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My frustration with Sears Craftsman support

6K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  MrUnix 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Couple of years ago I bought a Craftsman 351-217330 "13 inch Professional Planer/Moulder" from a woodworking buddy because he had bought a Shop Fox 20 incher. I gave a fair price for the planer and really like most of the features on it. (Would rather have had a travelling head, rather than travelling bed, but the price was right.) This is the three knife model and I spent over an hour on-line yesterday in both the Sears catalog and anywhere else that I thought might have the knives. The catalog kept redirecting me to another page in the tools section and when I got to the new page, the knives were not there.

I have decided that Sears really sucks in their support department. This was not a cheap, throwaway type of planer/moulder, but a "PROFESSIONAL" model that one would think they would, if not stock knives for it, at least have a link to a source.

Have noticed that a lot of folks have expressed dissatisfaction with Ryobi and Sears, along with a few other brands, and I am now officially joining the group.

Does ANYONE know where I might locate the 13 inch blades for this planer?

Thanks for letting me blow off steam and for your support.

Have a good'un
Joe
 
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#3 ·
"SEARS" and "PROFESSIONAL" really should not be used in the same sentence …

PROFESSIONAL is just SEARS' way of saying "better than our even crappier Chinese junk"
 
#4 ·
barecycles-Yep, that's it. Many thanks! However, I ain'ta gonna buy'em. $65 for each blade?
$200 for the set
? Hell no. I'm gonna sell that slut. I didn't pay but $200 for the machine.

Fuzzy-You noticed that I put the word "professional" in quotes. I absolutely agree with you and am putting Sears on my "no fly" list.

Now that I think about it, I believe that my buddy who sold me this thing has now become my ex-buddy.LOL

Thanks a bunch, y'all, and have a good'un
Joe
 
#5 ·
I'd say to find blades your one option my be if nobody knows what may fit is to actually pull one of the cutters and use a dial vernier caliper and actually measure it…

Sombody here could actually do it if the had the same machine or has already figured it out…

The biggest problem could potentially be that if it was your only option is actually finding cutters that are speced out online…

Which could be quite a bit of work and probably a lot of luck to actually hit the right site.
 
#6 ·
69BBNova-Thanks for the suggestion, but it is such a hassle that I'm just going to sell this thing and get one with a traveling head and one with cheaper, findable knives. I'm getting too old to put up with tools that you can't find or afford to buy parts for.

Have a good'un
Joe
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Your welcome.

It can be at times an absolute nightmare…

My first experence with anything like that was when I dropped the engine into my Nova…

I noticed the power steering hose was badly cracked, and this was in the days before PCs, and nobody even heard of reproduction parts, because they simply didnt exist…

But I knew a parts counter guy that let me look at his books till i found one that would work and I still had to bend the tube so it wouldent hit the cylinder block…

Nowadays virtually everyone has it, its almost unbelievable how its changed.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Our local Sears store closed recently. Nearest one is now 30 miles away.
Sears changes a few parts from the original manufacturer. Plus they only keep parts to last for a number of years. After that, you are up the proverbial estuary without any means of propulsion. It could be the knives and assembly are a bit different from whoever made the original planer.
I used to have Sear suppliers as customers many years ago and was told this by purchasing folks.
 
#11 ·
I really appreciate the response and help y'all offered, but I have a few more things to plane tonight (dining table legs for one of my granddaughters) and then Ima gonna run my diamond knife sharpener over the blades, get it to the point that it will cut for a few minutes and sell this heifer and get me a planer I can afford and can get parts for.
So, again, I really appreciate all of you who responded, but I'm through messing with this thing.
Have a good'un
Joe
 
#12 ·
Sears doesn't make anything really, they just re-brand other manufacturers.. so it helps to know who made the machine. For an example, I have a craftsman air compressor that has worked flawlessly for me since I bought it over 10 years ago, and it has seen a lot of abuse. It was made by DeVilbiss. Based on the model number of your planer, it was "made" by Colovos who imports metal and woodworking tools for Sears and Grainger. Even if knives were available, I would second your decision to get rid of it!

Cheers,
Brad
 
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