Need a quick answer on RAS

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13
Location
Lake Charles, La.
I need some quick help on the value of a Radial Arm Saw I will be going to look at after work in about an hour.

The guy says its a 60's to 70's vintage 10" Dewalt made for Sears. He says its in good shape and working order. It has its own stand but the tabletop needs to be replaced. I plan on setting it up for as a dedicated cross dado saw. He wants $175, I know its hard to say without seeing it but what do you think its worth.
 
Paul,

If it has the DeWalt name on it you might be OK. If it says Sears be very careful. I had a late 60s model Sears and I could never get it to stay adjusted accurately. The worst part is that the guard was junk on those saws and they had a recall. They came up with a new design that was better but it would not fit all of the models. Be sure to check. If it cannot be retrofitted do not buy it at any price. Also after so many years you could not buy a replacement motor to fit some of them because I tried. That could be the case for all of them. In fact I would not buy it if it says Sears. Most, if not all, were a bit different than the good DeWalts.

I finally just threw mine away. I did not want the responsibility of giving to anyone.
 
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Thanks Allen

I have one of the old Sears saws that won't stay adjusted, I was looking for something better. At least I will know what to compare to. I'm just not familiar with the older Dewalts.
 
Well good Paul. You know what I am talking about. I hope that you find this to be a different case and that it is a great buy. I am not up on the prices so I have no guess on that subject but I would bet that he would let it go for less than that. Well, you never know. Good Luck! Let us know how you make out. Allen

P.S. I have seen some reports from guys that had the old DeWalts that thought that they were great but I do not know what models.
 
I passed on one yesterday priced at $75.00, probably could have bought for $50.00. At that age, the rollers in the tracks set-up concerned me that they might be worn and wobbly. e.g. inaccurate
 
Well I took a look at it but didn't buy it.

It was in really good shape and cut surprisingly true and square. The deal killer was when I looked on the motor nameplate and saw that it only had an 11amp motor. The guy was honest, when I asked him about the power. He said that he usually cut soft wood with it but the few times he did cut hardwood it struggled a little.

Since I am only considering it for dado work and most of the time I would be working with hardwood plywood, I told him that I would have to check around on the internet and ask at the woodworking forums I frequent to see if anyone had more information on the saw.

It did have Dewalt stamped on it in several places but it wasn't as substantial as some of the older dewalts I have seen on the internet but was a definate cut above the Craftsman I have. It carried the name, "Dewalt Deluxe Power Shop" and had a full metal cabinet under it. It was green in color and had white plastic knobs on the adjusting handles. Model# is 113.12120 if that means anything to any of you. Don't know about the price but I think it would be a good saw for someone that would be using primarily for cutting and not dados. He had just bought a new Rigid SCMS so he didn't need it anymore.

Presently I am using a 15amp router mounted on a TrimTramp table for dados, making two passes. I was just looking for a one pass solution to speed things up.
 
I need some quick help on the value of a Radial Arm Saw I will be going to look at after work in about an hour.

The guy says its a 60's to 70's vintage 10" Dewalt made for Sears. He says its in good shape and working order. It has its own stand but the tabletop needs to be replaced. I plan on setting it up for as a dedicated cross dado saw. He wants $175, I know its hard to say without seeing it but what do you think its worth.

All I can tell you is I Have a similar that a fellow GAVE me, that is how valuable they are on the open market.... Worth more to me after I tuned it up and made it cut square (which he couldn't) I do see them less than a Hundred in the paper.
 
I don't remember what hp the 60s and 70s 12" radial arm saws were but you might keep your eyes out for one of those assuming that you could get the depth of cut necessary with a dado set.
 
Paul,
If the model # is 113.xxx it was made by Emerson Electric and badged "craftsman" for Sears. Emerson made tools for Sears mostly between about 1964 to 1998 or so when they lost the contract, though they did make a table saw for sears before 1964 IIRC. While I'm a RAS fan, I think I'd look for a more substantial cast iron machine like a real Dewalt for what you want to do. The "home owner" versions are notorious for being difficult to tune and keep aligned, all issues if you want to do accurate dados and cut-off. $175 is a bit on the high end IMO, you can find those saws for sale quite often for well south of $100 and even below $50 if you look hard. While I don't want to hurt anyones feelings, those saws just weren't the cream of the crop.
 
Paul,
If the model # is 113.xxx it was made by Emerson Electric and badged "craftsman" for Sears. Emerson made tools for Sears mostly between about 1964 to 1998 or so when they lost the contract, though they did make a table saw for sears before 1964 IIRC. While I'm a RAS fan, I think I'd look for a more substantial cast iron machine like a real Dewalt for what you want to do. The "home owner" versions are notorious for being difficult to tune and keep aligned, all issues if you want to do accurate dados and cut-off. $175 is a bit on the high end IMO, you can find those saws for sale quite often for well south of $100 and even below $50 if you look hard. While I don't want to hurt anyones feelings, those saws just weren't the cream of the crop.

Thanks for the reply, I was hoping it was one of the more substantial old Dewalt's before I went and looked at it but it didn't turn out to be. Like I said earlier it was in great shape for its age but just wasn't what I was looking for.
The bad thing about where I am located is there doesn't seem to be alot of older machines to be had. On top of that our economy around here has been really good for several years and used items tend to sell for more than they are worth. I follow the local ads for used stuff and I have never seen a used RAS, for less than $150, even lower grade sears models sold in the 70's & 80's
 
Paul, I live in an area with a lot of retirees. And there are many-many woodworkers/turners/carvers in that lot. But very few good used tools turn up for sale. Methinks they are like guns. Meaning the family takes them. I've gotten some smalll items from yard/estate sales but rarely will a good quality larger tool be seen.
 
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