What did you do in your shop today?

Mine is an MBF, yours is an MBC. Not really sure what the differences are. Yours appears to still have the original table. I'll be making a modification to mine to simplify and seperate the table mounting screws and leveling screws. That way I can change the top without disturbing the leveling screws. I'll be doing that in my lost my way shop thread.
 
ripjack13 said:
@Sprung & @woodtickgreg
What's the draw to the radial saws? I dont see the hub bub about em....
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Versatility well beyond a compound miter saw or sliding compound miter saw. And the ability to do so accurately. (Exempting newer ones and Craftsman ones - DeWalt and Delta models from the early 60's and earlier are really the cream of the crop for RAS's. As the quality goes down, so does the ability to hold settings and accuracy well.)

I used a sliding compound miter saw once - it wasn't steady enough for it to keep dead square across the cut. And it was not a cheap one either, but one of the better regarded ones on the market at the time. This will - and the specific ones Greg and I have will cross cut up to 15". Ours are small 9" models - some of the bigger ones will cross cut considerably more. So, good for an accurate crosscut of wider boards. Of course they do compound angles as well. Dado work - if you're building, say, a tall bookcase and need to dado the sides to hold shelves, what's easier to do? Slide the long board across the dado stack on the table saw or have the board stationary and move the saw carriage? (Yes, you could use a router jig for this too...) I don't recommend ripping with one, but it does that too. (My dad has done a lot of ripping with his - he had his RAS for at least 30 years before he ever got his first table saw.)

There's more possibilities too - lots of accessories could be had for RAS's that allowed them to do lots of other things too. This scan of a DeWalt brochure will give you an idea of the ways it could be used.

For me, mine will be dedicated to crosscutting anything that is too cumbersome to do on a table saw sled and to dado work.
 
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I agree with everything Matt has said above. I got my saw at an auction dirt cheap, no one else bid on it. It's all cast iron and steel and very heavy duty. Back in the day radial arm saws where very popular and every dad had one in his garage, they could do anything! This was all before the popularity of table saws and the prices coming down on them. Sears really made table saws affordable. My radial saw will actually be used for cross cutting due to its wide capacity. It will be very helpful in breaking down the wide boards that I mill. As Matt said, it's easier to pull the saw head than it is to move a large heavy board across a table saw. The way I'm setting mine up to also use the miter saw station fence will also be helpful with long wide boards. I will still use my table saw for dadoes, and ripping, and for breaking down plywood. But this heavy duty r.a.s. will have its use and purpose in my shop.
Dewalt made a heavy duty 12" r.a.s and if I had the shop space for one I would be looking for one. My shop is very full and nearly complete, there's only a couple power tools on my list, a mortiser, and a belt disc sander are on my radar. And someday a bigger spiral head planer.
 
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Made a tortilla press for my daughter. Used American beech. Will make an 8" tortilla. I've got another one underway made with sugar maple. Daughter wants to make a bunch of tortillas this weekend so I'll get to see how it works.

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@FranklinWorkshops but...but...but, I thought tortillas were round. Very nice and I'm sure she will treasure it and enjoy using it....and you can send a batch to me....even if they are square.

:sofa:
 
Maverick said:
@FranklinWorkshops but...but...but, I thought tortillas were round. Very nice and I'm sure she will treasure it and enjoy using it....and you can send a batch to me....even if they are square.

:sofa:
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I understand (since I've never used a press) that if you put in a round ball of dough and press it down with all your strength that it comes out as a round tortilla. Maybe a square ball of dough will come out as a square tortilla. I'll tell you tomorrow since my daughter is coming up for the weekend and we're making tortillas. I'll post photos of our efforts. Update: Our first tortillas are shown below and they tasted great.

Also, I modified the design a bit so here are updated photos. I put a removable pin in and changed the lever strike whatjamacallit to a thinner piece for the lever so it is horizontal when not in use.

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As for radial arm saws, I had and used one for years to section wide, long boards. Faster than using a jig saw to section them. When I got a 12" Makita sliding compound miter saw, I sold the ras and am now using an electric chainsaw to section the big monster boards down to workable sizes. My Makita is dead on accurate on angles and I use a Forrest 80 tooth blade on it.
 
My use of the ras is going to be strictly for the wide cross cut capacity for breaking down big slabs in the shop. My 12" dewalt miter saw will be used for accuracy and clean cuts. I got the dewalt ras for a song and all it needs is new bearings in the motor (which I have on order) and new power cords. I have the cords too. So it wont really cost me much to set the saw up. Just the bearings really. And I use my table saw for ripping. I have an electric chain saw but I use it mostly for trimming up turning blanks, it does use oil for the bar and I kinda try and keep that away from dry project lumber.
 
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