"Ron Truitt" wrote in message
...
I'm using an old Craftsman radial arm to crosscut cabinet plywood pieces
to length and seem to have a problem with surface tear out.

The tear out is only on the left side of the blade(a combo carbide blade
still in good shape). I get a clean cut on the right side.

Any ideas why this might be occurring, and only on the left side?


Blade has some "heel" in it. Means it's not parallel to the line of travel,
the equivalent of blade not parallel to miter groove in tablesaws. You need
to touch the adjustment a bit nose right so the teeth won't pick up the
splinters. I like the splinter method of adjustment - it's the most
sensitive available.

Note: as you check for heel, pull a bit to either side and see if the arm's
out of adjustment. Loose arm and heavy hand can do it, too.

Oh yes, doesn't matter how many teeth you have in the blade if you slow the
feed rate. Use your blade if you care, until you can get one with the
negative rake popular for RASs.