I’m still a little surprised that I was about 8 years old when my father signed me off to solo on his radial arm saw. But he taught me carefully, saw that I was meticulously careful and understood the dangers, and let me go — and I never damaged myself with it.
Some years ago, after making do with table saw and sliding compound miter saw for a few projects for which a radial arm saw would have been more convenient, I finally bought a used radial arm saw from a neighbor. I hadn’t touched one for a long time, but muscle memory held; as soon as my hand closed around the handle I found myself moving to a safe stance, remembering that this is the one weird saw that climbs, and it all came back.
But lately, my projects have moved in a different direction, and the radial arm saw has been idle and taking up shop space. So today, I gave it to a friend and co-worker who will put it to more use.
Glad to hear you passed it on to someone who wold use it! Not enough people pass tools on which is crazy as EVERYONE needs them at some point
Radial arm saws are definitely more “old school” but are vastly underestimated in their versatility. The downside being that the operator must be meticulous in its operation to do so safely but that should be assumed with any power tool’s usage. Well that, and the medium sized footprint it has in terms of shop space taken
You have hit the nail on the head, for sure. Yeah, it’s one of the most versatile saws out there. Doesn’t reward carelessness for sure, but so very capable.
(I still vividly remember a dream I had years ago that my wife and I moved into a new house with a shop, and as we moved in, I saw that the previous owners had left a mint-condition Delta radial arm saw for me. I couldn’t believe my luck. Then I woke up. )
)