One of the tools that I regret not buying from my father when he closed his cabinet shop “back in the day” was a radial arm saw. This may cause you to be a bit confused, I mean, a radial arm saw? (Rob, you could go out tomorrow and buy two or three at most flea markets!) You may taunt, but the picture you have in your mind of a radial arm saw likely does not do this machine justice.
This tool was a behemoth, with a 26″ diameter saw blade (featuring a 1″ arbor, if I remember rightly). It would crosscut 30″-wide panels with ease, while causing brave men to blanch with fear. It was not a perfect tool: it would, on rare occasions, slip out of square – which, if I had just completed cutting off an entire kitchen’s worth of solid wood end panels, would cause me to turn the air blue for a while.
But to speak truthfully, I blessed the tool much more often than I cursed it. And in the years that came after, I missed the oversized capabilities of that powerhouse more times than I can count. Who manufactured that seemingly steroid-enhanced cutoff saw of yore? None other than the sponsor of this issue of the eZine, the Skil Tool Corporation. It is without a doubt the biggest Skil tool that I have ever used (although I’ve used many others over the years). I mention this only to offer a bit of personal perspective to the long and hallowed history that Skil brings to the table. They are a company that I am proud to have sponsor the eZine, so I hope you have a minute to read about them and the new products they are featuring this year.
Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal
