Modest Accuracy, Flimsy Design, Dangerous Features

Other than that Tom What do you think of it a fish reef.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Since Sears was taken over by KMart their tools have been mostly junk.

Excellent review Tom! Craftsman needs to pull this one from the catalog.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Hi Tom;

It is good of you to post your experiences with this saw. If you save someone from wasting their money on it , it was worth the time to write.

Many of these small saws are pretty much useless, and instead of helping someone to get a feel for woodworking and then move up to a better model, often they think they don’t have the talent necessary to make woodworking an enjoyable hobby, so they give up.

It’s too bad manufacturers feel the need to make products like this.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Thanks for being tom, Frank.

Scratch that, I meant thanks for being frank, Tom. I agree that it is necessary to scare people out of buying tools like this sometimes even when they are just trying to save a buck… it’s not worth it. I see a lot of Craftsman tools come and go through our shop and I am always weary of them. Anything Craftsman with a cord I avoid like the plague. There hand tools are ok for shop use but if it plugs in it will probably either break or kill you.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Great review.

Just curious… 2 Stars for the outfeed? What are you holding out for?

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

1 star because it does have a spinning blade that protrudes through the table. Another for the outfeed. I used to have a professor, while in University, who felt that a failing grade was a failing grade…why belabor the point. At that time, in Canadian Universities, the grading system was out of 9. A 4 was minimum pass. A 3 was a failure. A 1 and 2 were possible, but he figured they weren’t worth giving. A 3 made his point loud and clear. :)

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

nice review ….. gives the beginners, such as myself, an idea of what to look for.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Well Tom, I truly wish I had read your review in 2004, because in 2005 I bought one in 2005. I guess for 200 bucks it was ok. About a year later, I burned the motor up in it. I later bought a Ridgid TS3650. I’ve still got the Craftsman, but it is now the portable base for my OSS. It does that real well in that capacity. Live and learn.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

I gave mine 2 stars. 1 for the same reason Mot did: it has a blade that spins and protrudes from the table.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

I threw my last Craftsman TS into the steel barrel at the recyclers.

It’s way to bulky for a boat anchor.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

It’s too bulky but too light, Dick. It can’t weigh 60 lbs.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Thanks for the review. It is great getting the real feedback with these LJ reviews.

Dalec

I started out with this exact TS back in 2004. It served me OK, but it did have a lot of failings. These Craftsman saws are designed for thr weekend warrior doing a deck or some other one-time project. I bought mine because of eth wheels made it portable and I could wheel it in and out of my little storage area. I now have a Ridgid TS 2400 with big wheels! LOL

I made some great banwood frames with it, but I would NEVER buy another! It is strictly entry-level!

Nice review.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Mot, I am new to lumber jocks (and I know this is an old review) but felt I had to reply to this as I had exactly the same experience with this Sears saw! I did a couple of outdoor projects with it that did not requiure accuracy. Later I really tried to get it to cut straight and could not…I returned it to Sears after 6 months for a full refund and bought a General StarShop contractor saw. I wish it had cast side wings and a better fence but with some excellent jigs and an auxillary fence made of plywood it cuts pretty well now. I’m redoing all the door casings, baseboards and crowns using it and having a good time.

Cheers,

Dave

-- Dave

This Craftsman saw is typical of the introductory level table saws in that they are powered by universal type electrical motors. This is a much cheaper type of motor that has brushes and operates at very high speed, usually 5000 rpm and up. Since there are no standards for this type of electric motor they are often rated in amps. If the maker claims a horsepower rating you can be sure that it is suspect. Universal motors are noted for their short life.

Even if you are on a tight budget, at a minimum, look for a saw with an induction motor. The speed, amps, and frame sizes of induction motors are standardized by NEMA. thus they are easily replaced by an electrical motor shop. The horsepower rating is determined by a continuous load on a dynomometer with a temperature rise limitation.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

Unfortunatly, I have the same saw, a little to late reading your review. I could not agree with you more though and as soon as possible will be replacing it with one of better quality and more standard features, but for now it does ok.

-- Gary, Missouri

For a little comparison:
When I was 8 I was given a Craftsman saber saw (what we now call a jig saw).
When I was 58 it died.
Somehow one of the cooling impeller blades had weakened and bent. Could not be fixed nor replaced.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Thats what a review is all about. Well done Tom.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I have pretty much the same saw. I paid about $200 for it about 4 years ago. I agree with everything
you said about the saw. I originally planned to buy a Jet Benchtop table saw from Sears. They appeared
in the catalog but were not in stock and did not become available for a long time after my purchase.
It seemed like some kind of bait and switch, but I don’t know if Sears or Jet was at fault.

Shortly after I started using the saw I realized that it had a lot of problems. But, there was no way my
wife was going to let me go buy another more expensive saw. Instead I made a lot of changes to the
saw to address its problems. I have not fixed every problem but I have improved it greatly. Here are
some of the things that I did:

1. Used a router to widen the miter channel out to a standard 3/4” x 3/8” and bought an Incra miter gauge. The Aluminum is very soft so I am not sure that it hurt the carbide bit very much. It does make a big mess and if you are not careful, you can destroy the top (like I did on my first attempt).

2. Sanded the coating off of the table top to expose the bare aluminum. Probably not necessary but I do like it much better.

3. Added supports on the left of the blade to support Zero clearance inserts. Made inserts out of 3/4” oak. This can be fairly tedious because of the irregular shape of the blade opening. I just did 5 and it took me most of the day to prepare them. They have four set screws that the insert rests on along with a nail in the back to hold it down.

4. The fence is quite flimsy and was canted toward the blade. So I added oak faces with embedded set screws so that I can properly adjust it. This of course invalidated the rule for fence alignment, so I had to buy new tape.

5. I just recently removed the old dust collection parts from the saw. (They never worked very well anyway.) This consisted of a shroud that went under the blade and a dust port. The shroud tended to jam and make it difficult to adjust the height of the blade. They work better now. I added a new dust port near the bottom of the case and have closed up some of the holes. I still have more work to do.

I agree that the wings are completely useless. They droop an awful lot to start with but also move with moderate pressure.

The fence also will move some when modest pressure is applied near the back. I don’t know if that can be corrected with adjustment.

The saw I have today I enjoy using even with its remaining problems. However, it is not the saw that
I purchased.

Tom