RAS help

[52rileyrme]

Morning!
I'm new here so apologies if you've covered this topic to death - I'm sure you have!
I have kind of inherited a Mini Rad RAS - never been an RAS fan before; prefer using my various table saws etc but it's proved useful - always an open mind and that....
Thing is, it appears gutless, snatches and is generally horrible to use although when you use it slowly, it's actually quite accurate although you usually forget and it snatches again! But as I said it can be useful and I can see it's merits. Saving space for one thing.....
Is it just this saw that is actually a bit thrupenny or is it RAS' in general - I've been making/restoring furniture for a very long time and really only have experience of big industrial RASs that we used at college a long timea ago....
Looking on the bay and doing a bit of research, old ELU machines appear quite good - all my routers are ELU and most of my power tools are too - or Festool if I've bought new; recently.
As Wogan used to say, "Is it me?"
Would appreciate some thoughts/experiences....
Cheers,
Jon

 

[Glynne]

What blade do you have on it? I had similar problems when I bought my second hand one but most of the issues disappeared when I got a new negative rake blade (Freud).

 

[gmgmgm]

As Glynne says, it sounds like a blade issue. RAS blades should be negative rake, otherwise you will get it catching (which can be rather scary).

The blade should say what it is.

 

[52rileyrme]

Not sure TBH - the one that came with it! I'm away at the moment so I'll check when I'm back; probably Monday. I had it sharpened and it's better but still snatches.....
Thanks for the replies. I'm surprised it's horrible to use as it's quite well engineered. If it is pony (motor gutless), I may well make a bracket to mount a router.....

 

[powertools]

:!: An ras is a really good machine when used by someone who knows how to use it and has the correct blade fitted.

 

[52rileyrme]

Sounds like wrong blade then......
When I have used it to cross cut carcase ends against stops, it cuts very square but you have to really concentrate!
As I said, I like it but there's obviously something wrong!

 

[memzey]

It could be a number of things to be honest but as others have said, I’d start with the blade if it were me. You are looking for one with a positive rake, I think it’s 5 or 15 degrees on mine which works a treat.

Once set up correctly and with a proper table, fence and dust collection, a RAS can be an excellent and very accurate machine. I’m a big fan of mine:

 

[Trevanion]

Somewhere between -5 and +5 degrees is best, any less than -5 and it will struggle to cut , any more than +5 degrees and you will have a tendancy to snatch. Negative angles scrape material away cleanly, positive angles cut material cleanly.

A blade like this would be ideal with +5 degree rake: https://www.scosarg.com/cmt-285-sawblade-d-250-d-30-z-60-b-3-2

I found the Dewalt and Elu saws worst for snatching, I'm not sure if its because they're so lightweight there's barely any inertia to the weight of the motor compared to a much heavier Wadkin or similar.