Forum user's Radial Arm Saws

[Scrit]

All the DW radial arm saws have induction motors and all the 10in and 12in types will take an expanding dado head, however, they will only really work with the 2-part expanding anti-kickback design supplied by deWalt. This head is very similar in design to the type of tooling used on spindle moulders and has been certified as working with the DW1251/DW1253/DW720 designs. The heads are CE-marked. As the DW1501/DW1503 and DW1751/DW1753 are basically just DW1251/DW1253s with longer arms and bigger tables (the head/carraige/motor assemblies are identical) the grooving heads should work on those as well.

Stacked saw-type dado sets (i.e. the cheap ones) cannot be guaranteed to fit the newer (post circa 1980) DWs as they have a shortish arbor and might come loose under braking (the deWalt rep's own comments, not mine), although it was only relly from the silver/black Elu era (1984/985 onwards?) that braking was fitted to the smaller saws. If you do use a dado head on a RAS I'd advise you to fit a head return mechanism (spring or counterweight) which returns the head to the "home" position in the event that you let go of the handle (and preferably a "home" guard to protect you from the blade whilst it is running down). If you need a DW RAS with a longer than standard arbor you'll really need to find a pre-1980s one (such as a DW111, the predecessor to the DW125) as they've had this arbor length restriction for 20+ years.

Scrit

 

[9fingers]

Thanks Scrit for the comprehensive reply and useful suggestions

Bob

 

[omega1]

Hi have 2 radial arm saws a Dewalt Powershop 320 and a large cast iron Oliver RAS which is currently in bits awaiting restoration.


Karl

 

[Scrit]

Hi have 2 radial arm saws a Dewalt Powershop 320 and a large cast iron Oliver RAS which is currently in bits awaiting restoration.

Hi Karl

Is that a DW320 or a DW720? What size is it? Also, is the Oliver the one which went through eBay and is it a 16in blade?

Scrit

 

[omega1]

Hi Scrit

I believe that the dewalt is a powershop DW320 and is badged up in the old orange colours it has a 10" blade. the oliver was on ebay a good few months back and went for 30 pound and has 16" blade, it is an awesome piece om machinery. The dewalt must have been bought at least 15 years ago in South Africa.

Karl

 

[Scrit]

Thanks for the clarification

Scrit

 

[woodshavings]

DW720. Mainly used with a "normal" blade but also occasionally used with a Freud Dado set.

I made an alternative arbor that enables a freud dado set to be fitted. The arbor is keyed to the shaft in the same manner as the original. However, the arbor length is not long enough to accomodate the full dado set but has proved very useful over the past 3 years I have been using it.

 

[ivan]

Re dado heads: DeWalt sold a new part for this - you remove the satndard blade backup 'washer' (the one with the slot for the woodruff key) and fit a new shorter one for dadoing. You might also need a new guard.

 

[Les Sayers]

Hi Guys.

I have a DeWalt RAS, 14" blade, 600mm+ crosscut, old green and orange colour scheme.

Bought it years ago at auction for a very good price. It seems very similar to the yellow/black DW728.
Does anyone know what model it is?. I can add a photo if required.

If anyone can help I would appreciate it - it is a great piece of machinery.

Thanks.

Les.

 

[Scrit]

Hi Les

Is that single phase or 3-phase? 14in means it could be a DW1420, DW1600S or one of several other models from the 1970s or 1980s. Care to post a piccy or two?

Scrit

 

[Les Sayers]

Hi Scrit.

Thanks for your interest.

Single phase - motor says 2.2kW.

The carrier rides in the arm on eight (8) bearings. There are four on each side, the lower four (two either side) are horizontal, the upper four are angled at 45 degrees. I have not seen any others with this configuration.

The switching unit on the arm was added by me after purchase, the motor is capacitor start.

Here are some pics.

OOps - have to upload to somewhere? Back soon.

Les

Mod Edit (Adam) Amended one link so the picture showed

 

[Scrit]

Hi Les

The carrier rides in the arm on eight (8) bearings. There are four on each side, the lower four (two either side) are horizontal, the upper four are angled at 45 degrees. I have not seen any others with this configuration.

The 8 bearings gives it away. That probably makes it a DW1420S. How long is the stroke?

Scrit

 

[Les Sayers]

Hi Scrit,

Your knowledge is impressive.

The stroke is around 600+mm. I should measure it exactly but that is very close.

What is your opinion of the saw, it's age and where can I get manuals etc.

Les

 

[Scrit]

Hi Scrit,

Your knowledge is impressive

Others might say rather sad.......... :wink:

With a 600mm stroke it is almost certainly the DW1420S. I "acquired" one last year as a spares or repairs machine and it's still in bits That means I have a parts manual with drawings for the machine which I will happily scan and email to you. deWalt themselves were not very forthcoming with this parts list - it took about half a dozen phone calls over a 2 month period, hence the offer. A lot of the "standard" parts such as the knobs, etc are still available from DW, even the bearings are still stocked so it should be OK for bits for a while. As for a manual any current DW RAS manual will do as all of these machines have been built along the same lines for the last 30 years - try looking for an on-line manual for the DW728. A description of the DW728 is here, whilst the manual is here (although you only need the English language bits and the diagrams)

I think the "orange and green period" was from the late 1970s until about 1985 or so (when the Elu branding was applied and a lot of the larger machines were quietly dropped)

Scrit

 

[Les Sayers]

Hi Scrit (or should that be "My God").

You have given me more information in two posts than I could get from DW or either of the two US firms currently selling and refurbshing these machines.

I would be interested in the scans but I do feel that I am imposing. I will PM you with my e-mail in any case.

I will also follow the links you posted.

I really did sit up when I read the first couple of lines of your last post. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Thank you my friend.

Les

BTW - I enjoyed your post of the "portable" cross cut and table saws

 

[9fingers]

I have recently got help from a Mr Martin Nash tel 01753 500934

Email [email protected]

He has sent me parts lists and user manuals on my RAS. These were not available as downloads from the support website.

Hope this might help someone.

Regards

Bob

EDIT 22nd Oct 2008
I understand that Martin Nash has left the company but Mike (surname unknown) is also helpful and can provide copies of manuals.
Bob

 

[Les Sayers]

Hi Bob

Thanks for this.

I wiil certainly follow up.

FWIW - I am always heartened by, and thankful for, all advice - and by the willingness of forum members to help.

Les

 

[curlywol]

I have a DW720 which i couldn't do without!
However I am struggling to fit dado cutters to it.
Where can i get the shorter thrust washers from to give more threads on the arbor?

John

 

[Scrit]

Hi John

I'd put even money on it that you are trying to use a DW720 with a non-DW dado set, in which case you're out of luck. DW do not make shorter/thinner arbor flanges specifically to ensure that their machines can only effectively be used with their own dado heads. This is apparently because they have CE marked the DW720 with their own dado set and consider others to be unsafe as there is no guarantee that they will be lockefd onto the arbor with the single nut. Even if you manage to get the dado set on you'll possibly find that it fouls the guard if set any wider than 16mm. If you look around the forum I did manage to get chapter and verse from a DW rep on this subject a few months back and published the relevant DW parts numbers.

Scrit

 

[curlywol]

Thanks Scrit
I'll certainly check that out.

John