Over the years I have heard most opinions on sears being poor. I just
wanted to voice my experience.

Last year (5-15-05), I bought the Craftsman 10" Profesional table
saw, (cabinet saw) with the biesemyer fence. I paid around 800$ for
the package. I work in a cabinet shop, and was mainly familiar with
the Jet cabinet saws.. but in much research prior ot the purchase,
the craftsman seemed extreamly competitive at a much more reasonable
price.
Being a guy that takes great pride and care of his tools, I have not
had one single problem with the saw AT ALL. I replaced the stock
extention table, front and rear fence rails with a much larger set,
giivng me ~60" on the right side of blade, and overall near
80" total table surface.
I purchaced the saw with an additional 3 Year in home extended
warranty. Last week, I noticed my Trunnion was out of alignment
slightly... and having my first year come up, I decided to have the
anual service checkup done.
The service guys came out 2 days later. My 1st disapointment was the
2nd guy was along for training.. not too bad, but to make matters
worse, the real tech. had no experience working on a saw of this
model, and was mainly a tech. for lawn equipment and washer/dryer
stuff

I explained the alignment trouble... and even more, had to explain
how to even go about making the alignment adjustments, and where to
even locate the bolts to loosen the trunnion !!!

At that point, while the guy in training was knelt down, looking
inside the cabinet of the saw, I had to ask him not to touch it. I
explained to them that I was under the impresion that calling a
service "technitian" meant having someone come out that was
qualified, and knew about the machinary. I continued to explain that
I was perfectly capible of making the nessisary alignment myself, and
would feel more comfortable knowing exactly what bolts had or had not
been loosened or retightened inside my saw.

At any rate, one of the biesemyer fence nylon guides that ran across
the table surface had a metal shard inside the nylon material, wich
over time became exposed from the friction, and created a fairly nice
scratch accross the entire length of the table top, on the back side
of the blade..

Being they felt like idiots, the guy did not even hesitate to simply
agree, and immidiatly order me a complete new table top, and both
extention wings! along with new nylon guides, and a free blade.

So, I guess the story is here, no matter what the quality of tools, or
the way the tools are advertised (HP ratings.. etc) the life of the
tool is all about how the owner uses, and cares for them. bottom
line.

*I realigned the trunnion and had the saw cutting perfectly again
within 15 mins afther they left my shop*
-Mel Graham

I purchased the same saw the prior Xmas (12/04). This is my first table
saw. I did not get the warranty and if I had such technicians appear at my
house, I would also have felt to have wasted the money.

I quickly replaced the stock blade with a WWII. I did a quick alignment of
the fence by adjusting the rail, but during the summer did the better job of
loosening the table top and aligning checking the alignment with a
micrometer. Easy to do, but tedious due to the iterative nature of the tap
to align being tap to mis-align in the other direction.

The saw has not given me any problems, but I have on a couple of occasions
wished for a more powerful motor. Cutting 8/4 maple requires patience,
multiple cut and I still got burning which I feel is due to the motor not
being up to this particular task since I had to feed much slower than
normal. On other woods or thinner stock I do not get any burning.

I replaced the insert with a zero clearance insert after a cutoff piece got
stuck in the overly wide slot. Glad it was stuck and not ejected. Due to
the unusual opening size, you really have to look around to find an insert
which fits. I think I found mine at Lee Valley. Measure the size and look
for the same dimensions.

The only time I use the standard insert if for bevelled cuts. The paint on
this was very poor and rubbed off on my pieces, so I just sanded it down to
bare metal and coated it with the same stuff I use on the table top.

I am using the standard rails. The as-provided wooden right wing extension
is badly made and will soon be replaced. Where did you order your 80in rail
set? This is very tempting.

The trunnion benefits for periodic cleaning to keep the adjustments smooth.

The adjustment wheels are more flimsy than I would prefer, but the normally
smooth mechanism does not require a lot of strength.

The as-provided mitre gauge appears to be hefty, but is instantly adjustable
to exact angles which is common for many brands. I purchased an Incra
1000SE and have been very happy at the accuracy, speed of adjustment and
repeatabity.

I have not see the Delta equivalent, other than in magazine ads. The Delta
has legs under the extension. The Sears does not, which was easier for me
since I needed to place the saw on a mobile base. I have to move the saw if
I need to cut a piece whose length left of the blade is more than 24in.

For the price this is a decent saw. I would buy this again for the price,
but admit to yearnings for a 3HP model the likes of the Grizzly 1023 or a
Unisaw, etc.

Dave Paine.

"Mel Graham" wrote in message
m...
Over the years I have heard most opinions on sears being poor. I just
wanted to voice my experience.

Last year (5-15-05), I bought the Craftsman 10" Profesional table
saw, (cabinet saw) with the biesemyer fence. I paid around 800$ for
the package. I work in a cabinet shop, and was mainly familiar with
the Jet cabinet saws.. but in much research prior ot the purchase,
the craftsman seemed extreamly competitive at a much more reasonable
price.
Being a guy that takes great pride and care of his tools, I have not
had one single problem with the saw AT ALL. I replaced the stock
extention table, front and rear fence rails with a much larger set,
giivng me ~60" on the right side of blade, and overall near
80" total table surface.
I purchaced the saw with an additional 3 Year in home extended
warranty. Last week, I noticed my Trunnion was out of alignment
slightly... and having my first year come up, I decided to have the
anual service checkup done.
The service guys came out 2 days later. My 1st disapointment was the
2nd guy was along for training.. not too bad, but to make matters
worse, the real tech. had no experience working on a saw of this
model, and was mainly a tech. for lawn equipment and washer/dryer
stuff

I explained the alignment trouble... and even more, had to explain
how to even go about making the alignment adjustments, and where to
even locate the bolts to loosen the trunnion !!!

At that point, while the guy in training was knelt down, looking
inside the cabinet of the saw, I had to ask him not to touch it. I
explained to them that I was under the impresion that calling a
service "technitian" meant having someone come out that was
qualified, and knew about the machinary. I continued to explain that
I was perfectly capible of making the nessisary alignment myself, and
would feel more comfortable knowing exactly what bolts had or had not
been loosened or retightened inside my saw.

At any rate, one of the biesemyer fence nylon guides that ran across
the table surface had a metal shard inside the nylon material, wich
over time became exposed from the friction, and created a fairly nice
scratch accross the entire length of the table top, on the back side
of the blade..

Being they felt like idiots, the guy did not even hesitate to simply
agree, and immidiatly order me a complete new table top, and both
extention wings! along with new nylon guides, and a free blade.

So, I guess the story is here, no matter what the quality of tools, or
the way the tools are advertised (HP ratings.. etc) the life of the
tool is all about how the owner uses, and cares for them. bottom
line.

*I realigned the trunnion and had the saw cutting perfectly again
within 15 mins afther they left my shop*
-Mel Graham

I cut my own Zero Clearance inserts using the factory plate as a guide.
Using wood, I sand them down to match the surface and then raise the blade
to make the ZC Slot.

"Tyke" wrote in message
...
I purchased the same saw the prior Xmas (12/04). This is my first table
saw. I did not get the warranty and if I had such technicians appear at my
house, I would also have felt to have wasted the money.

I quickly replaced the stock blade with a WWII. I did a quick alignment
of the fence by adjusting the rail, but during the summer did the better
job of loosening the table top and aligning checking the alignment with a
micrometer. Easy to do, but tedious due to the iterative nature of the
tap to align being tap to mis-align in the other direction.

The saw has not given me any problems, but I have on a couple of occasions
wished for a more powerful motor. Cutting 8/4 maple requires patience,
multiple cut and I still got burning which I feel is due to the motor not
being up to this particular task since I had to feed much slower than
normal. On other woods or thinner stock I do not get any burning.

I replaced the insert with a zero clearance insert after a cutoff piece
got stuck in the overly wide slot. Glad it was stuck and not ejected.
Due to the unusual opening size, you really have to look around to find an
insert which fits. I think I found mine at Lee Valley. Measure the size
and look for the same dimensions.

The only time I use the standard insert if for bevelled cuts. The paint
on this was very poor and rubbed off on my pieces, so I just sanded it
down to bare metal and coated it with the same stuff I use on the table
top.

I am using the standard rails. The as-provided wooden right wing
extension is badly made and will soon be replaced. Where did you order
your 80in rail set? This is very tempting.

The trunnion benefits for periodic cleaning to keep the adjustments
smooth.

The adjustment wheels are more flimsy than I would prefer, but the
normally smooth mechanism does not require a lot of strength.

The as-provided mitre gauge appears to be hefty, but is instantly
adjustable to exact angles which is common for many brands. I purchased
an Incra 1000SE and have been very happy at the accuracy, speed of
adjustment and repeatabity.

I have not see the Delta equivalent, other than in magazine ads. The
Delta has legs under the extension. The Sears does not, which was easier
for me since I needed to place the saw on a mobile base. I have to move
the saw if I need to cut a piece whose length left of the blade is more
than 24in.

For the price this is a decent saw. I would buy this again for the price,
but admit to yearnings for a 3HP model the likes of the Grizzly 1023 or a
Unisaw, etc.

Dave Paine.

"Mel Graham" wrote in message
m...
Over the years I have heard most opinions on sears being poor. I just
wanted to voice my experience.

Last year (5-15-05), I bought the Craftsman 10" Profesional table
saw, (cabinet saw) with the biesemyer fence. I paid around 800$ for
the package. I work in a cabinet shop, and was mainly familiar with
the Jet cabinet saws.. but in much research prior ot the purchase,
the craftsman seemed extreamly competitive at a much more reasonable
price.
Being a guy that takes great pride and care of his tools, I have not
had one single problem with the saw AT ALL. I replaced the stock
extention table, front and rear fence rails with a much larger set,
giivng me ~60" on the right side of blade, and overall near
80" total table surface.
I purchaced the saw with an additional 3 Year in home extended
warranty. Last week, I noticed my Trunnion was out of alignment
slightly... and having my first year come up, I decided to have the
anual service checkup done.
The service guys came out 2 days later. My 1st disapointment was the
2nd guy was along for training.. not too bad, but to make matters
worse, the real tech. had no experience working on a saw of this
model, and was mainly a tech. for lawn equipment and washer/dryer
stuff

I explained the alignment trouble... and even more, had to explain
how to even go about making the alignment adjustments, and where to
even locate the bolts to loosen the trunnion !!!

At that point, while the guy in training was knelt down, looking
inside the cabinet of the saw, I had to ask him not to touch it. I
explained to them that I was under the impresion that calling a
service "technitian" meant having someone come out that was
qualified, and knew about the machinary. I continued to explain that
I was perfectly capible of making the nessisary alignment myself, and
would feel more comfortable knowing exactly what bolts had or had not
been loosened or retightened inside my saw.

At any rate, one of the biesemyer fence nylon guides that ran across
the table surface had a metal shard inside the nylon material, wich
over time became exposed from the friction, and created a fairly nice
scratch accross the entire length of the table top, on the back side
of the blade..

Being they felt like idiots, the guy did not even hesitate to simply
agree, and immidiatly order me a complete new table top, and both
extention wings! along with new nylon guides, and a free blade.

So, I guess the story is here, no matter what the quality of tools, or
the way the tools are advertised (HP ratings.. etc) the life of the
tool is all about how the owner uses, and cares for them. bottom
line.

*I realigned the trunnion and had the saw cutting perfectly again
within 15 mins afther they left my shop*
-Mel Graham

I also cut my own throat plates, from bulk nylon type material (forget
the correct material name atm). Agreed that the stock plate has too
large an opening for standard blades. I occationally use it for dado
(if the size is close) or bevel cuts too, but only as a last resort,
if it is close fit, and I dont have a plate already made for that
type of cut.

The fence rail I replaced the stock with, I had actually made myself.
I purchased 8' length angle iron, and tube stock from a local matal
shop, and cut it to the length I needed to fit my shop space.. ~78
inch total. I found some paint that actually matched the shade of
white that Biesemyere used, so it seriously looks like the original.


The wooden extention table I felt too, was poorly made, but my
replacement was basicly the same construction as the original. I
used solid oak for a frame, and double laminated mdf, rather than the
partical board that the original used.

I also replaced the stock miter gadge with an incra, being that I
quickly got tired of double checking the angles, since the stock one
had only a needle to verify, wich does not give you accurate
readings.. and means several test cuts to get the proper angles..
also, I do a lot of 22.5 degeree cuts, wich the miter gadge does not
have a set stop for.. only 0, 45 and 90.

I am in process of switching it over to 220 finally, and am excited to
unleash the full potential of the motor. Dont get me wrong, Im not
under any impression of having more power with 220, but the startup
difference alone is worth it, along with not bogging down so easily
is what I am after.

Oh, as for the fence replacement. I think all-in-all, the total cost
of the iron was around 50-70$, and a day's labor.. cutting/fitting,
drilling the holes, taping a few holes for threads, etc.. and paint.
compared to ordering one from Biesemyere (wich I found they only sell
complete packages, not just rails) wich would have cost around or more
than 400$ it was absolutly worth it

Craftsman
Professional 10" Table Saw

I wanted to give a note on converting this saw to 220. the 1 3/4 hp
motor was a snap to convert, as mentioned by many others, and most
other saw types.. its as simple as popping the cover off the motor
and switching the wires to how the diagram shows. The motor includes
a spare wire nut taped inside there to complete this.

However, in the manual of the saw, it reads:

"The ON/OFF switch is a 4 pole switch, and does need
modified."

This is a MISSPRINT from the manufacturer! The switch does NOT need
modified. Other than changing the plug to a 220 style end, no other
modifications are required. The thermal overload will handel 220 as
well. This misprint caused a great deal of confusion for me, as well
as extra down time for my saw, while trying to find someone on the
Sears tech. team that actually knew somthing about it.

Hopefully this will help someone else out there, that also comes
across this dilema.

-Mel Graham