This is an amazing story. I own a Craftsman saw and was curious what others
thought of it. I pity this poor guy.

http://www.epinions.com/content_136407780996

Wayne -
Initially I wasn't sure I opened to the right link. But as I read to the
bottom I got the message. I think the lesson learned is if you are going to
buy a JET tool, don't buy it from Sears. Buy it from a tool store that
handles JET and cares about future business - or at least someone like
Amazon who is fairly responsive. From experience I have had with
Craftsman/Sears over 30 + years, Sears used to provide pretty good service
but now that is suffering.

Seriously, it would be interesting for someone to post a question like yours
and request the age of the responder. I suspect you'll see a negative
Craftsman bias that starts with users in the 50+ age range. From posts I
see here it appears as though younger folks are pretty pleased with
Craftsman. Many of us who were loyal Craftsman groupies back in the 1970's
have sworn them off. Years ago if I needed a tool I drove to Sears. I go
anywhere but Sears now.

Don't form a negative bias on JET because of this guy. They make better
tools that Sears. I suspect Sears sells other brands now because the
Craftsman brand is slumping.

BTW - I owned one of the old Craftsman table saws for 25 years. It worked
ok. My Grizzly 1023 makes that old saw a distant, unpleasant memory. My 25
year old Craftsman drill press is a good machine that continues to provide
faithful service. I do still use a 25 year old hand jigsaw that is on its
last leg - but it works. Most everything else in my shop is of other brands
now.

RonB


"Wayne" wrote in message
...
This is an amazing story. I own a Craftsman saw and was curious what
others thought of it. I pity this poor guy.

http://www.epinions.com/content_136407780996

"RonB" wrote in message
...
Wayne -
Initially I wasn't sure I opened to the right link. But as I read to the
bottom I got the message. I think the lesson learned is if you are going
to buy a JET tool, don't buy it from Sears. Buy it from a tool store that
handles JET and cares about future business - or at least someone like
Amazon who is fairly responsive. From experience I have had with
Craftsman/Sears over 30 + years, Sears used to provide pretty good service
but now that is suffering.

Seriously, it would be interesting for someone to post a question like
yours and request the age of the responder. I suspect you'll see a
negative Craftsman bias that starts with users in the 50+ age range. From
posts I see here it appears as though younger folks are pretty pleased
with Craftsman. Many of us who were loyal Craftsman groupies back in the
1970's have sworn them off. Years ago if I needed a tool I drove to
Sears. I go anywhere but Sears now.

Don't form a negative bias on JET because of this guy. They make better
tools that Sears. I suspect Sears sells other brands now because the
Craftsman brand is slumping.

Ever since Kmart took them over they have been continuosly gong down the
pooper!
Kmart filed chapter 11 and screwed their stock holders (ala Enron), then
reissued their stock and bought Sears and are managing Sears the same way.
Its only a matter of time untill Sears goes under too.















BTW - I owned one of the old Craftsman table saws for 25 years. It worked
ok. My Grizzly 1023 makes that old saw a distant, unpleasant memory. My
25 year old Craftsman drill press is a good machine that continues to
provide faithful service. I do still use a 25 year old hand jigsaw that
is on its last leg - but it works. Most everything else in my shop is of
other brands now.

RonB


"Wayne" wrote in message
...
This is an amazing story. I own a Craftsman saw and was curious what
others thought of it. I pity this poor guy.

http://www.epinions.com/content_136407780996

This is true. However the Craftsman declined started sometime in the late
70's to mid 80's. There are still a few shops equipped with the old cast
iron table saws and jointers they used to distribute. They work well and
are servicable. My table saw was one of the millions of cast iron
table/sheet metal extensions they made from about 1970 to fairly recently.
I guess I got by with it but it wasn't a jewel. I also forgot, in my
original post, that I have a 70's Craftsman skill-saw and router. The skil
saw is good stuff. The routher is a good machine but has depth issues.

RonB

"Will" wrote in message
m...

"RonB" wrote in message
...
Wayne -
Initially I wasn't sure I opened to the right link. But as I read to the
bottom I got the message. I think the lesson learned is if you are going
to buy a JET tool, don't buy it from Sears. Buy it from a tool store
that handles JET and cares about future business - or at least someone
like Amazon who is fairly responsive. From experience I have had with
Craftsman/Sears over 30 + years, Sears used to provide pretty good
service but now that is suffering.

Seriously, it would be interesting for someone to post a question like
yours and request the age of the responder. I suspect you'll see a
negative Craftsman bias that starts with users in the 50+ age range.
From posts I see here it appears as though younger folks are pretty
pleased with Craftsman. Many of us who were loyal Craftsman groupies
back in the 1970's have sworn them off. Years ago if I needed a tool I
drove to Sears. I go anywhere but Sears now.

Don't form a negative bias on JET because of this guy. They make better
tools that Sears. I suspect Sears sells other brands now because the
Craftsman brand is slumping.

Ever since Kmart took them over they have been continuosly gong down the
pooper!
Kmart filed chapter 11 and screwed their stock holders (ala Enron), then
reissued their stock and bought Sears and are managing Sears the same way.
Its only a matter of time untill Sears goes under too.















BTW - I owned one of the old Craftsman table saws for 25 years. It
worked ok. My Grizzly 1023 makes that old saw a distant, unpleasant
memory. My 25 year old Craftsman drill press is a good machine that
continues to provide faithful service. I do still use a 25 year old hand
jigsaw that is on its last leg - but it works. Most everything else in
my shop is of other brands now.

RonB


"Wayne" wrote in message
...
This is an amazing story. I own a Craftsman saw and was curious what
others thought of it. I pity this poor guy.

http://www.epinions.com/content_136407780996

In article , "Will" wrote:
Ever since Kmart took them over they have been continuosly gong down the
pooper!

Sears has been going downhill for a *lot* longer than K-Mart has been in that
picture.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

I purchased my Craftsman Table Saw back in the 70s.

The first thing I had to do was have the table Blanchard ground. The table was so rough it would sand the wood when you pushed it
accross it. Afterwards it was as smooooth.

Next one pully broke and replaced both with steel ones. Later got one of those link belts. Quit now.

One of the bearing went out, I had to open up a access hole on the side to get a bearing puller in there. Smooth cuts now.

The last thing, not required, an out-feed-table. Now long stuff doesn't fall off the back.

The only short coming is the motor. 1hp on 110v. A long extension cord doesn't last long. Besides the motor has seen it better
days. I guess it time to replace it too.

Need a better fence.

W. Kirk Crawford
Tularosa, New Mexico

Smaug jumps in just as others are losing interest...

My Dad was a manager at a Mongomery Wards. Had his choice of hand and
power tools, and could get them *much* under retail. Other than some
inexpensive hand tools, all his tools - hand tools, power tools, etc. -
were from Sears. This was back in mid-60's early 70's when even Monkey
Wards had decent stuff. He spent a lot of time using his RAS, and did a
lot of tinkering with it. I don't know what the original motor was, but I
*think* he replaced it (may have been original) with a 110/220 (voltage was
selected by changing a jumper) and rewired the garage for 220. He said
that 220 provided more torque and the motor ran more quietly. He also
added a DC brake/clutch. The only problem I can remember was that it had
one of those funky little metal "safety keys", which he would remove to
prevent my brothers and I from using the saw when he wasn't around. He
lost the key (Ha!) and replaced the switch with a more conventional heavy-
duty snap-action switch. By that time he could trust us not to cut our
fingers off (at least not more than once...).

Wish I still had that saw, I think would still be going strong. The stuff
I have now is decent; can't really afford the higher quality power tools.
But then you learn a lot when you have to "make do".

Smaug Ichorfang wrote:
| Smaug jumps in just as others are losing interest...
|
| My Dad was a manager at a Mongomery Wards. Had his choice of hand
| and power tools, and could get them *much* under retail. Other
| than some inexpensive hand tools, all his tools - hand tools, power
| tools, etc. - were from Sears. This was back in mid-60's early
| 70's when even Monkey Wards had decent stuff. He spent a lot of
| time using his RAS, and did a lot of tinkering with it. I don't
| know what the original motor was, but I *think* he replaced it (may
| have been original) with a 110/220 (voltage was selected by
| changing a jumper) and rewired the garage for 220. He said that
| 220 provided more torque and the motor ran more quietly. He also
| added a DC brake/clutch. The only problem I can remember was that
| it had one of those funky little metal "safety keys", which he
| would remove to prevent my brothers and I from using the saw when
| he wasn't around. He lost the key (Ha!) and replaced the switch
| with a more conventional heavy- duty snap-action switch. By that
| time he could trust us not to cut our fingers off (at least not
| more than once...).
|
| Wish I still had that saw, I think would still be going strong.
| The stuff I have now is decent; can't really afford the higher
| quality power tools. But then you learn a lot when you have to
| "make do".

Not losing interest - I just don't have the machine from Sears...

Too bad your Dad didn't bring home the ToolKraft RAS. Mine came from
the Monkey Wards store in Poughkeepsie and hasn't had a problem in
over thirty years of (moderate) use and being hauled around the
country...

....and it's probably only fair to mention that the Craftsman band saw
and shaper bought about the same time have given similarly good
service.

It just ocurred to me that some of my old tools have seen more miles
than board feet. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html