Radial arm saw accessories

[staffie]

Morning all,

I have a DW 1210 RAS, bought second hand a few months ago. It works great. My question really is where do find the accessories for older machines like this. I have tried e-bay, second hand tool shops, car boots, local papers, even DW themselves, there do not seem to be any around.

I know from previous threads and comments from Scrit that this is the older model of the (I think) DW720, will the accessories i.e. sanding disk, cutter blocks, sander etc fit the DW1210. It has a 5/8 inch arbor and is long enough for a "D***", which I have but don't use.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks
Jock

[misterfish]

I bought a 1250 some time ago off of the 'Bay. It came with a sanding disk, a sanding drum, a small router bracket and a 6" dado cutter. As with your 1210 it has a 5/8 inch long arbor.

Since that time I have been keeping an eye out for accessories and a number have been advertised on the 'Bay from time to time. I have seen a few sanding disks and drums, a large router bracket, a few moulding heads and cutters as well as dado sets. The only extras I have acquired is a pair of adjustable fences that allow accurate angling of work without changing the setting of the arm - these were listed by Miles Tools of Yeovil as shop soiled but unused and cost about a third of the list price and a dado backing flange I got from Power Tool Spares (I think). I've been looking out for a proper dado guard but they rarely appear - except for the moulding head/dado horizontal guard.

The only place that I find worth regularly monitoring is the 'Bay - you just have to wait for stuff to appear. As you also say most of the 720 accessories fit the older models without a problem, but are pricey when new.

Misterfsih

[Scrit]

staffie said:

I know from previous threads and comments from Scrit that this is the older model of the (I think) DW720, will the accessories i.e. sanding disk, cutter blocks, sander etc fit the DW1210. It has a 5/8 inch arbor and is long enough for a "D***", which I have but don't use.

OK, a couple of pointers. For sanding plates or drums try looking at lathes, although a rotation speed of 1000 to 1500rpm is recommended by abrasive specialists - your DW arbor rotates at 3000rpm which can cause clogging and burning. For drilling chucks it may be necessary to get hold of an adaptor - again try a lathe specialist like Russell at ASK Tools (and if you contact him tell him who sent you ). Personally I'd forget about the cutter blocks as the quality of cut is abysmal (conversely 3000rpm is actually too slow!), although there a few folk selling them for use in table saws (DW dropped theirs years back). As to the D word (i.e. DADO) deWalt themselves sell two safety dado heads which are CE-marked for use with their saws, although they aren't cheap, however unlike stacked saw dado heads they are relatively safe and are designed to work with saws fitted with brakes (like the DW720). Use a stacked saw dado head on a braked radial arm saw and you're on your own - the guards won't fit over them and the braking action on shut down (power off) can actually cause the head to unload. So my advice is either stump up for thew DW head or use a router. Lest I'm accused of anti-dado head bias it's the DW safety dado head I use on my own RAS

Misterfish points out the most useful accessory for the RAS, a pair of mitre arms. Well worth searching for.


Scrit