a small cabinet to sit it on and mounting it to a cart that I could wheel around the shop. I use mine mainly for cuts I cant perform on the table saw or on the scsm. (matter of fact I use my table saw for pretty much everything except miter cuts on trim)
If space is not an issue then giving it its own dedicated "long" wall is great. Build it into a workbench and run a fence out both ends. Something you can put a sliding stop on. The area of the bench that the saw can reach use a replaceable sheet of melamine. Also make that section of the fence replaceable as well, as it will get munched up pretty good when you start making tricky cuts and miters. Another thing I like to do for safety is have a void under where the blade is at start up. Then there is never a danger of it grabbing the table and comming at you.
 
Is this going to find a home in the shop and not be moved around? or do you need to put it on wheels? I used to have mine built into a bench about 7 feet long. I had it centered and just used roller stands for very long stock.
Where we are living now I didnt have the room for that and my scms with its bench so the ras bench was dismantled and discarded...
Anyway what I ended up doing was building a small cabinet to sit it on and mounting it to a cart that I could wheel around the shop. I use mine mainly for cuts I cant perform on the table saw or on the scsm. (matter of fact I use my table saw for pretty much everything except miter cuts on trim)
If space is not an issue then giving it its own dedicated "long" wall is great. Build it into a workbench and run a fence out both ends. Something you can put a sliding stop on. The area of the bench that the saw can reach use a replaceable sheet of melamine. Also make that section of the fence replaceable as well, as it will get munched up pretty good when you start making tricky cuts and miters. Another thing I like to do for safety is have a void under where the blade is at start up. Then there is never a danger of it grabbing the table and comming at you.

It will be stationary, It has an enclosed steel base that I will use. It will go on a 13' wall, the right end of the wall opens into a larger area so I can go into that some. My thought was to put the saw about 9' or 10' from the left corner.
 
9 - 10 feet should be plenty for most cutting tasks. With the stationary steel stand you could build workbench cabinets to either side at the same height as the saw and still use something like a piece of melamine for the sacrificial top.
if you get both sides done in melamine you basically get twice the use per change and keep the other half sheet or so for replacement or other work tops.
that will definitely give you a great workspace for that saw.
There is so much you can do with a ras!
 
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