Dewalt DW1251 Radial Arm Saw – Opinions & Alternatives

[DigitalM]

Has anyone used a Dewalt DW1251 - how are they? Are there better used radial arm saws on a budget?

I just missed one in the sale section the other day, but there seem to be a few about:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302325442594

 

[LancsRick]

Great saws, I loved mine, then had second thoughts for a while, then got counselled on here to set it up obsessively, and now love it again.

It's worth checking the riving knife is present, you can't see from the photos. Also, there shouldn't be a cable tie on the handle - possible damage?

 

[DigitalM]

"Obsessively"? Is is hard to set up?

 

[LancsRick]

No, to get it roughly right takes minutes. To get it perfect (and by perfect I mean repeatability of less than a mm) takes a couple of hours for a novice, and you do need to adopt a "that's half a mm out, I'll have to tweak it a bit" mentality. After those couple of hours, it's an unerringly accurate tool that just keeps going and going.

 

[DigitalM]

Thanks Rick. I haven't been watching them for long (by which I mean, about 3 days!). I don't suppose you can let me know rough guide prices based on the condition? I'm not after something like Parker's guide!!

 

[LancsRick]

No idea I'm afraid. I picked up mine years ago, neglected and with parts missing, paid £100 and threw £60 of parts on it. So I guess £200 for a reasonable example unless I got lucky?

Your best bet is to watch eBay for a bit and get a feel for what they go for.

 

[powertools]

I have a dewalt 125 that i bought new in the 1980's and it is one of my favourite machines.
I made a stand for it and cut the table down so that it fits between two benches and in effect it takes up no space.
In my experience it is the most frustrating machine to set up but once done it is very solid and stays accurate.

 

[Glynne]

I bought mine off eBay but was so busy checking that the motor worked I missed that the bottom frame was a bit corroded. Fortunately my son can weld so we used a little piece of dexion and with some rust cure it's been fine. I only use mine for cross cutting but you need to make sure you have a negative rake blade - otherwise the whole motor / blade assembly tends to fly at you! I've used a piece of kitchen worktop as a table and would say the set up (as a novice) took me about an hour. I would agree that you should at least aim for 0.5mm which is easily attainable. The only other things to note are that they do take up a lot of space if you have a small workshop and that also the wiring can be a bit suspect if they have been in damp conditions. You will also want to think about dust extraction. If you buy one let me know and I'll post my extraction (stolen from the web) which works really well.

 

[LancsRick]

make sure you have a negative rake blade - otherwise the whole motor / blade assembly tends to fly at you!

I've used both and whilst there is truth in this I wouldn't want to cite it 100%. A positive rake blade by nature will pull towards you, but so will a negative rake blade to a degree. As long as you have a correctly aligned pulley configuration to give the desired level of lbs to pull the assembly, you will be fine. If you're buying new, a negative rake blade would be the preferred choice, but if there's a perfectly good positive rake blade fitted, use that.

By the very nature of a RAS, if you have anything fleshy in line with the blade, you're asking for trouble. No blade type is a guarantee of safety, act accordingly.

 

[DigitalM]

Thanks for the input everyone, much appreciated. I've put up an automated search on fleabay ... let's see if anything turns up in my neck of the woods.

 

[Glynne]

I was asked to post some details of my RAS dust extraction system.
See : - https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/setting-up-ras-t69868-15.html?hilit=Dust
The idea came from : - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRFjRvQTckM
The "funnel" is linked to a small diameter tube (~25mm) which just then gets attached to normal ducting via a blast gate and then to an old Record extractor.
Although very basic it works really well to the extent that I haven't even tidied up the hardboard.
Hope that helps.

 

[Jack (W)]

Thanks Glynne, that looks like a very effective and worthwhile modification. I'll follow in your footsteps.
Jack

 

[powertools]

You haven't told us what you intend to do with it. In truth if all you want to do is crosscut timber you would probably be better off buying a sliding miter saw they haven't been invented when i purchased my ras.
The ras is far more than a crosscut saw mine is now permanently set up with a dado blade on it and i use it for cutting tennons and grouves but in order to do that with any accuracy it will take far more time to set up than has been suggested here.
Just to add to the above the ras seems to have a reputation for being dangerous to use but in use all you have to remember is that you don't need to pull it through the cut you need to hold it back.