My "New" RAS

[jteneyck]

After looking at lots of saws on Marketplace I decided to get this Dewalt 925.  Lesser known to me than the legendary MBF, it was the successor to that saw and, according to a guy on YouTube, an even better saw.  So when I saw this one about an hour away I got it.  The guy asked $100 for it.  When I got there and saw that he was selling off stuff because of a divorce, I didn't have the heart to barter with him.  He and his brother put the saw in my car, so it was all good.  

I didn't find out how heavy even a small RAS is until I got home and went to pull it out of my car.  I ended up taking it apart in order to have parts light enough to carry down to my shop.  But that made it easier to clean out all the old grease and dirt, so it wasn't wasted effort.  The good news is everything was in good shape.  The head slides smoothy in the arm, the motor runs smoothly, and all the knobs and parts are there.  A little light rust in some places on the frame, but nothing bad. 

I couldn't salvage the original table, so I made a new one.  I put three metal bars in it to make sure it stays flat.  I had never seen a fold down front section until I saw the one on this saw.  It came that way from the factory so I included it on the new one.  If you raise the front section and rotate to the saw head to the out rip position, it will rip a little wider than 25".  I don't plan to use it for that, but it's impressive that even such a little saw can do that.  Crosscut capacity is 12"+ with the fence in the forward position, and about 15" if you move it back.  

Here it is on it's temporary stand.





After I got everything adjusted, I gave it a test drive.  Plenty of power on 3/4" thick maple and zips through 3/4" plywood with the 8-1/2" Oshlum 60 tooth blade I have on it.  Beautiful, chipout free cuts on both.  



The reason I got this saw was because of problems I've had with my CMS getting smile free 45 deg cuts in hard maple, etc, despite trying several blades.  So that was the benchmark test.  


 


Mission accomplished.  Now to find it a permanent home.  

John

[EdL]

Nice....I have the same saw. Got it when a friend passed.
He always did 90° cuts with it, never moved it in 30 years. He used a 10" blade and never used a guard.
Al was a die maker/machinist, so he made a billet aluimun guard....never finished it. All he had left was to tap the holes. Wtf, Al?
I need to make a table and a base for it.
Fwiw, there was no cnc involved in making it.

   

Ed

[fredhargis]

I've actually had 2 of those, the first replaced my MBF. I'm not sure I would say they are better than the MBF...but they are very good saws. I sold mine when I came across a 1040K model (the with 1.5P motor). That drop down table was a mystery to me, I wasn't very fond of it and mine had the Mr. Sawdust table on it when I sold it. The one you bought appears to be in much better shape than mine was....a really good deal. The second one I bought I had hopes of restoring it but it was too far gone, I ended up selling parts off of it and trashed what was left.

[stav]

That's a good looking saw and you certainly can't argue with the results.

[Tapper]

Nice looking new/old RAS John. As I told you earlier (and for the benefit of others here) Tommy Tompkins has a great series of videos on YouTube about a saw just like this he inherited from his grandfather. Built a table, stand and several outfeed/work tables around it. Also a pretty nice dust collection unit that seems very effective.

Nice looking Mr. Sawdust table!

Doug

[jteneyck]

Nice looking new/old RAS John. As I told you earlier (and for the benefit of others here) Tommy Tompkins has a great series of videos on YouTube about a saw just like this he inherited from his grandfather. Built a table, stand and several outfeed/work tables around it. Also a pretty nice dust collection unit that seems very effective.

Nice looking Mr. Sawdust table!

Doug

Thanks for that info., Doug.  Yes, his videos have been very helpful.  I built a prototype dust collection manifold today based on TT's design.  It works great.  I have to adjust a few dimensions on the final version.  Hint: You don't need those holes and slots in the fence.  More to follow. 

John

[FrankAtl]

Nice looking new/old RAS John. As I told you earlier (and for the benefit of others here) Tommy Tompkins has a great series of videos on YouTube about a saw just like this he inherited from his grandfather. Built a table, stand and several outfeed/work tables around it. Also a pretty nice dust collection unit that seems very effective.

Nice looking Mr. Sawdust table!

Doug

I have that exact saw and will have to check out the videos. Thanks Doug!

[Tapper]

I have that exact saw and will have to check out the videos. Thanks Doug!

You're welcome, Frank. Tommy has a lot of great ideas and explains them quite succinctly.

Good luck!

Doug

[jteneyck]

I added a dust collection manifold to the saw, based on one by Tommy Tompkins.  Mine has 1/4" top and bottom skins with 3/4" thick spacers in between.  Here's what it looks like before the top went on.



I screwed it down to the back section of the table with a single screw.  I made two fences to use with it.  The first one is similar to what TT made.  I saw no need for holes and slots, especially any holes at the cut line, so I just made it with large slots.  You want as much air flow as possible; large slots help do that.  



 This fence sits just over 1" high above the worktable.  There is enough vacuum created that small offcuts get sucked back against the adjacent slots.  Note, I had to cover over the port on the front of the blade guard to prevent sawdust from blowing out of it.  I have the one on my other RAS hosed to my DC, but this collection system works fine with it blocked off which simplifies things.  You might also notice that the worktable has a replaceable zero clearance insert for the 90 degree cut.  It's pin nailed to the table and should easily pull out when it needs to be replaced.  



I also made a low fence that sticks up just 1/2" above the table.  With this fence the dust collection manifold has a full width slot above the fence.  



It works just as well as the slotted fence.  The only real advantage of the taller fence is that it fully supports the workpiece at the cut (assuming it's no thicker than 1") to minimize tearout on the trailing edge.  In any case, both work very well.  

I just have to finish plumbing the DC hose into the main trunk line and it will be ready to go.  

John

[Tapper]

Nice looking work, as always John! I do like that design; it just seems to be very efficient and a simple solution. I plan to use it when I get my GA up and running.

One quick question - With those larger holes is there any chance that a small cutoff slips by and gets into the collector?

Thanks,

Doug