Page History: Pre History of Radial Arm Saws
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Page Revision: 2008/04/03 20:06
Pre-History of the Radial Arm Saw
During the twentieth century the radial arm saw was introduced, evolved, became a great success over a couple of generations, and then became largely obsolete.
This section covers the history of circular cross saws before Ray De Walt's introduction of his first radial arm saw.
In 1869
Charles R. Tompkins patented a swing saw. Swing saws already existed then but this is the earliest swing-saw patent we have found. Tompkins manufactured his saw for many years, and his was just one of several such saws on the market.
Levi Houston Co.,
American Saw Mill Machinery Co.,
Bentel, Margedant & Co.,
Connell & Dengler Machine Co.,
Swing saws are well suited for rough work but not to the precision work of a cabinetmaker or patternmaker.
C. B. Rogers & Co. patented and manufactured a crosscut saw better suited to cabinetmakers.
The C. B. Rogers saw used a large circular sawblade held in a fixed position above a sliding table. This saw worked well enough but required a lot of floor space and was costly to manufacture.
Placeholder for a RAS history. A starting point is
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