History of Radial Arm Saw

[jmorcombe]

Hi
I have purchased a second hand 350 mm DeWalt Radial Arm Saw. My efforts to identify the model have left me confused.

Other than a couple of DeWalt stickers, there are no identifying marks other than "77010" stamped at the base of the arm and the information on the motor.

The RAS has "Made in Italy" on the motor. I was told that the company "Tatry" in Italy made these and that there are models with both Tatry and DeWalt labelled on them. I have found images of old Tatrys that look like mine.

At first, I thought it was a model DW728. It seems that the DW728 is a renamed 1635/3. Perhaps the stamped number on the base is a serial number and the 77 indicates it was made in 1977??? Does this favour the model being 1635/3?

Now it seems that the 1635/3 was the same as the ELU 1635/3 and ELU was purchased by DeWalt. BUt ELU was a German company, not Italian.

Does anyone know the history of these models? Where does Tatry fit into the picture, or was that a red herring? Can anyone provide advice about identifying the model?

Here are some pictures.

 

[hlvd]

That looks exactly like the one I’ve got at work except it’s DeWalt yellow, ours is from around 1998.

Yours is the wrong colour to be made in 1977, they were green and a dull orange/red then.

When DeWalt took over Elu in 1994? they changed all their machines from the green and red to the grey and black colours. This didn’t last that long as they then all went DeWalt yellow. I’m only going by memory but I’d say your machine would date mid to late nineties?

It’s in remarkably good condition, has it ever been used?

One tip, only use it for 90 degree crosscuts as they don’t like being moved out of 90. The difference between square and out of square on that machine is about a 6th of a turn on the adjustment Allen screw and is a pain to get correct.

 

[jmorcombe]

Thanks. I wasn’t aware of the significance of the colour. It’s much newer than I thought.
According to the guy I bought it from, he got it for free when the place he worked decided to decommission it. He has never used it and it has been sitting in his shed for ten years.
I was actually hunting for a DW8001 to use for spare parts - I broke the ‘rip lock’ on mine. The photo in the add looked like the 8001 so I drove an hour into the countryside to look at it. It seemed a pity to come back empty, so I bought it anyway.

 

[hlvd]

Thanks. I wasn’t aware of the significance of the colour. It’s much newer than I thought.
According to the guy I bought it from, he got it for free when the place he worked decided to decommission it. He has never used it and it has been sitting in his shed for ten years.
I was actually hunting for a DW8001 to use for spare parts - I broke the ‘rip lock’ on mine. The photo in the add looked like the 8001 so I drove an hour into the countryside to look at it. It seemed a pity to come back empty, so I bought it anyway.

From what I can see it looks like an Elu RAS1603.
We’ve got the DW729 which looks identical, dated 1998 and Made in Italy on the motor.

 

[jmorcombe]

From what I can see it looks like an Elu RAS1603.
We’ve got the DW728 which looks identical.

I’ve downloaded the parts list for the parts lists for both the DW738 and the ELU RAS1604. They appear to be identical and both match my machine.
Jim

From what I can see it looks like an Elu RAS1603.
We’ve got the DW729 which looks identical, dated 1998 and Made in Italy on the motor.

The surface of your table is cool - very shiny and reflective. What is it made from?

 

[hlvd]

I’ve downloaded the parts list for the parts lists for both the DW738 and the ELU RAS1604. They appear to be identical and both match my machine.
Jim

The surface of your table is cool - very shiny and reflective. What is it made from?

The surface is made of a sheet of discarded acrylic I got from a department down the road. It’s about 6mm thick.
I’ve also wrapped the fence with black ABS plastic.
The original mdf top is nicer to use but after twenty years it was looking very tired.

 

[jmorcombe]

The surface is made of a sheet of discarded acrylic I got from a department down the road. It’s about 6mm thick.
I’ve also wrapped the fence with black ABS plastic.
The original mdf top is nicer to use but after twenty years it was looking very tired.

It was worth the effort. Very impressive.

 

[jmorcombe]

The work was worth the effort. A very impressive table.