Dave's Wood Working Site

Radial Arm Saws

Radial arm saws consist of a circular blade driven by an electric motor. The blade and motor are mounted onto an overhead carriage that allows the saw to be pulled through a cut. Typical blade size for a radial arm saw is between 10" and 20" with the most common size being a 12" blade. The blades on a radial arm saw are slightly different then those on a table saw. They are designed to be less prone to biting into the wood and have less tendency to want to climb onto the piece of wood.

The primary use of the radial arm saw is to perform cross-cuts and miter cuts. Some people use their radial arm saw for ripping but this isn't really

recommended and is not really the best use for this type of saw. That type of cut is better left to the table saws.

A radial arm saw, much like a miter saw, requires an in feed and out feed table extension to safely cut long pieces of stock while being cut.

Radial arm saws aren't the most popular saws in the work shop, especially since the new miter saws are capable of making cuts wider then those 10 or 12 years ago.