Thanks again all. Thought long and hard about radial arm saw as that is what my dad has and I grew up around, not saying I used it much. Being portable this will be a perfect match to my Hitachi 12" sliding miter saw. Can anyone way I am spoiled rotten????
Prefer the table saw for ripping in fact it can even be done free hand without a guide as long as the boards are wide enough to keep the hands safe. I have used a radial saw for ripping and they scare me. But, the most important thing is to have a good sharp blade and to feel comfortable with what you are doing. If it seems dangerous then it probably is.
You bought the correct toy considering you have a slider already. Radial arms can be dangerous if you don’t know what your doing,,,,and even if you do. They are very versatile tho. I’ve ripped with a standard blade and a dado sandwiched next to it to make all the siding for my house and interior walls of rough sawn lumber. A real time saver. Needed the dado blade on top to cut to a perfect depth on varying thickness and the standard blade cut to consistent width. I even have used a radial arm as a lathe to cut circles and with a homemade crank jig and dado it’s almost a true lathe. Just much slower. As Dumf said they require almost constant tune up if your looking for pinpoint accuracy like 45 degree picture frames. For your table saw, read up on the different blades available. It can be amazing if you buy the correct blade for what your doing as opposed to one size fits all. I’m a fan of 0 or negative rake blades for safety and smooth cutting. They don’t work well in rough thick conditions tho.
For ripping I prefer the table saw, for dado's I prefer the radial, for crosscuts the miter. Only issue I have seen with radial's is there may be some play in the barings and then the radial saw cuts downhill. I do like ripping on a band saw but the cut is not as smooth nor is it as fast. Biggest improvement to any saw is to buy the best blade you can find.
