I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to
the Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman
contractor's saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a
mobile base (important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust
collection port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes.
Each has what appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter
gauge extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

TIA

Cap'n 321

I have the Craftsman 22114 that you are referring to. I love it. I,
too, spend many hours deciding between the two. I read opinion after
opinion on the Rigid TS3650 and a few on the Craftsman. The things that
made me pick the Craftsman we

1) The rigid had a lot of complaints about its base stability. And sure
enough as I stood at Home Depot I could rock the heck out of it with
minimal force.

2) There was some issue with the arbor on the TS3650 having a defect
that caused an issue with dados. I'm not sure if its fixed yet, but I'd
think it is.

Now, I saw a lot of posts where people easily fixed the racking of the
TS3650 with some additional bracing and I saw that Rigid was either
already or going to offer a replacement arbor. I couldn't bring myself
to buy a saw that I knew I was going to have to fix out of the box. I
still sweated the decision... until the 22114 went on sale for $549. I
think it was a Craftsman club deal on a normal sale day. I picked one
up that day.

To be honest, I would actually add the cost of my mobile base to even
the two saws out. I got two mobile bases for $75 on sale at a Rockler
store so I'll say $33 for the one on my TS.

As for my review... well I love my saw. Its no Unisaw, but its rock
solid. It was dead on out of the box so I didnt have to do much tuning.
The only thing I had to do was adjust the fence a bit. The fence is
solid, but admittedly probably not as solid as one that locks on the
rear like the Rigid. But all in all I would make the same purchase
again in a second. I don't use the miter guage for any precision cuts
nor do I ever use the auxillary fence. They seemed useful when I bought
it, but just haven't panned out.

If you have any more specific questions post them and I'll answer if I can.

P.S. I added a Forrest WoodWorker II blade shortly after my purchase
and that added another quality jump.

Mike W.

nospam wrote:
I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to
the Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman
contractor's saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a
mobile base (important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust
collection port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes. Each
has what appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter gauge
extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

TIA

Cap'n 321

I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to the
Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman contractor's
saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a mobile base
(important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust collection
port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes. Each has what
appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter gauge extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

I was going to take a peek at those saws on line tham I realized you didn''t
give MODEL numbers??


TIA

Cap'n 321

" " wrote in
message . com...
I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to the
Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman contractor's
saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a mobile base
(important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust collection
port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes. Each has what
appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter gauge extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

TIA

Cap'n 321

You can check out all of your concerns at the Ridgid owners forums he
http://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/index.php

The arbor issue has been fixed. The wobble issue id variable, meaning that
I didn't see one with my saw until I was moving it a great deal and suddenly
it was there. I got the bind out of the legs as they stablized when
lowering from the Herc-u-Lift (fantastic). I have found the shop-vac port
on the bottom of the blade shoud to be highly effective. I can't criticize
the Sears saw since I have no knowledge but I would buy the 3650 again in a
heartbeat.

I own the Craftsman- and it was a good decision. Craftsman has gotten a
well deserved bad reputation over the years, but I think after they
re-designed their higher end tools, they are beginning to turn that around-
they got this one right. I wish the motor was bigger, but hey, for the
money I had to spend, I made a good decision buying this saw.

Craftsman 10" , 1 1/2 HP continuous, 15A, 3/4 cabinet, 4" dust collection,
Sears Model 152.221140

After 2 years of use, I still think its an excellent piece of machinery. The
runout on the arbor was less than .001" with .003 at the blade. The
alignment (blade) to the miter slot is .009 off perpendicular in the back,
away from the fence, I didn't change it- no complaints for the cuts I've
made, and NO kickback.Comes with all the allans and the blade change
wrenches.

Table is almost dead nuts flat +/- .002" from my measure. The 5/8" arbor
accepts dados to 13/16" wide for sure- but can't remember what the actual
arbor length is. Blade Guard/ splitter works very well.

Belt system is the newer poly-flat belt and pulley. It sings like a sewing
machine- very quiet. Nickel test no problem.

The miter/ miter fence is awesome- especially the !clamp!- I use it a lot.
Miter also locks in at 0, 45 and 90 degrees (I like to use a sled for
cross cuts but for angled miter cuts, both the extension and the clamp work
very very well). Dust collection was pretty well thought out (except the
port is dead nuts center of the back, right where you would put a roller
extension, and the collection hose sometimes gets in the way). I forgot it
had an aux. fence- now I remember what that aluminum extrusion hanging from
the peg board is for!

The on/off switch is solid, and locatable. The fence is rock solid- very
nice measurement system too. You will want to make a zero-clearance
plate, unless it now comes with one- mine didn't.

The only problem I have had is that the hardware is not as tight as it
should be. My motor pulley came off after about 6 months cause the set
screws weren't tight. While I was in there, I re-tightened everything. I
would re-tighten everything that's pre-assembled especially the pulleys, and
trunnion bolts at assembly. I bought a dial indicator and stand from harbor
freight- it was priceless for aligning the extension tables.

I love the saw. A narrow kerf blade would probably help the power
situation, but its really adequate for what i do. Saw weighs in at over 400
lbs. and was shipped in a metal framed bolted to a pallet. I took it apart
in the parking lot so I could load it in the truck.

An excellent mobile base with no assembly: Jet 708118 Heavy-Duty Universal
Mobile Base:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...nanceandinve0d


Write back if you have any questions (remove the NOSPAM from address

Happy Sawdust,
--
KB
Saint Charles County, MO


" " wrote in
message . com...
I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to
the Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman
contractor's saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a
mobile base (important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust
collection port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes.
Each has what appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter
gauge extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

TIA

Cap'n 321

the sears is available all over- parts by mail etc. The rigid no so
likely.

I have the Ridgid (also purchased at the Borg). So far, absolutely no
complaints. Runs like a dream, very stable, and built very solid.

The one thing I've heard critics complain about is that you have to turn
the adjustment wheel more times than on other saws to raise or lower the
blade. Actually, I kind of like that. Gives me a lot of control on the
cutting height.

I haven't had the saw for long, so I can attest to the long-term
problems that might arise. Also, hard to say anything bad about the
Craftman. I was considering that one also. I decided on the Ridgid
because of the built in mobile base.

Jack

nospam wrote:
I'm honing in on my search for a new table saw. Looks like I'm down to
the Ridgid contractor's saw ($549 at the borg) vs. the Craftsman
contractor's saw (on sale this week at $629). The Ridgid includes a
mobile base (important to me); the Sears has a 3/4 cabinet and a 4" dust
collection port. Both are 1 1/2 hp with identical table top sizes. Each
has what appears to be a sturdy fence. The Sears saw has a miter gauge
extension.

Any thoughts from owners of either of these saws?

TIA

Cap'n 321