Craftsman 12" direct drive saw any good?

[Alan Muller]

This is a model 113.242502. Much like the usual Emerson/Sears "contractor" saw, but direct drive with a motor/trunnion setup that looks "radial arm saw" to me. They are 7 amp, 220 v only. Anyone have any experience with these? How are they for cuting wood?

There is some discussion of these on OWWM and the comments seem pretty mixed.

Thanks for any insight.

Alan

[Greg Peterson]

I'm sure this saw will cut wood. But I think this design accentuates the most undesirable attributes of a contractor saw. Just looking at the specs it seems like some product designers got together over martini's one night and asked the question 'How can we make the contractor saw even worse?'. Thus was born the 113.242502.

Coupling a low powered motor to an expensive 12 inch blade, and expecting the table mounted trunnion to keep everything square is a tall order.

Someone can chime in on the power the 7 amp motor generates, but it seems this motor is smaller (lower powered) than what you will find on a contractor saw. And 12" blades are not the standard size, so you will pay a premium for all those extra carbide teeth that little motor will be asked to spin. I have my doubts that the cutting capacity the 12" blade offers over the standard 10" blade would ever be achieved by that motor.

Unless you already have a supply of quality 12" blades (cross cut, rip or combo), any bargain this saw represents will evaporate as soon as you try to tool up.

As for cutting wood, I suppose it can do this. But like most tools, there exists a correlation between ones expectations of a tools performance and the cost of the tool.

Unless you have specific need for a 12" blade, there are vastly more and better options in the 10" TS range.

[Bill White]

I would RUN away.
Bill

[John Coloccia]

I'm sure this saw will cut wood. But I think this design accentuates the most undesirable attributes of a contractor saw

That sums it up right there. There are other saws that are just as bad but will run on 110 and have better motors. There are better saws out there that will probably cost you the same.

[Aaron Berk]

I'd buy a Bosch bench top before I'd buy that saw.

Keep looking for something else

[Larry Edgerton]

No

This sentence is to fill out this post with enough words. Sometimes, "No" just means "No".

Larry

[John McClanahan]

Based on volts and amps, I would guess the motor to be 1.5 HP. If you need the capacity that the 12" blade offers, I would think its way underpowered.

[Michael Mayo]

Just looking at the specs it seems like some product designers got together over martini's one night and asked the question 'How can we make the contractor saw even worse?'. Thus was born the 113.242502.

That right there is one funny freaking comment..........................:D And probably not that far from the truth!

[Alan Muller]

Well, I'm not getting the saw ($125 with a generic aftermarket fence), but mostly because it's not convenient for me to go get it. It doesn't appear that anybody commenting here has ever used one. On the other side of the arguments:
(1) apparently with a 12" blade the depth of cut is a bit more than the equivalent 10" belt-drive saw, (2) for 90% of my cutting, a ten inch blade would work fine, and deeper cuts are usually rough work, so blades don't seem much of an issue, (3) not having a motor hanging off the rear would be nice, (4) I don't offhand see why the motor trunnions would be less rigid than the mounting of a belt-drive arbor on a contractor saw, and they aren't the obvious sources of flexibility on a Sears/Emerson RAS, and (5) assuming the motor to be similar to the same RAS, I'd consider the output as marginal but similar to a 1.5 hp contractor saw motor (No losses in belt/pulleys). But I'm speculating too--having never used one. Doesn't appear that they sold very well.

Alan

[Mike Gilkey]

I have been using this model saw for over 20 years. I have cut 1000s upon 1000s of feet of wood, from 4X4 teak, 8/4 oak and many other hard and soft woods. This is a very reliable and tough saw that has plenty of power. If you can get it for the right price it is worth having. I use the 12 inch blade when needed, but much of the time I just use a 10 inch blade. The arbor is 5/8, so for the newer 12 inch blades you have to use a 1 inch adapter. The adapters can been found at most places that sharpen and sell blades. Some of the other posters have provided some of the cons, but overall a good saw.

[Steve Peterson]

Well, I'm not getting the saw ($125 with a generic aftermarket fence), but mostly because it's not convenient for me to go get it. It doesn't appear that anybody commenting here has ever used one.

I have the 10" equivalent in a $99 version of that saw. I hated it. The motor is under-powered and extremely noisy. The fence does not stay square. If you do get it square, it moves so that you end up with a pinching cut with lots of burn marks. The entire saw wants to tip over when you push material through.

I finally upgraded to a real saw and refuse to give that saw to anyone. I am not comfortable letting anyone use it. It feels that unsafe.

Steve

[Joe Hillmann]

I have no experience with this saw but the motor is probably closer to 2 hp than the 1.2hp. And since there is no power lost in a belt (v belts suck a lot of power) you are able to use all of the power from the motor rather than what is left over. Also Steve's $99 version of the saw is a very different saw and is no comparison to the saw in question. I have used a cheap $120 (new) direct drive saw as well as a $500 direct drive saw and even though they are both direct drive there is no comparison between them.

Although like everyone else I would worry about the cost and availability of the larger blades.