Forum user's Radial Arm Saws

[9fingers]

I have a Dewalt DW1753 RAS bought 2nd hand as a refurbishment project.

Not much progress to date apart from getting a manual from Dewalt CS as it is not one they keep on line.

Bob

 

[kentro]

Greetings,
I'm a newcomer to this site and not so good with internet type stuff so please bear with any drop-offs I make.

I have acquired an old B&D DeWalt 110 Powershop RAS (240v), its in the old cracle green finish and dates from the mid-seventies. Although the machine itself is assembled there is no work surface, just the bare RAS. I would like to strip it down, clean it up, reassemble it and add the necessary work table. Any help with respect to the above would be much appreciated.
Regards
Kentro

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Kentro

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Scrit]

I have acquired an old B&D DeWalt 110 Powershop RAS (240v), its in the old cracle green finish and dates from the mid-seventies. Although the machine itself is assembled there is no work surface, just the bare RAS. I would like to strip it down, clean it up, reassemble it and add the necessary work table. Any help with respect to the above would be much appreciated.

Hi Kentro and welcome

The DW110 preceded to DW111 and was the machine used by deWalt to produce their book "Go Woodworking the deWalt Way" with Geoff Peters. It is fundamentally quite similar to the DW111 which replaced it about 1975 and even the later DW125 which appeared circa 1980 (and is the basis for the modern small DW RASs) so some parts, such as carraige bearings, knobs, handles,etc. are still available. Probably the two things you'd struggle on are the guards (although I believe the current much revised design does fit) and the the motor.

The table surface can be made from something like 18mm H/W plywood and is held in place by a series of counter-bored bolts. I don't think that the width is that critical, so long as the blade is completely behind the fence in the home position. I bear the permanent scars caused by having worked on a machine set up by a complete incompetent in such a way that in the home position part of the arc of the blade overhung the fence (a common error brought about by trying to squeeze another inch or two of crosscut capacity out of the machine):

Behind the main table sits the fence then there's another packer piece (in fact two on the original saw, only needed if you intend to rip cut on it) which is pinched in place by a couple od clamps. These clamps in turn slot-into the base fabrication at the rear of the machine.

It's also not a bad idea to screw/glue/tape (DS carpet tape) a piece of hardboard or 4mm MDF to the top surface of your table to act as a sacrificial worktop - at the end of the day the saw blade does need to cut into the worktable top and hardboard is cheap enough.

Scrit

 

[9fingers]

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

John,

One option would be to purchase a replacement rear blade mount and get someone to machine the end nearest the motor down so that the rear face of a blade just clears the guard. I've done this with my DW RAS and found that the guard itself is wide enough to take a full Freud 13/16" dado set.

Ideally use a 5/8" bore dado set and machine away the 30mm register on both mounts. If, like me, you already have a 30mm set, then a selection of 5/8 to 30mm spacers are needed to ensure all cutters in the dado set run concentrically for a true flat bottomed cut.

These metal working jobs are straightforward for someone with a metal working lathe or a local engineering jobbing shop. The critical dimension you will need to measure is the current gap between the blade mounting face and the greatest protrusion inside the guard. Deduct 1/4mm or 10thou off that measurement to find how much to take off the blade mount.

The flange is similar to this one

item 19
http://www.toolshopdirect.co.uk/spares3.php/store/10/c1/109/c2/1647/sn/SPARE_DW1753/TYPE_1_D

Hope this helps

Bob

 

[kentro]

Greetings All,
Thanks for the information - it's helpful, especially as my knowledge of RAS's is very limited. I have commenced stripping and taken the motor/saw assembly of the radial arm, but I haven't tried to disconnect the electrics.

There are three roller bearings (mounted on screws/bolts which secure them to the motor assembly), these allow the motor assembly to slide in the arm tracks. The tracks appear to be OK with no pitting or wear. however the bearings are knacked and require replacing.

Questions:
1. Do the bearings come off the screws (or bolts, not sure of the correct terminolgy)?
2. Any ideas where I could get replacements?
3. Any pointers as to where to obtain relevant books/manuals.

Thanks for all the help so far - I'll keep you posted on progress.
Roger Kent
PS : My father who is the genuine woodworker in the family says 'keep my fingers - junk it and stick to using a handsaw'.

 

[Scrit]

Questions:
1. Do the bearings come off the screws (or bolts, not sure of the correct terminolgy)?
2. Any ideas where I could get replacements?
3. Any pointers as to where to obtain relevant books/manuals.

Hi Roger

From memory (for what that's worth and this is from the DW111 and looking at photos of the DW110 in a book):

1. All three bearing are mounted on screw-in bolts, two in a straight line (on the left side when viewed from the front of the arm) and the third one it's own (on the right) is on an eccentric bolt which operates like a cam to adjust the carraige in the grooves. The eccentric bolt is locked in place by a small Allen screw beneath the roller on the outside of the carraige.

2. Having replaced the bearings in the past I can tell you that they are a deWalt special, mainly because they have specially ground tyres with bevelled edges. I suspect that the bearings from the later DW125/DW1251/DW1253 series machines will fit - they certainly fit the DW111 and the photos I've seen of the DW110 look identical.

3. Somewhere on the web there is or was a manual for the DW125 which is quite similar to your machine. Certainly the manual for the current DW720 will help with the setup and that's here. The best old book I can think of is:

"Go Woodworking the deWalt Way" with Geoff Peters published by deWalt Europe in 1972

The illustration at the top of this post is from a scan of the front cover of that book and the book is centred around the DW110 and it's accessories. Lastly there is a PDF file here on the OWWM which explains how to set-up a deWalt radial arm saw. It's American, but the general details are the same and the models R-1200/1400 are similar to the DW110 in many ways. Certainly all the critical adjustments are in there and having read it I could pretty much set-up my DW1751 from that publication

Scrit

 

[kentro]

Greetings All (& Scrit),
Sorry for the delay in in coming back on this one - I've been handing out bottles of drinking water to the general public. Our drinkable supply isn't back through the taps yet.

Found a local company in Glos called Servatool, they are a DW agency and they think they might be able to help. Going up to see them later today.

I'd certainly be grateful for any literature and quite happy to pay postage and printing cots if the download files are too great.
Thanks for the help, keep you posted.
Rog

 

[kentro]

Hi Scrit,
Thanks for all your help so far.

I have visited Arlco tools and they have obtained three bearings for me - they are off the current DW RAS but appear to be identical to the old DW 110, they are going to fit the bearings to the mounting bolts (I don't have a press).

When I come to re-mounting the head on the arm and fitting the bearings to the groove is there any quick way of making the adjustment on the single cam mounted bearing or is it a matter of taking it off and re-mounting until I get what seems like the best adjustment.
Regards
Roger

 

[Scrit]

Hi Kentro

The recommended way is to remove the end of the arm with the on/off switch on it (2 socket-head machine screws), wipe out the tracks with a coarse cloth, pull-out the yoke part way (I'd suggest supporting the motor on a box or the work table by winding the arm down) to expose the front LH (fixed) and the RH (adjustable) bearings. The bearing is locked with a hex socket grub screw at the side and a locking nut beneath. These must both be released to adjust the bearing.

DW used to suggest that only graphite (such as that you'd get by rubbing a chippies pencil) be used as lubricant on the track and nothing else.

At the weekend I'll copy the relevant part of the book and send you some photos from a rebuild project I did a while back Regards

Scrit

 

[kentro]

greetings All,
Been working overseas so some time since I've visited. Just to catch up on my RAS saga i have the new bearings and I've fitted them on to the bolts which attach the bearings to the yoke.

I have tightened the cam screw in the yoke but I am having a problem tightening the two other screws. Will i have to dismantle the yoke and the locking lever to fit the nuts or is there a simple way of doing it I've overlooked.
Regards to All
Kentro (Roger Kent)

 

[getgoodv]

Hi all,
Just bought myself a 2nd hand (circa 1992) DW1251.

However, it does not have a table, or any fittings to attach one to the base.

I'd rather not spend £100(!) to buy a new table from somewhere like power tool spares, so can anyone possibly give me the rough dimensions, so that I can "create" one myself?

Also suggestions on how to mount it.

Finally, does anyone recommend buying any accessories for it, such as drilling / sanding / routing "attachments"?

Thanks in advance.

 

[maltrout512]

ryobi ems 1830sc. Big baby really

 

[neilyweely]

black and decker dn890.

circa 1960's??

Bought for 20quid and in pristine condition. Works a treat!!

 

[9fingers]

Hi all,
Just bought myself a 2nd hand (circa 1992) DW1251.

However, it does not have a table, or any fittings to attach one to the base.

I'd rather not spend £100(!) to buy a new table from somewhere like power tool spares, so can anyone possibly give me the rough dimensions, so that I can "create" one myself?

Also suggestions on how to mount it.

Finally, does anyone recommend buying any accessories for it, such as drilling / sanding / routing "attachments"?

Thanks in advance.

Table size is not critical. It needs to be as deep as the travel of your saw and as wide as practical. I used two layers of 18mm MDF. Spent a long time leveling the bottom layer to be exactly perpendicular to the column and flat. Easiest way to do this is with a blade in the saw (switched off!) and swing the arm as well as pulling the head back a forth measuring the distance to the table. Be satisfied only when a strip of newspaper is 'just' trapped over the whole surface.
Then fit a second, eventually sacrificial, layer of MDF counterboring for screws so the blade can cut slightly into the table without risk of hitting a screwhead.

I copied the DW re-positionable fence as it seemed ideal and no need to try and improve it. All the details are in the manual which DW/B&D can supply.

I then made adjustable feet for my frame and used those to set the table exactly level with my surrounding bench tops. This way I can support long workpieces for crosscutting.

My saw is the DW1753 bought Nth hand a couple of years back.

hth

Bob

 

[getgoodv]

Bob,
thanks.

V

 

[radfanken]

Hi all this the first time that i have addressed this furum viewed its contents for eons however can someone help me in a couple of questions firstly i have owned a elu 1251 ras m/c for about 6 years, on enquiries i believe that the m/c i have is now known as a Dewalt DW728K this due to Elu going out of business and selling out to Dewalt, this seems to be correct as i have been unlucky to burn out the starter switch & on investigations the diagrams for my m/c are exact copies to the DW728K m/c however what really upset me was the cost to replace £70 odd. Secondly is it right that there is a accessory router kit that can be afixed to the shaft of my m/c, thanks for any input, K.

 

[9fingers]

Ken,

I don't have the same machine as you but I think there are common themes through the family.

I assume you mean the on/off switch on the sliding carriage?

Yes these are appallingly expensive due to single source to fit in the space.

What most folk do is to bypass the switch in the 'on' position and then fit a standard NVR switch elsewhere. These can be bought from a number of sources such as electrical suppliers or Axminster etc.

Yes I think you are correct, a router attachment used to be available but I've not seen one in the flesh. Unless you are desperate for workshop space, I reckon a home made router table( lots are described in this forum) will do everything and more that a RAS attachment would do.

hth

Bob

 

[misterfish]

Finally, does anyone recommend buying any accessories for it, such as drilling / sanding / routing "attachments"?

I've got a slightly later 1251 that I got off Ebay - it included a dado set, a disk sander, a drum sander and a small router bracket.

Of the attachments I have only actually used the dado set. The others I keep meaning to try but haven't yet got around to doing so. The router bracket is the smaller of the two that will take my old Bosch 500 but I so far have just used my router table.

I shall probably get a disk and belt sanding machine for the workshop rather than experiment with the RAS but time and necessity will tell. To use the sanding attachments it is really necessary to make accessory worktables to support the work - the Dewalt Powershop Handbook that came with my saw explains the use and set up of all the attachments.

let me know if you want anu further info. Also apologies for missing this part of the thread when it first started.

Misterfish

 

[jhwbigley]

deWalt DW1751

oh i have seen replacement switches for this saws on ebay, a LOT cheaper