Do you have both a RAS and table saw?

[julianf]

If you have both, can I ask why?

I mean, what do you do on one and not on the other?

The reason I ask is that, when my Wadkin AGS is fixed, I will need to regain some space, and my DeWalt dw125 (with table) takes up a fair bit of room...

I mean will I miss the DeWalt when I have the Wadkin up and running? There's almost complete cross over in utility between the two.

What do you think / find?

 

[ColeyS1]

I use both. The radial arm saw has sawn bent bowed timber that gets cut- it doesn't need to be accurate. The table saw is much more precise.....sometimes.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Rorschach]

Not quite the same I know but now I have a table saw with sliding table I am seeing my SCMS as less useful.

 

[memzey]

I have both a canting spindle, sliding table dimension saw (Wadkin) and a RAS. They are useful in their own ways and I will be keeping both although the RAS is only used for cross cuts and housings (never ripping). I prefer the RAS to the SCMS as it’s much quieter and has better capacity although the price you pay for that is that it’s a fixed machine while the SCMS is mobile. Horses for courses I’d say.

 

[custard]

The devil's in the detail.

If you've got a dedicated saw with a genuinely accurate sliding table then having both is probably a waste of space, but you'd have to spend quite a lot of money on a sliding table panel saw to achieve angled or compound cuts as accurate and repeatable as you'll get from even a mid range SCMS.

Plus for all sorts of technical reasons that I won't waste time on here, a decent SCMS will give a superb quality of cut, even on ply or veneered work. To match that you might want a saw with a scoring blade. Off course the saw will handle much larger cuts, but it's surprising how often you just need a cut under say 300mm, but you want it to be ultra clean.

Another issue, at least in my workshop, is that I've got a combination machine, so when the spindle moulder is in use the saw isn't available. Given that it normally takes quite a long time to set up for a spindle operation you don't want to break it down before you're absolutely sure you won't need it again. Consequently I keep an SCMS in the workshop to handle any cross cuts that occur during spindle work.

 

[Rob Platt]

cut a mitre on a 7 foot length of board?
hth
all the best
rob

 

[Noel]

I have, wouldn't be without the pair. Cross cutting on the RAS, everything else on the TS.

 

[deema]

I too have both. I have a Wadkin RAS and a SCM panel saw with scribe. There are just somethings that the RAS can do that the table saw can’t. The Wadkin RAS is a superbly accurate saw far more rigid, repeatable and more accurate than than any modern sliding saw I’ve come across.

 

[Sideways]

I don't need to cut kitchen worktop. I gave away an good clean dewalt DW1501 RAS. I found it too fussy, not stable or accurate enough to do really precise work, a massive space hog. Getting the space back allowed me to get a small table saw that is much more useful to me and to store a good SCMS that I pull out when I need it. I completely understand that a proper industrial RAS is a different beast, but the need depends on the nature of your work. Smaller RASs were popular when I bought mine 20 odd years ago and claimed to be very veratile. Mine didn't live up to that. Nowadays I think they are a niche tool that are very useful for certain businesses but probably a mistake for most hobbyists.

 

[deema]

I would totally have agreed with Sideways until a friend showed me what he did with his Wadkin RAS.

A Wadkin RAS is about as big as a MFT table. Most people would like to have a MFT table and then perhaps a track saw to use with it. He (and I subsequently) made the table top of the Wadkin RAS into a MFT top using the natty jig Axminster Tools sell to accurately cut the holes. This produces a MFT with the unbelievable accuracy and felxibility of the RAS. It’s actually quicker and easier to use the RAS to cut up up panels once ripped to width on the Panel saw.

Wadkin RAS sell for very little money, far less than a good SCMS. The only downside is room they take up and you can’t take them on site.

 

[powertools]

A

I think that it depends on the size of wood you normally work with.
A radial arm saw on it's own stand does take up a lot of room. I cut the table down on mine and have in the middle of my bench and can fold it away when I don't need it.
I would not be without it.

 

[Sideways]

That's pretty creative Deema - I can see that it could work well.
I don't think the Dewalt saws would be good enough but yes, with a much better industrial RAS, it's an interesting idea !

 

[Claud1]

I agree with Noel and Deema I also have both (but I have the space) but if I had to choose it would be the table saw

 

[TFrench]

Do you have a picture of your setup Deema? Sounds like you've made an idea thats been rattling around my head for a while!

 

[deema]

I’m away at the moment, but happy to do so when I’m back. There isn’t much to really see however. It’s simply an 18mm ply wood top (could easily have been MDF) at the front squared rather than shaped as it was originally. The Wadkin RAS has a frame underneath consisting of four horizontal bars that the top is attached to (the horizontal metal bars can be jacked up as normal on these saws to make the top level with the arm of the saw for precise depth cutting) the top is cut with the MFT holes judiciously spaced to provide an even grid without interfering with the bars.

The fence is the original arrangement, it has slats at the back that use two wedges to pressurise the fence and keep it in place. It allows me to remove the fence easily and pop in another larger slat that is also MFT holes and the wedges hold it again in place. The saw arm when using it as a full MFT simply swings away. To be honest, I think I’ve only ever done it once, the fence is a great aid for clamping things up square when not being used for cutting.