New Craftsman Professional Table Saw

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Has anyone seen the new Craftsman Professional Table Saw? I was at my local Sears store today and they had one on display in the tool section . It was the Model 22124. Looked well built. Has anyone bought one of these table saws?

Thanks,


Bob

[Bart Leetch]

I believe that unless you need the ability to use the saw on 110 volts you'll still get more for your money purchasing one of the models of the Grizzly G1023. Grizzly has more experience or at least they are relying on their past experience to make a real good saw & not try to cut corners. Heck the even G0444Z is a great saw for a contractors saw. With past experience with Sears my question is what corners did they cut this time.

I was raised with a shop full of Craftsman tools that were used everyday by my Father to build custom homes & custom cabinets. I was a die hard Craftsman fan for years but no more.


Are you willing to plunk down your hard earned cash to find out what corners they cut this time??? I'm NOT.

So far on most of the forums I monitor people with experience are being very careful & seem to be steering wide of these saws.

As for me with all the problems I've had with Sears tools & home products this year & the build up I've had of like problems over the last 10 years has put the last nail in Sears coffin as far as I'm concerned. I'm just waiting for the first shovel of dirt to fall.I might show up with a D7 to make the job go faster.


Sorry but I just don't believe in Sears anymore. I've been burnt by Sears to many times.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I'm with Bart on this one...there are several better saws for that kind of money.

[thomas prevost]

ditto!! Once Sears was known for thier quality tools. Then as their overhead grew, I believe they started shaving on quality to be competitive. Today they are "almost" tools. Another major problem I have is they make the expedibles slightly different size so they can maintain a monoply on replacements. OK, but they must have them in stock at the stores. Not so any more. Most items have to be ordered via phone or email. Paying both postage and sales tax. As one salesman put it to me the other day. "It is not cost effective to put low cost items such as sandpaper drums on the shelf. Similar space can hold a $200 drill." Well I don't want to put a project aside while waiting for a shipment of sanding drums.

[aurelio alarcon]

I continue to have nothing but excellent results from Craftsman tools. Not only have I had excellent results from My Craftsman tools, I've also had excellent customer service (haven't really needed it though). And as far as the table saws go, in my opinion, they are indeed well built. But to each his own. It is always a good idea to get other's opinons. And I always do. But ultimately, I am the one that I have to satisfy. Because of this I listen to opinons and consider them along with my own "hands on" in my overall decision. Ironically, it has been my own experience that in spite of all the negative reviews of Craftsman tools, I have been more than satisfied with the tools that I have purchased from them. And I use them extensively. I have other tools as well and have been equally satisfied with those. I don't buy Craftsman consumer grade tools though. All my Craftsman tools are (with the exception of a couple of hand held routers which I use for their lightness) their Pro grade tools. I like them. To be honest, I have had excellent results from all my tools. Maybe I've been luck that way. I really haven't had any major complaints other than the fact that I had a DeWalt cordless chuck go bad prematurely. But here again, I have an electric DeWalt that has been excellent. Replacing the chuck wasn't all that bad either. But I did have to send for it and pay shipping and sales tax, so Sears isn't the only one doing this. Well, knock on wood! May my experinces continue to be positive ones, and I wish you all the same in your purchases yet to come and those that have already passed! By the way, I can't recall whether I read it in my American Woodworker magazine or my Popular Woodworking magazine, but they give it an excellent review.

[Jack Wood]

My Grandfather was a diehard Craftsman tool man, but I don't think there the same quality these days. I was give a Sears Mitre saw and I went to get a blade for it at lowes and discovered that 11" saw blades are not that common! The guy told me I needed to go back to Sears to get this blade. I then turned around and bought a 10" Delta and put the Sears under the bench. Had the same experience with a 6" planer Jointer, the blades were not standard, you had to get them from Sears. That's not what I want in a tool, I should be able to buy parts for it, at least blades and the like, any where.

[aurelio alarcon]

I've never heard of an 11 inch blade either. But anyone would think that finding a blade for a Skil brand (Skil is about as common a brand as any) 5 1/2 circular saw would be easy right? Guess again. I bought the Skill heavy duty circular saw and couldn't find a blade for it at either of the big box stores. I know what you mean when you say "that's not what I want in a tool". I don't want that in a tool either. You know who had it? That's right, Sears! I'm no "die hard" to any brand. I've just not had the same experiences as others. Mine have been pretty dern good. The only tool brand that I am dedicated is the one that works for me --whatever label is on it!

[Jeremy Bracey]

Sorry, I just dont think "Craftsman" and "Professional" should be used in the same statement. Look elsewhere. Thier are many decent saws available. I'm not particular to a brand, I just like to know what brand I am really buying, SEARS doesnt make anything, they just "rebrand" whoever gives 'em a good price.

[aurelio alarcon]

I once had a friend who bought a "Chevy" economy model. He was so proud of that little car. He told me "hey, at least it's an American made car". Little did he know that the car was made in japan by a japanese car manufacturer! I was going to buy a Porter Cable Miter saw because I thought it was made by Porter Cable here in the US. Guess what? Yep, made in a factory where other brands are also made and the respective label of each company placed on their tools. Yep, Porter Cable went shopping for whichever factory would give them a good price and had their label put on it. Most of the companies "shop" and "label" their products. This is nothing new. Most manufacturers would rather pay cheaper prices to remain competitive. Look at what just happened recently. Another company just bought out Porter Cable and I belive Delta and DeVilbiss among others. Porter cable sells some tools made by DeVilbiss under the Porter Cable label just as Craftsman sells other tools under their name also. I suppose one could call this "rebranding". So a person buying a paint gun by Porter Cable arguably doesn't really know what brand they are buying unless they look into it. What with the variety and types of tools these companies sell under their respective lables, it would be almost impossible to make everything that they sell. Believe me Craftsman hasn't cornered the market on this method of manufacturing their tools. Many times it is the specs that the various brands require of the manufacturer are what really count. I have other brands, and my Craftsman Professional tools are hanging right in there with the rest of them (Makita, DeWalt, Porter Cable, Bosch, Milwaukee, Delta, Jet, Ridged, etc.). I have at least one tool, if not more, by each of these "manufacturers". Are there better tools? Without a doubt! But among all the brands that I own, none of them have been a disappointment. You can still get quality tools without shelling out an arm and a leg. In my ultimate opinion, skill and attention to detail in one's workmanship is what really counts.

[Howard Acheson]

Is that the one that looks like it is made by Delta and has the Bies fence?

[Brian Austin]

I have a four year old Craftsman "Professional" contractor saw. It came with their "best" fence, the Align-a-Rip top end model. This thing was out of square straight out of the box. I tried all the alignment techniques, even modified part of it with the help of my machinist neighbor. Sears wasn't interested in helping unless I brought the entire thing back into the store. It wasn't worth the hassle. So I bought an Incra TS-III for it.

The vibration was terrible so I added a link belt. It still isn't great but it's tolerable. A number of other, smaller mods finally made it a tablesaw I can rely on for accuracy and a quality cut. For the amount of money I ended up investing, I could have picked up a nice Grizzly cabinet saw or even lightly used Unisaw!

For the money, I'd strongly recommend looking elsewhere for an investment this big. Hand held equipment, maybe, but their big tools just don't cut it any longer compared to the rest of the pack.

Say what you want about other brands, regardless of the actual manufacturer, but the end result is that the Craftsman quality just doesn't match the other brands. Sure, PC is made in Taiwan or China. But PC's quality requirements are more stringent than Sears. Grizzly had the same issue a few years ago but their quality has improved as they took more of an interest in their manufacturing standards.

I'd spend my money elsewhere, personally.