I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to the Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman contractor's saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a mobile base (important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust collection port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes. Each has what appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter gauge extension.
Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?
TIA
Cap'n 321
I have the Craftsman 22114 that you are referring to. I love it. I, too, spend many hours deciding between the two. I read opinion after opinion on the Rigid TS3650 and a few on the Craftsman. The things that made me pick the Craftsman were:
1) The rigid had a lot of complaints about its base stability. And sure enough as I stood at Home Depot I could rock the heck out of it with minimal force.2) There was some issue with the arbor on the TS3650 having a defect that caused an issue with dados. I'm not sure if its fixed yet, but I'd think it is.
Now, I saw a lot of posts where people easily fixed the racking of the TS3650 with some additional bracing and I saw that Rigid was either already or going to offer a replacement arbor. I couldn't bring myself to buy a saw that I knew I was going to have to fix out of the box. I still sweated the decision... until the 22114 went on sale for $549. I think it was a Craftsman club deal on a normal sale day. I picked one up that day.
To be honest, I would actually add the cost of my mobile base to even the two saws out. I got two mobile bases for $75 on sale at a Rockler store so I'll say $33 for the one on my TS.
As for my review... well I love my saw. Its no Unisaw, but its rock solid. It was dead on out of the box so I didnt have to do much tuning. The only thing I had to do was adjust the fence a bit. The fence is solid, but admittedly probably not as solid as one that locks on the rear like the Rigid. But all in all I would make the same purchase again in a second. I don't use the miter guage for any precision cuts nor do I ever use the auxillary fence. They seemed useful when I bought it, but just haven't panned out.
If you have any more specific questions post them and I'll answer if I can.
P.S. I added a Forrest WoodWorker II blade shortly after my purchase and that added another quality jump.
Mike W.
nospam wrote:
I was going to take a peek at those saws on line tham I realized you didn''t give MODEL numbers??
"@veriz(nospam)on.net" wrote in message news:6vFVf.59779$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
You can check out all of your concerns at the Ridgid owners forums here:
I own the Craftsman- and it was a good decision. Craftsman has gotten a well deserved bad reputation over the years, but I think after they re-designed their higher end tools, they are beginning to turn that around- they got this one right. I wish the motor was bigger, but hey, for the money I had to spend, I made a good decision buying this saw.
Craftsman 10" , 1 1/2 HP continuous, 15A, 3/4 cabinet, 4" dust collection, Sears Model 152.221140
After 2 years of use, I still think its an excellent piece of machinery. The runout on the arbor was less than .001" with .003 at the blade. The alignment (blade) to the miter slot is .009 off perpendicular in the back, away from the fence, I didn't change it- no complaints for the cuts I've made, and NO kickback.Comes with all the allans and the blade change wrenches.
Table is almost dead nuts flat +/- .002" from my measure. The 5/8" arbor accepts dados to 13/16" wide for sure- but can't remember what the actual arbor length is. Blade Guard/ splitter works very well.
Belt system is the newer poly-flat belt and pulley. It sings like a sewing machine- very quiet. Nickel test no problem.
The miter/ miter fence is awesome- especially the !clamp!- I use it a lot. Miter also in at 0, 45 and 90 degrees (I like to use a sled for cross cuts but for angled miter cuts, both the extension and the clamp work very very well). Dust collection was pretty well thought out (except the port is dead nuts center of the back, right where you would put a roller extension, and the collection hose sometimes gets in the way). I forgot it had an aux. fence- now I remember what that aluminum extrusion hanging from the peg board is for!
The on/off switch is solid, and locatable. The fence is rock solid- very nice measurement system too. You will want to make a zero-clearance plate, unless it now comes with one- mine didn't.
The only problem I have had is that the hardware is not as tight as it should be. My motor pulley came off after about 6 months cause the set screws weren't tight. While I was in there, I re-tightened everything. I would re-tighten everything that's pre-assembled especially the pulleys, and trunnion bolts at assembly. I bought a dial indicator and stand from harbor freight- it was priceless for aligning the extension tables.
I love the saw. A narrow kerf blade would probably help the power situation, but its really adequate for what i do. Saw weighs in at over 400 lbs. and was shipped in a metal framed bolted to a pallet. I took it apart in the parking lot so I could load it in the truck.
An excellent mobile base with no assembly: Jet 708118 Heavy-Duty Universal Mobile Base:
Happy Sawdust,
the sears is available all over- parts by mail etc. The rigid no so likely. >
I have the Ridgid (also purchased at the Borg). So far, absolutely no complaints. Runs like a dream, very stable, and built very solid.
The one thing I've heard critics complain about is that you have to turn the adjustment wheel more times than on other saws to raise or lower the blade. Actually, I kind of like that. Gives me a lot of control on the cutting height.
I haven't had the saw for long, so I can attest to the long-term problems that might arise. Also, hard to say anything bad about the Craftman. I was considering that one also. I decided on the Ridgid because of the built in mobile base.
Jack
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