MBC Dewalt RAS how to free (unlock?) for a crosscut

I have found a De Walt radial arm saw MOD # MBC, REL # 27 SERIAL #, 116595. All the movements are functional, except getting the saw to unlock from the arm to make a crosscut. There is a red knob on the saw handle that seems partially in & out. Is this my problem? I cannot see how this has linkage to a lock on letting the saw slide in & out on a 90 degree crosscut. I got this saw for free, what am I doing wrong? I feel have found a treasure, & would love to recondition this saw. Please help me. I don't feel inept. I have a lot of success with automotive & small engine repair. I would like to hone my skills in woodworking. Please tell me if this project is worth it or not.

Buckywright said:

I have found a De Walt radial arm saw MOD # MBC, REL # 27 SERIAL #, 116595. All the movements are functional, except getting the saw to unlock from the arm to make a crosscut. There is a red knob on the saw handle that seems partially in & out. Is this my problem? I cannot see how this has linkage to a lock on letting the saw slide in & out on a 90 degree crosscut. I got this saw for free, what am I doing wrong? I feel have found a treasure, & would love to recondition this saw. Please help me. I don't feel inept. I have a lot of success with automotive & small engine repair. I would like to hone my skills in woodworking. Please tell me if this project is worth it or not.

Click to expand...

Last one I used had been bought new, 1954. All "real Iron", so it stayed in Dad's workshop 'til just a few years before he died, at age 92 or so.

Rather decent saws, even borderline legendary in their better days, though there were some cost-cuts, later years.

Manuals should be around online if you have none.

Meanwhile .. look to see if anything has gotten itself bent, jammed. "rosin-ed up" or simply corroded solid - roller bearings up inside the arm included.

Dewalt radial arm saws were "intuitive" rather than complicated, had fewer than half the knobs & latches of an ignorant "Kobalt" sliding compound miter saw.

Buckywright said:

Please tell me if this project is worth it or not.

Click to expand...

Probably worth it although the RAS seems to be only 1/2 (Old standard) horsepower.

There is much on the Internet on the MDC. One of the best reference beginnings seems to be at http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/dewaltrebuild.pdf where the author discusses the history of the saws, some generic disassembly, sources of Owner's Manual reprints for early DeWalts, and a possible issue on your saw of the center pivot being "frozen" (corrosion) and ways to get past it.

Good luck. I have been known to drag home a Sears Craftsman branded RAS from the dump because it is identical to the RAS I have been using for 25 years in my basement. I would find it handy for repairs at my daughter's house.

Well, maybe. Come to find out, both saws are subject to a Emerson Products Consumer Recall Notice. Emerson will send you a box in which you mail back the motor thus disabling the saw. They will return you a check for $100 for your trouble.

I haven't done so to either - those old saws are just too handy...

Joe in NH

Joe in NH said:

I haven't done so to either - those old saws are just too handy...

Click to expand...

"Handy" they surely were! Rough roof rafters, tight hardwood flooring to fine cabinetry.

Dad framed the doors in one house by milling solid Oak so the doorstops were integral, not add-on. Only tool he needed for those precision jambs was his beloved '54 Dewalt.

The looong bench it sat most of its working life in the middle of had been built with the saw it became "mothership" to.

He used the the reverse-rotation Dewalt spade drills to align-bore Red Oak plank and run allthread to draw them tight if/as/when they shrank.

Which they never offered to do, given he had been even MORE anal about selecting the wood as he was about working it!

Time passes. The Kobalt, cheaper-yet table saw, and a framing saw is all I need. I bought MY tops ready-made in Maple ... from Bally.

But Oy! "the memories!". They were not as good, of course. My store-bought Bally tops DID eventually shrink and split!

Any help ? http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/252/5803.pdf

The dewalt RAS I had, you loosen a knob on the right side of the traveling carriage to get it to move. If the four special bearings are froze up, well, can't help you there.

Ken

Edit: the publication that Limy posted has a good end view of the carriage assembly on page 11. Don't get any simpler than that.