I was just gifted a Ridgid Model RS 100 0 that has been stored for years in good working order. It needs a new table however. The last RAS I had was 25 years ago and I think the table was partial board. I don’t remember how it was mounted, I don’t remember bolts or screws on the top even counter sunk ones. I am thinking of using 3/4ply with 5/8 partial on top because that is what I have in the shop. maybe 1/4 carriage to mount the partial. I used the old RAS for years until I got a big compound miter
saw.
I just moved and have room for the RAS in the new shop.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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I prefer to use MDF instead of particle board for sacrificial tables & jigs because I find it doesn’t “chip out” as badly but particle would certainly work.
I like radial arm saws. While I think that miters, especially sliding miters, have replaced them for a lot of work there are still some things they are well suited for. If I have to make a rabbet, dado, or some other cut in a small or funny-shaped part I would much rather secure it to a sacrificial table/block or set up a temporary vise on a radial saw table rather than trying to feed those things in a table saw or router table, it lets me keep my fingers much farther away from the blade.
If you have a RAS with some good height adjustment range (or you fit a smaller diameter blade) then it’s possible to put an X-Y table on it and now you have a horizontal milling machine for wood. You can make extremely precise or oddball cuts that would be difficult or dreadfully unsafe to do by other means: the work is securely held to minimize the risk of kickback. The handwheels let you position the parts very precisely, and when you’re making the cut your fingers are nowhere close to the blade.
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I also prefer particle board. It is heavy and very stable, little to no chance of warping or cupping.
How it attaches to the table can easily be different from brand to brand, maybe even different models within the same model, so I can’t offer any help there.
The countersunk screws you mention, my RAS has very small Allen screws (also referred to as grub screws) which protrude through to the underside, or the side where the sacrificial table meets the RAS table frame. I can’t remember how many it has but there are enough. Their reason for being there is to level or flatten any small imperfections in the wood (particle board on my RAS).
It depends how precise the work you expect to do on it, but plywood, although quite stable, can have very minor warpage, which I think particle board or MDF would have less or none.