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Looking for a little saw advice darren.grimsley 04-17-2008
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Posted by Red Green on April 17, 2008, 11:27 pm
darren.grimsley@gmail.com wrote in

> My wife and I are about to install a hardwood floor and we're looking
> to purchase a saw for this project as well as future projects. This
> would have been an easy decision until my father-in-law complicated
> things by saying that I would never regret buying a radial arm saw.
> So I've done a bit of research and I'm wondering if a radial arm saw
> might be too much tool for me. I'm learning stuff as I go and I'm not
> afraid to learn how to use it, but it sounds like radial arm saw have
> to be adjusted often and Im not sure if that's something I'll be able
> to do accurately. Any suggestions or opinions would be great...FYI, I
> have other projects that will require miter cuts.
>
> Thanks again,
> Darren

Get an inexpensive but not super econo 10" miter saw. You'll love it if
most of what you do is not ripping. A big plus is it's easily portable.
I used it for 98% of cuts on laminate floor I did.

I just used a jig saw for the few rips I had to do. The edge was covered
by molding anyway. Might be hard with a jigsaw if it's 3/4" hardwood
though. Besides, the rips were not straight since the walls were not
straight (big surprise!). To do that on a table saw (or radial arm I
guess), you would need a taper jig.

The Borg has a Hitachi for $99 on sale (locally here anyway) that is
usually 139.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=116704-67702-C10FCE2&lpage=none

Be sure to use a carbide tipped blade if lamanate. A steel blade will
last 10 cuts before it starts blue smoking. Carbide tipped should be
what you use standard anyway for almost everything.

PexSupply QuikTrak 468x60
Posted by on April 18, 2008, 12:11 am
On Apr 17, 12:16=A0pm, darren.grims...@gmail.com wrote:
> My wife and I are about to install a hardwood floor and we're looking
> to purchase a saw for this project as well as future projects. =A0This
> would have been an easy decision until my father-in-law complicated
> things by saying that I would never regret buying a radial arm saw.
> So I've done a bit of research and I'm wondering if a radial arm saw
> might be too much tool for me. =A0I'm learning stuff as I go and I'm not
> afraid to learn how to use it, but it sounds like radial arm saw have
> to be adjusted often and Im not sure if that's something I'll be able
> to do accurately. =A0Any suggestions or opinions would be great...FYI, I
> have other projects that will require miter cuts.
>
> Thanks again,
> Darren

I had a radial arm saw and I sold it. As others have said this job i
is something best done with a powered miter saw for cross-cuts and a
table saw for ripping. The radial arm saw I had did not do anything
that I could not do with the miter saw and the table saw. Just my
opinion.

Posted by George on April 18, 2008, 7:40 am
misterjustme@gmail.com wrote:
> On Apr 17, 12:16 pm, darren.grims...@gmail.com wrote:
>> My wife and I are about to install a hardwood floor and we're looking
>> to purchase a saw for this project as well as future projects. This
>> would have been an easy decision until my father-in-law complicated
>> things by saying that I would never regret buying a radial arm saw.
>> So I've done a bit of research and I'm wondering if a radial arm saw
>> might be too much tool for me. I'm learning stuff as I go and I'm not
>> afraid to learn how to use it, but it sounds like radial arm saw have
>> to be adjusted often and Im not sure if that's something I'll be able
>> to do accurately. Any suggestions or opinions would be great...FYI, I
>> have other projects that will require miter cuts.
>>
>> Thanks again,
>> Darren
>
> I had a radial arm saw and I sold it. As others have said this job i
> is something best done with a powered miter saw for cross-cuts and a
> table saw for ripping. The radial arm saw I had did not do anything
> that I could not do with the miter saw and the table saw. Just my
> opinion.

Same here, I actually gave it away because no one wanted to buy it. They
are tedious to keep aligned and don't do anything that other much more
portable saws can do. There is a good reason you don't see them
displayed in stores.

Posted by Bob F on April 18, 2008, 12:53 pm

>> I had a radial arm saw and I sold it. As others have said this job i
>> is something best done with a powered miter saw for cross-cuts and a
>> table saw for ripping. The radial arm saw I had did not do anything
>> that I could not do with the miter saw and the table saw. Just my
>> opinion.
>
> Same here, I actually gave it away because no one wanted to buy it. They are
> tedious to keep aligned and don't do anything that other much more portable
> saws can do. There is a good reason you don't see them displayed in stores.

I wish that had been true when I bought mine.



Posted by dadiOH on April 18, 2008, 5:39 am
darren.grimsley@gmail.com wrote:
> My wife and I are about to install a hardwood floor and we're looking
> to purchase a saw for this project as well as future projects. This
> would have been an easy decision until my father-in-law complicated
> things by saying that I would never regret buying a radial arm saw.
> So I've done a bit of research and I'm wondering if a radial arm saw
> might be too much tool for me. I'm learning stuff as I go and I'm not
> afraid to learn how to use it, but it sounds like radial arm saw have
> to be adjusted often and Im not sure if that's something I'll be able
> to do accurately. Any suggestions or opinions would be great...FYI, I
> have other projects that will require miter cuts.

You will have to crosscut mostly but you will also probably have to rip.
Therefore...

1. A miter saw by itself won't cut it.
2. A radial saw will do both. It is easier used to crosscut rather than rip
3. A table saw will do both. It's forte is ripping but crosscuts OK.

If it were me I'd get a decent table saw AND a miter saw. The two should be
purchaseable for about what you'd pay for a radial saw. Of particular
concern with the table saw is the fence...it should be sturdy, adjust easily
and - most important - be repeatable; i.e., it should ALWAYS lock parallel
to the blade.

BTW, you sneaked in under the wire...I now filter all news messages that
include "gmail" in the From line. Most of the mountain of SPAM in usenet is
originating from Google/gmail.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico




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