Bucking one of the large gnarly silver maple logs yesterday the saw starts jamming in the cut while spitting out bits of something clothlike. WTH!!! I clear the mess, continue and it keeps up. Repeated a few times. Almost reminded me of what chaps look like when the chain contacts them. He flipped the log with the bobcat so I could finish the cut and a huge void from a long rotted limb filled in with rags and spray foam. I guess someone had evicted a squirrel and filled the void with rags and foam. Better than hitting a clothesline pulley or cement. I've cut through ropes a couple times but this is a first.
Well you made it through. No damage I suspect. Your pics remind me of years ago I needed to cut a thick rope in my basement. Instead of hunting down a sharp knife I stuck it on the radial arm saw. I knew I was about to learn a lesson one way or the other. The lesson was don’t try to cut rope on the radial arm saw
I was cutting down a crabapple tree for a senior citizen and he had filled a hollow spot with concrete but had forgotten about it. A sock would have been welcome.
Yeah, using the correct tool for the job can go a long way. Using the wrong tool could mean your life. Local farmer around here thought he was gonna cut some PVC pipe with a chainsaw. Took a kickback to the neck..... they found him in the barn later.
Hearing that story reminded me of an incident that happened in vocational school. We were sophmores and had a German exchange student in class. He was using the radial arm saw cutting a 1x12 and somehow jammed the board as it lifted and stopped the saw. Didn't get hurt but got the ire of the shop teacher up. Those things can be dangerous.
From what i cut it looked like an old sock although the first bits were a dark color. I didn't check when he flipped it over. Just took out a chunk of foam. I saw him shaking those rounds with the skid steer trying to knock out the rot and stuff.
Before I worked where I do I guess they had an old radial arm saw that liked to spit things out across the shop, against the wall,, jam, etc...someone had yet another close call one day and the boss decided to scrap it and bought a nice table saw, still have that.
Yeah they can be very dangerous. Back before the internet is when I had one, still do, havent used it in 30 years or so. I eventually learned much of the danger comes from the blades used. Just like the cordwood saws they both appreciate a negative hook blade. Tames them both down considerably. Why the radial arms weren’t sold with such a blade I’ll never know.
I have an old delta radial arm saw that I have had a couple of near misses with. Have had it “walk” up on top of a board a couple of times when cross cutting a board. Also accidentally started ripping a board the wrong direction once and it grabbed the board and ejected it about 50’ down the sidewalk in front of the business I was remodeling….never made that mistake again. About 7 years ago, I started building kitchen cabinets for our house. Ended up parking the radial arm saw and bought a good table saw and a good miter saw. That thing was an excercise in frustration trying to keep it making square/accurate cuts. Every time I would rotate the head from rip to crosscut or miter, I would have to recalibrate it. It was good enough for construction work, but nowhere near precise enough for cabinet making or furniture. I think I’m going to set it up with a big router bit for flattening slabs and see how it works. If it doesn’t work for that, it is going in the junk pile.
I have a feeling that a squirrel put the sock in the tree. I had a rag which was an old t shirt that I kept in the fender tray on the tractor. It when up in the wood stack. A squirrel surely put it there.
I absolutely Love my Radial Arm Saw, it’s one of the most versatile tools in my garage The problem is, I don’t have ROOM in my garage to do any woodworking, everything has to be setup in the driveway, on nice days At a previous house, I had a 16x24 shop that I had my tools setup in, it also had a full second floor for storage, dayum I miss that shop. I loved the Log House, but it was too small, and I am MUCH HAPPIER with the Wife now, than I was with the Girlfriend of then. I’m NOT a Cabinet grade woodworker, so the radial arm saw was well suited to many of my needs Doug
