25 year old Craftman 10 in 2HP table saw is smoking

Most of those saws are from guys that can't get "wood" any more and either had to give up the hobby or died. Most have been fairly well cared for. Take some extra cash as the family may also be selling some other goodies at bargain prices.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski
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I don't know how old your Craftsman is but the new ones are no where near the quality of the old ones. They make them all shiny and put on big plastic knobs and dials to make them appear hefty and high quality, but you can get much better saws for the money. I don't know about that saw but Craftsman also has a nasty habit of making their miter slots different dimension than the industry standard so that you have to buy their accessories. They are also notorious for being *non* adjustable in critical areas like arbor to slot fine tuning.

Someone else mentioned craigslist. If you're in a decent sized city, you can get some incredible deals on there. I got my $1k Delta tablesaw for $225 and it was a year old.

Reply to
-MIKE-

A new one might not have the weight of an old one and may not be as efficient (or more) but HP is HP. (HP == torque*RPM - RPM is constant).

Reply to
krw

FWIW, Mike, I spent $350 for a Jet contractor saw, with the Rockler outfeed table, mobile base, a few half decent blades a couple summers ago to get my son started in woodworking. It was used, but very little. Take a look on Craigslist or contact your local woodworking club. You could wind up with a heck of a deal and a much better saw.

Regards, Roy

Reply to
Roy

921833000P
2 HP for years? The most stress I put on the saw is ripping 45 inch long g reen hickory that I've planed to square.

ot that will not let me use my many jigs. What a bad idea.

921833000P

I'm thinking the same thing, but I also like the idea of the warranty as we ll as the yearly extended warranties that you can get for Sears products. I looked around and there are some pretty good deals in the area. If I'm pat ient, I'm sure something will work out.

Something like this, for example:

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Thanks.

Reply to
Michael

Offhand I don't recall what the HP rating is, but I bet it's for real and not "peak developed HP" :-).

I wonder if the heavier motor has more inertia to keep it going through momentary tough spots?

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

That's an oldie but goodie. If you have 220, go for it. The seller sounds like he'd even reduce the price a little. But make sure you've got some strong helpers to move it :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Forget the warranty and *particularly* any extended warranties. Use that money to buy a better saw. IMO, if you go cheap, you'll be kicking yourself for a long time. Buying he best only hurts once.

Reply to
krw

The point being that, for motors, HP is defined as torque*RPM (times some constant - 5550 if torque is in ft-lbs). SO for a given HP, (real) torque will be the same for all motors of the same RPM (which

60Hz induction motors used in saws will be).

Who knows what "peak developed HP" is? I think it's also called "Sears HP". ;-) I really like their 3.5HP shop vacs. Those things really suck! ;-)

Not enough to mention. Most of the weight difference will be in the stator and housing, anyway. Again, a heavier motor may be more efficient because it may have more copper in the windings, something a newer motor is certainly going to try to minimize. It's more likely that the older ones are under-engineered[*], though.

[*] Any fool can build a bridge that stands. It takes a real engineer to make a bridge that barely stands. ;-)
Reply to
krw

Any thoughts on this table saw?

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Reply to
Michael

Without a model number it's hard to tell. Delta made some good stuff and a few that weren't much better than Sears. I don't like the extensions. I prefer the solid cast iron ones. But the corrugated are better than the waffle iron ones.

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Not great, but might be worth $125-150. It has a cast iron top, but those fence rails are suspect.

Honestly, I'd rather go for that Jet you posted earlier. The guy said he was open to offers, so maybe lowball him at $250 and see if he counters with $300. Those old Jets are big, heavy-duty sumbiches and can be adjusted to cut perfectly. If it's in any decent shape at all with a decent fence, it would be a better saw than that Delta above.

Reply to
-MIKE-

So for my uses (hobbyist) and price range, I think I've settled on finding a used Jet. Any thoughts on this saw (quality and price)?

Thanks.

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Reply to
Michael

I think $550 is high for that saw. $400 would be reasonable... just my opinion, of course. I would want to look inside and underneath before committing. That is quite a bit of surface rust on the table top. That tells me the owner never applied a protectant to the top and/or the thing sat in a very humid environment for a long, long time. I can't tell if the marks on the bottoms of the legs are mud or rust. If they are rust, I would definitely want get get a close, inside look at arbor, motor mounts, belts pulleys, the arbor tilting gears, all the bolts,etc., and with a flashlight, anywhere you can see inside the motor for signs of rust.

Normally, I would chalk up that table rust to normal humidity/non-use rusting that occurs on those iron tops. However, in the picture of his jointer, there appears to be what might be rust on the tops of the adjustment wheel-cranks.

That is all speculation, obviously, but it's cause for concern. *I* would want to carefully inspect it as I described above. I would also, most certainly want to hear and see the thing run. Best case scenario, that table top rust is just light surface rust and the rest of the saw is spotless. Worst case, the thing was in a flood. There were a lot of 'flood tools' on craigslist Nashville after the 2010 flood.

Reply to
-MIKE-

I concur. I own one just like that and have never had any problems with it. But The price and the rust gives me pause.

Reply to
G. Ross

You might be better able to speak to the price. From what I can gather, it was about $800, new, is that accurate?

Reply to
-MIKE-

Have you considered RIDGID 13-Amp 10 in. Model # R4512, I own one and am quite happy with it.

New price is $1 less than asking price of the Jet.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

Great information, Mike. I'm trying not to get impatient, but life is hard without table saw. There are so many table saws on Craiglist I'm sure a great deal will turn up.

Reply to
Michael

ng a used Jet. Any thoughts on this saw (quality and price)?

I'm definitely going to go to Home Depot and have a look. It has a cast iro n top and it's gotten very good reviews. I like the brand OK. I have a Ridg id 1200 lathe that I've turned a million things on, although I kind of long for a lathe with a little more substance.

Reply to
Michael

ng a used Jet. Any thoughts on this saw (quality and price)?

According to this guy, this Craftsman saw is the same as the Ridgid R4512. Did you have issues with alignment?

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Criticism13 found this helpful joelav Jul 5 , 2012 Be careful of alignment issues First off, let me clear up some misconceptions. This is NOT a JET, Grizzly, or Rikon saw rebranded. This is NOT a cabinet saw. Even though the motor i s enclosed, the trunions are table mounted; not cabinet mounted. This is ho wever, the same basic saw as the Ridgid R4512 with minor cosmetic differenc es. This saw has 2 fatal flaws that need to be taken into account before pu rchase, and need to me taken seriously: 1 - The blade is known to change al ignment with height adjustment. This will cause your cuts to be off my as m uch as 1/16" of an inch for every 10" of wood you cut. You could have a dif ference of almost half an inch if you rip an 8 foot board. That is a very s erious problem that will ruin your work. Not only that it creates a dangero us situation. If your rip fence and blade are not in alignment, it creates a dangerous kickback situation. It cannot be fixed, it cannot be adjusted o ut. Fortunately, there are examples of this saw (and the R4512) that do not have this issue. PLEASE test your alignment BEFORE you assemble this saw. Google "alignment issues, R4512" and you will find the procedure. It is sim ple and only requires you install the blade and have a metal ruler handy. I f you saw fails this test, return it. It cannot be fixed. 2 - The fence rai l is an issue. Because it is in two pieces, when you have the fence closer than 3" to the blade, the clamping force can change the geometry of the fen ce, causing misalignment. With that said, if you get this saw without the a lignment issue, it is an excellent saw. If you are really careful clamping down the fence, you can avoid the geometry change. There are also many afte rmarket fences that fit this saw. Again, there is not as much information o ut there on the craftsman version, but it is nearly identical to the Ridgid R4512. If you want to do additional research before getting this saw, cons ider all the reviews on the R4512 as well. In addition, the blade is a thro w away. I wouldn't even bother cleaning the grease off and installing it. T his is not uncommon and most blades that come with any saw are cheap. You a re buying a saw that can provide professional results if properly set up fo r under 700$. That is a great bargain. Do youself a favor and get a good qu ality blade or two. If you decide to use the included blade, please do not judge the performance of the saw based on that. I have used it, I can confi rm it is terrible. There is no doubt about it. I hope Sears and the others that sell this saw can clear up the manufacturing issues with the trunions. Craftsman has taken a beating lately, and this saw is a real gem and could restore the faith in the brand that our fathers and grandfathers once had. I cannot stress this enough - TEST your saw for the alignment issue. It is extremely common. It cannot be fixed, and it will ruin your work and possi bly create a dangerous kickback situation.

Reply to
Michael

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