Grizzly G0661 or Craftsman 22116

For those who might not know, the 22116 is the granite top saw with cabinet mounted trunnions made by Steel City/Orion and is pretty close to the same as the SC35930, and has pretty much the same guts as the former R4511, but with a better fence. It succeeded the popular 22124.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Thanks knottscott I should have explained the saws better, but I was trying to be concise and still failed somehow : )

22116:
1 3/4 HP
Granite Top and Wings
Full Cabinet w/ 4” port
Cabinet Mounted Trunnions
30” Rip Bessy clone fence
$1025 after tax, pick up at Sears.

G0661:
2HP
Cast Iron Top and Wings
Open Contractor style Cabinet with 2 1/2” shroud port
Table Mounted Trunnions
36” Rip T-Square Fence
$925 after shipping cost, ordered from Grizzly.

-- "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain

maybe steel city? they are having a sale through 12/31/12:

http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pdf/USA2012fall_lowres.pdf

a couple of items like the two featured saws (choice of granite or CI), but with a 5 year guaranty. and some of them are available through HD. for snits and giggles, i contacted HD, which shows the saws on their site at higher prices. the CS rep agreed to match the sale prices. saws can be picked up at local HD to avoid shipping costs and, if purchased on HD CC, deferred billing also applies. i’m just sayin”.

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

Craftsman would be my absolute last choice based on bad experiences. Had nothing but good results with Grizzly.

-- Bruce from Central New York...now, if you'll pardon me, I have some sawdust to make.

@Toolie, Yeah I actually emailed Steel City and thought that would work great. But long story short thats a price for their distributors, they don’t sell to the public. So by the time it gets to you or me it’s got at least $100 tacked on, plus whatever delivery is to you. So it kind of throws the budget off and makes them less competitive against these two. But thanks!

-- "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain

@brunob what kind of bad experiences? Quality, customer service, both?

-- "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain

I don’t know much about the Craftsman, but we’ve had the G0661 at work for about a year now. I have been extremely impressed with it so far. The fence is smooth as silk and locks down nice and tight. From the online pics, the fence looks like it might be a little on the cheap side, but it is far from it.

We have ours running on 220V and the power output is impressive. The wood we cut is only 4/4 at the most generally, but we do cut a lot of plexi, sometimes an inch and half thick or more and it breezes through everything we’ve put through it. It’s a solid, well built machine with next to zero vibration.

The set up was straight forward and the only problem I had was getting one of the wings true to the table. With some fiddling and patience, it’s spot on. It comes with a ZCI, dado insert and riving knife as well.

-- Brad, Oregon- The things that come to those who wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.

@blockhead thats good to hear on the fence that was definitely one of my concerns. Hows the dust collection notice you have a shop vac there?

-- "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain

With the blade guard on, the DC is pretty good and without it, it’s decent. I’ts definitely better than the Delta we had.
One thing I do want to change is the placement of the switch. It’s a little too far to the right for me.

-- Brad, Oregon- The things that come to those who wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.

Not even a contest. Go for the 22116.
Contractor saws need to go the way of the dodo.

There only needs to be portables for the jobsite guys, hybrids which are contractor saws with improved designs, but still have table mounted trunions, and cabinet saws, the buy once, cry once saws. On that note, we need more cabinet saws that run on 110v. I can only think of two that aren’t used (sawstop 1.75 HP PCS and steel city).

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

Have you considered replacement parts??
I just purchased a hand wheel for my Craftsman Bandsaw (the plastic one broke) ... Sears price $36.00 plus shipping. Sold the C-man bandsaw.
I have a bad on/off switch on a Craftsman belt sander … Sears Price $22.00 plus shipping. Sold in G-sale
I have purchased parts from Grizzley for about half of the Sears cost DELIVERED to my door.
Sears has raised the price of replacement parts exponentaly in recent times.
Just something you might consider. This weighed heavy on my recent purchases, Craftsman bandsaw replaced by Ricon 14”; New PC belt sander that uses standard size belts like everyone else.

For my 2 cents worth, If you don’t like the Rigid, I would look really hard at the Grizzley, their customer support is outstanding.

-- Grumpy old guy, and lookin' good Doin' it.

Since you asked, My experience with Craftsman: horrible customer service. Try and get service after a two or three years when the new model comes out. They have no parts. Just my 2 cents. Grizzly service is fantastic.

-- Bruce from Central New York...now, if you'll pardon me, I have some sawdust to make.

Go Grizz. You won’t be unhappy. Tech service is excellent.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

I just took a closer look at both saws; both are nice, but really there’s no contest.
For what the grizzly costs, you’d be overpaying for what you get. The extra $100 the craftsman costs will get you cabinet mounted trunions (worth it by far) and a more stable saw that will hold its settings for likely a lifetime.

To throw another in the mix: the steel city 35950 is $1300 shipped from home depot. It’s a true cabinet saw with 1.75 HP motor and cabinet mounted trunions. It looks very similar to the 22116 but has cast iron top and wings (I think HD has the granite version of the 35950 for the same price) and a built in mobile base. It also has a 5 year warranty.

I really want the sawstop 1.75HP cabinet saw, but due to recent events I may not have the cash to pay that much, so the steel city is my backup.

I’m on my 3rd tablesaw and will never buy another table saw that has table mounted trunions again.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

@NiteWalker what has been your issue with table mounted trunnions? I appreciate the info on the steel city, but my limit is 1100. If I had 1300 I’d just buy the Grizzly 1023 and be done with it, but I’ve got other obligations that won’t allow that.

-- "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain