Craftsman 22124

[Tony Gorgone]

Everyone,

I’m new here and I have been going through a lot of old posts on this subject, which leads me to some more questions. But first, here are some details:

I am looking at the craftsman model 22124 table saw. Its intended use will be for projects around the house and I intend to also buy a mobile base so I can store it against a wall in my shop and roll it out for use.

As some have said before, I plan to buy a more expensive saw now with plans to keep it until it dies. There are no plans to ever need to upgrade this saw for my needs. My reasoning for this saw, as compared to the 22114 is the DC as well as the quality fence it comes with. I do not have 220v right now in my garage, but running a new circuit isn’t a problem if I wanted to because I have yet to install any drywall.

In all the posts I have read through, people are talking about getting the saw for $750 or maybe $850. I’m curious how you are doing this. The current list price is $1200 and it’s on sale for $1139 right now. Granted, there is a craftsman club sale coming up on Nov 2, and I will be waiting until then to make a purchase.

I have yet to read anything negative about this saw and I like the fact that by purchasing it locally, if there are any alignment problems, I can take it back and exchange it for a new one.

As far as upgrades the 22124 needs, the only thing I have read about is the miter gage. What is a good option for an aftermarket replacement?

I would appreciate any comments or recommendations anyone can provide.

Thanks
Tony

[Joe Scharle]

I've had one for 4 years now. It's a great baby cabinet saw (not a hybrid, the trunnions are mounted to the cabinet) and I don't feel I'll ever have to get something bigger. I ran mine on 220 and 110; not a bit of difference, so I run it on 110 behind a GFCI (commercial grade). I paid $650 delivered after all discounts. At the time the reg price was $899. At the price you're quoting, I'd look for used. Also the Steel City (same saw) is being listed a little cheaper locally I'm told..
The miter gage is standard stuff but can be tuned. Put a BORG thumbscrew in the stop block right off the bat. I use a Universal TS jig (Wood mag) and mostly use the gage to hold my box joint jig. Fits my RT too.
Woodcraft has the best $50 mobile base I've seen. Add your own plywood to hold the corners.
Good luck,
Joe
PS comes with a Leitz blade....you'll love it!

[glenn bradley]

I am looking at the craftsman model 22124 table saw.

I have had one for a couple of years. Really like it.

There are no plans to ever need to upgrade this saw for my needs.

I still look at other saws but have yet to find anything this one will not do for me including full cut depth through beech. Proper setup and sharp cutters do the trick.

I do not have 220v right now in my garage, but running a new circuit isn’t a problem if I wanted to because I have yet to install any drywall.

I tore into my drywall and ran 220v but not for this saw. There is no advantage as long as you have it ion a dedicated 100v circuit. Some people "feel" better with 220v but there is no math to back this up.

In all the posts I have read through, people are talking about getting the saw for $750 or maybe $850.

When I bought mine (2006) the combination of the Memorial Day sale and the "used to be worth a darn" Craftsman Club discount did make the price very reasonable. Prices on this saw and everything else have jumped recently. that's why I went ahead and made a couple large purchases lately. Saved a bundle.

At $1000 or more for this saw (although I love mine) I would definitely look at a Griz 1023 left tilt, BUT . . . the large cast iron surface and the commercial Biesemeyer do make this cabinet mounted trunnion baby hard to beat.

I have yet to read anything negative about this saw and I like the fact that by purchasing it locally, if there are any alignment problems, I can take it back and exchange it for a new one.

I had some trouble with one of the wing castings. Don't call Sears. Its a waste of time. Call directly to Steel City / Orion. Same folks, same tech support, same phone number. They will take care of any issues quickly and correctly.

As far as upgrades the 22124 needs, the only thing I have read about is the miter gage. What is a good option for an aftermarket replacement?

I use an Incra V27 that I added a long Incra miter fence to but, I had gotten that for my contractor saw and just kept it when I upgraded because I like it. The miter gauge that comes with the 22124 is better than many stock gauges and better than several after markets like a Delta or a Jet. It is not an Osborne, an Incra or an Accumiter however so you may want to see how you like it before you spend money you could spend on a good crosscut blade. A sled takes care of most of my miter gauge inadequacies anyway.

I would appreciate any comments or recommendations anyone can provide.

I would make every effort to find a spot where the saw could be made stationary. Your ability to maintain setup on a mobile unit may or may not be a good thing. Some have good luck with this, some don't. If not possible, do not scrimp on your mobile base. $200 would be a nominal price for an adequate one; $50 is not.

I have very much enjoyed this saw and am repeatedly pleased at its performance. If there are any specifics I can help you with, don't hesitate to PM me.

[Denny Rice]

Tony,

I have also owned the zip code saw for about 3 yrs now and have no real complaints. Its a good, heavy-duty saw with cabinet mounted trunions. The Beise fence is another plus for this saw. I will tell you it comes in 2 boxes and brew a pot of coffee when you get your saw home, when I purasched mine I spent close to 3 hrs, getting mine out of the crate, setting up fence and leveling out everything and making sure everything was set to spec's. There are a couple of things I did not like about the purchase. One was the owners manual/ set up instructions that came with the saw, it looked like someone in the Chinese facory ran it off a very bad copy machine. It was very hard to read. the other is the miter gague (they should of just not gave me one, and the outfeed table is a joke, it is too small to really do any good, I did install mine but I built a outfeed table around it so I could cut large sheet goods without any problems. The previous post is correct this saw is built by Orion (Orion is owned by Steel City) so its a all and all quality saw andworth the sale price, but if your going to spend 1,200.00 dollars on a saw go look at the SC hybrid saw its the same price if not a little lower and comes with a standard 5 yr warranty the Craftsman comes with a one yr warranty. JMHO

[Rusty Elam]

Tony,
I have the 22124 and love it, no problems and like Glen said I have not found anything it wont do for me.

BUT.......
I just got a email that the Steel City is on sale at Woodcraft for $899.

I got my 22124 for about $700 but I think those days are long gone at Sears.
Rusty

[scott spencer]

Hi Tony - I had one for over 3 years and really liked the saw. It took stumbling into 35% off a Shop Fox cabinet saw with free delivery to motivate me to sell the 22124, but I really wasn't actively looking.

You should be able to get a new 22124 closer to the $900 range with a sale price, coupon, and/or Craftsman Club discount. There were many things I liked about the 22124 and very few that I didn't. As much as I like the 3hp Shop Fox saw, there are still some things I liked better about the 22124. The 22124 had 4" more cast iron surface. I like the Biese fence better than the SF Classic, the 22124 had beveled edges on the front of the wings, and the splitter on the 22124 was better, though it's not good enough to count for much! The Biese fence offered 4" more stock rip capacity, though I slid the front rail to the right on both saws to get 40" and 36" rip respectively.

Obviously the Shop Fox has more power. It's also a bit heavier and has more substantial construction. I found the 22124 worked well with high quality TK's, and in my case, wired for 220v. As much as liked the 22124, I will say that if you're going to spend near a grand for your last saw and can get 220v to the shop, take the plunge and opt for something like the Grizzly 1023 or Shop Fox equivalent....while the 22124 is plenty capable, the other two are simply a more substantially built saws at close to the same price. The 1023SL has been on Ebay for $955 plus ~ $100 for shipping. Utter Guys has the SF W1677 on Ebay for $1253 shipped. With the current MS Cashback promotion you can get 25% off up to $200....$855 for a Griz 1023SL to your door, or $1053 for the SF....these saws are about identical except for color and warranty.

I've had an Incra V27, Osborne EB3, and Jet/Woodhaven Deluxe....all 3 are great gauges, and I liked different things about each.

Good luck and please follow up once you've got a new saw! (pics are mandatory! )

[Ted Torres]

Tony,

I have one of the more recent 22124's (May-08) and really love the features, performance and value. Here is a write up on the 22124 that I did after the initial setup...still very satisfied 6 months later!

I noticed it jumped to $1200 recently, but was able to get mine on a club sale for $900 (Bies fence alone is worth half that). BTW, I'm junking the side laminate table and installing a Bench Dog CI Router table for my 3.5 hp router...should end up being a great overall setup!

Hope this helps,

Ted

[Mike Heidrick]

I had one payed for at $598 back in 2005. At the time there were holiday discounts and craftsmanclub discounts being stacked. I think craftsmanclub is how they get the prices down now as well.

This 22124 1 3/4HP saw in my opinion is not a $1200 saw (or $1000). In fact for that money seriously look at the 3HP Grizzly G1023 Left. You will be much happier in the long run if this is your long term saw. For $600 it was a steal but not at +$1000.

[glenn bradley]

As if I wasn't long winded enough; Ted and Denny bring up things I had forgotten. The Bies laminated extension is a piece of junk. I added another cast wing. The outfeed may work out for you as you are going mobile but it is only going to be useful for certain narrow operations. I use this for an outfeed and stash drawers and cutoffs underneath. I will try to get you a more recent shot but here is one from back awhile. This is what happens if it stays immobile for too long . . its under there somewhere ;-)

[Tony Gorgone]

thanks for all the input guys.

i have taken a look at the grizzly 1023sl. it looks like a great saw for less money than the craftsman. is there something that i'm missing, or is the craftsman just overpriced? maybe when the craftsman club sale comes out next week it will be down around $900.

is the fence that comes with the grizzly saw as good as the Bies fence?

also, what is a good mobile base to match these saws with?

also, does anyone have or know where to get a sears coupon??

thanks
tony

[Denny Rice]

Tony,

At the 700.00 or 800.00 price tag the Craftman is not a bad deal. The way I look at it is the Beise fence system priced seperatly is around 300.00. So if you take the fence out of it your paying 600.00 for the saw which is not a bad deal. But SC has the exact saw onsale minus Beise for about 800.00 with their standard fence and five yr warranty. I have not taken a close look at the Grizzly, but I own a Grizzly 8 inch jointer and 15" planner which both are rock solid, two of the best purchases I have made, their warranty dept is great too. I almost didn't buy the Craftsan saw till I found out it was built by Orion. Sears can be real quirky about getting parts for machines, and pricey for their parts if you have to go through Sears and not another retailer like Orion.

[Tony Gorgone]

so i guess there are 3 saws that i should consider:

craftsman 22124 currently 1139 with craftsman club sale coming up Nov 2
steel city 35670 currently 899 and 100 shipping
grizzly 1023sl currently 995 with 100 shipping

it looks like all 3 of these can take a nice mobile base.
the grizzly has the more power on the motor, while the steelcity and craftsman are pretty much the same saw.

does anyone know how to update the title of the thread? i guess now this is a comparision of these 3 models.

thanks everyone, please keep the comments and suggestions coming!

tony

[Jeremy Parkins]

Tony-

Not sure where you live but here is a 1023 for $600 - It says brand new in the ad.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/tls/891186077.html

Jeremy

[scott spencer]

so i guess there are 3 saws that i should consider:

craftsman 22124 currently 1139 with craftsman club sale coming up Nov 2
steel city 35670 currently 899 and 100 shipping
grizzly 1023sl currently 995 with 100 shipping

it looks like all 3 of these can take a nice mobile base.
the grizzly has the more power on the motor, while the steelcity and craftsman are pretty much the same saw.

does anyone know how to update the title of the thread? i guess now this is a comparision of these 3 models.

thanks everyone, please keep the comments and suggestions coming!

tony

Tony - I've currently got a Shop Fox W1677, which is identical to the Griz 1023SL....had the 1023SL been available at the current price, I would have purchased it over the SF to save the money. The SC and Craftsman hybrids are very similar.

Having owned a close duplicate of each of those saws, I can say that for similar money, it's really not a fair comparison. The power and construction of the 1023SL is more substantial.....that's not intended to take anything away from those excellent hybrids, but the cab saw is more saw. It does require 220v though, whereas the Orion made hybrids will both run on a standard 110v circuit. If you can easily get 220v, and end up spending near that $1k mark, I see little advantage in going with a hybrid over the cab saw, unless buying locally is a major priority for you.

Hybrid Trunnions:


Cab saw trunnions:

[Curt Harms]

It's not a bad idea to put at least a region in your profile. If you're close to Williamsport, PA., Springield MO., or Bellingham (Seattle) Grizzly has stores/warehouses in those cities. For woodworkers (and metalworkers) F.A.O. Schwartz has nothing on a Grizzly store--HUGE toy store.