I'm a novice woodworker with an appreciation for precison. As a gift some years back, my wife bought me a craftsman 10" belt drive tablesaw. With almost every use, I have to adjust the saw for heeling and what a pain that is. Needless to saw, the fence system leaves a lot to be desired too.
Should I cut my loses and sell this saw and replace it with something more reliable? If I should, what would be a good replacement for it?
Thanks, Mike
If you don't have the current fence, I would recommend upgrading the fence; you will save a lot of money and time.
Mike,
I was in the same boat you are. I had a craftsman that I recently replaced with a Dewalt 746x. Things that used to take me 15 minutes because I had to fuss with the fence I now do in less than 5 minutes. Not to mention the cut quality is great.
I also checked out the comparably price Jet saw. I chose dewalt because it seemed to be put together a little better, and there is a dewalt service center 5 minutes from my house in case I have problems. I thought about a Unisaw but I didn't want to spend over $1000 dollars.
Anyway, whatever saw you upgrade to, the difference will be tremendous.
Okay, I looked up heeling. My craftsman is square and never needs adjusting. Are you sure you are doing it right?
If you only want precision then you might look a fence upgrade but I think that you would be better off selling the saw and upgrading the whole package. I started with a saw that sounds similar to yours. Like you, I was interested in precision and was frustrated with the Craftsman saw. I upgraded to a Biesmeyer fence and loved it for a while. After purchasing the fence I started doing larger projects and ran into horsepower issues. I thought that I would sell the saw, and keep the fence, but I found that it was a better value to buy a Unisaw package deal with the Biesmeyer fence and rails than the stand alone saw. In retrospect, it would have been cheaper to skip the fence upgrade. If you think that you are going to continue with woodworking a primary hobby, I think that you will do better with a new saw/fence.
Bob McBreen
well, what ever you buy to replace it, I know what your first project is...
New dog house, cause you'll be livin' in it! ;-)
I have a 20 year old direct drive Craftsman TS with a 1 1/8 h.p. motor. While I dream of the day I'll upgrade, it serves me very adequately for the furniture projects I make. What keeps it in favor is the heavy cast iron top and extension wings. I've replaced the fence with a Biesemeyer, which totally eliminated any accuracy problems. I also use a thin kerf teflon coated Freud blade, and can rip 8/4 hardwood with only an occasional bogging down of the motor. If you can afford it, go ahead and upgrade to a better saw, but the Craftsman with a few improvements is fine for most part-time woodworkers.
Does this apply to a cheapo Delta TS? It's the $88 basic saw.
In your case, save the nameplate and upgrade the rest by sliding a bigger model under it. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
Mike, I would say at the very least you are depriving yourself of the full enjoyment of wood working. Having to compensate for a tool that does not stay aligned or a fence that doesn't set repeatedly is not only wasting a lot of enjoyment time, but I think it can approach being dangerous. A fence that doesn't stay aligned can wedge wood against the blade, one of the primary causes of kickbacks.
At a minimum, I think you should consider one of the good quality contractor style saws. This will mean spending $500-$600 minimum (counting shipping, tax etc.)
Bob
By all means.
My first saw was a Crapsman belt-driven model. I could never keep it aligned. It was so bad that I found myself realigning it before every cut.
I now have a Unisaw. No regrets. It was expensive, but I have been so delighted with it that I have already forgotten the price. So it is with good tools.
*IF* you can figure out how to put a good fence on -that- thing, without tipping it over. *grin*
'benchtop' saws are best relegated to 'toy' tasks, pretty much regardless of make.
Okay, I've never posted here before, so bear with an amateur rec poster.
I'm just going to put in my 2 cents worth on this. I think it depends on the Craftsman saw. I get pretty tired of Craftsman bashing when someone doesn't even know what model of saw, etc. I do agree that a good fence is a must. I upgraded mine with a Mule Accusquare fence, which is not only comparatively affordable (compared to Beisemeyer etc.), but awesome in every respect. I have a Craftsman contractor saw that I spent $500 or so on a couple of years ago. I have no problems "keeping it aligned" etc. Horsepower is not awesome, but equivilant to other contractor saws in this price range. I am very pleased with my saw and proud of my results. I believe there is a lot in the set-up and the user that is overlooked.
Crapsman. Grow up people!
Ben
Interesting. I have a Craftsman belt drive that I'm pleased with. I am upgrading the fence because I want a T-square type fence and have had a bit of problems aligning this one in the past because there are no adjustments and alignment problems are inherent with a fence that grabs the back side of the saw. As for the blade alignment, I set it once.
I'm curious how a 90lb cast iron trunion secured by 4-5/16 bolts to a cast iron table is moving. I had a hard time moving mine with all the bolts loose.
I'm sure I'd be delighted with a Unisaw also but I can't justify that cost for a semi-serious hobby and my finicky personality. I may not give a hoot about woodworking in another year, you never can tell with me.
Bruce
What are you adjusting? If you adjust the table so that the groves are parallel with the saw blade, it shouldn't change, unless it is so cheap that the metal bends. I don't know about your particular saw, but when you move the fence do you just turn the handle and then lock it down? I have an old Craftsman and the difference in the near and far end of the fence changes depending which direction I turn the handle to move the fence. In fact, that is true of every fence I have used, but then I've never used a really expensive fence. I just move the fence with the handle to set the fence to first tooth distance, move the lock partway down, set a machinist square in the grove at the near end and set the slide to hit the fence, move the square to the far end and move the end of the fence to touch the square, and lock the fence. This will square the lousiest fence, and with any normal fence it won't make the cut any wider or thinner that a 1/64" and probably not more than a 1/128," not enough to worry about. Takes about 2-3 seconds longer than adjusting the cut width with the most expensive fence. I wouldn't trust any fence enough to not use a square in the groove. I have a cast iron table if that makes any difference.
George, you HAVE to use a real fence someday like a Beisemeyer. Once you set the adjustment screws, it is square unless your rail gets bent. It is a real pleasure to use. Set it on 3", cut a block and check it with your verniers, adjust the sight glass to the measurement and you are done.
This is coming from a guy that owns a 12/24 Align a Rip Craftsman but gets to use a Jet periodically. There is a world of difference which is why I'm building a Beisemeyer clone soon.
HomeBrewer asks:
Probably not. Most good fences need a table in the close vicinity of 27" deep, with a flat front for fence rail attachment (and some require a parallel rear rail). Most $88 saws don't have the table material to support a good fence or are formed for the version of a fence that comes with the saw...built-in rails, more or less.
And it does seem a little unusual to commit something like $220 (and up) to a saw that costs so little.
A quick look at the Delta website shows the TS200. Is that the saw? It appears (and the picture is not good, so I'm not sure) to have a molded front rail for the fence. I can't make out the actual depth of the table from the web site--it's either 17-1/4" or 26". The latter would work, the former has to make you wonder why you bought the saw.
Charlie Self "Character is much easier kept than recovered." Thomas Paine
I have to agree with Bruce on this one. I have what sounds like an identical saw. I tried like mad to move the trunnion to the table when I thought it was mis-alignment. I could not get it to budge (enough to my satisfaction anyway). Then in a rare moment of insight I thought I would try a different (new) blade in the saw, and guess what? The first blade was not true, or at least if it had been true, was not anymore after being used for a couple of projects cutting white oak.
I've never had any problems with the fence staying in alignment except for when I whack it by butting a 4x8 sheet of MDF up against it. (I've learned to be more careful!)
At the very least, try another blade.
Cheers! Duke
I had for 10 years a nice Craftsman saw. After struggling with the fence to make consistant and repeatable cuts I got a biesemeyer fence. WOW. that made all the difference in my work and enjoyment of using the saw.
I have since sold my Craftsman saw and purchased a Delta Unisaw with the Unifence. I love the Delta saw but miss the biesemeyer fence. If I had it to do over, I would have bought the Delta with a biesemeyer..
Just my thoughts Joe in Indiana
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