My BIL is looking for a Contractor saw $500

[Tim Morton]

I was at his birthday party last night and he pulled me aside to ask if i knew anything about table saws and what would I suggest he get for around $500. Of course the first thing I thought of was...BUY MINE:D but then I thought, no way would i sell my saw with he new besiemeyer fence for $500. I thought about the Craftsman saws that everyone is ranting about and stopped at sears to take my first look at them...the two lower end models looked kind of (ok REAL) cheesy, and the top end model which is out of his budget looked really cheesy but with a nice biesemeyer fence. Kind of reminded me of the kids who put fake wheels on thier Geo's. Anyway I sent him links to the grizzly 444 and 444z which are both on sale right now...I know about the delta HD deal, and i'm sure they are long gone around here, but I was just wondering if anyone knew of any better deals than the Grizzly? He would buy a used one if we could find a good one around Vermont. I looked for the PM scratch and dent and could not find it, and redmunds did not show anything...problem is with the $500 budget shipping gets to be an issue. I will check amazon, and I know of a Shop Fox for sale just south of me...

[Joe Spear]

I'm selling my Ridgid 3612 with 50-inch Vega Fence. $500 would be an acceptable price. It is an excellent contractor saw, but I bought a Jet cabinet saw. I'm just north of Boston, so transportation to Vermont may not be that difficult, depending on where exactly you are. Call 781-246-2836 if you're interested.

[markgoodall]

Try Home Depot, they were getting rid of a good Delta contractor's saw (cann't remember the model, but it was one of the good ones) for $349 (from $549).

I almost bought one for myself....... like I need another one ;) but the Unisaw would get worried ;)

From posts here and at WOod Central, Home Depot had these saws at this price accross the country. You might want to check and see if there's one available near you.

[Tim Morton]

Try Home Depot, they were getting rid of a good Delta contractor's saw (cann't remember the model, but it was one of the good ones) for $349 (from $549).

I almost bought one for myself....... like I need another one ;) but the Unisaw would get worried ;)

From posts here and at WOod Central, Home Depot had these saws at this price accross the country. You might want to check and see if there's one available near you.

Wouldn't want to make the uni nervous huh? Plus the Contractor Saw would always have "cabinet saw envy"...so it would be all bad
:D

I told him last night about the delta deal, but I'm sure that it is long gone here in Vermont. He said he would stop in and ask anyway.

As for the Ridgid, I know he doesn't have room in his house for a 50" fence, but i will pass it along to him as well..thanks!!

[Corey Hallagan]

Tim,Wood Magazine gave the lower end craftsman a pretty good review and the high end one has been reviewed well by others. I think it is hard to imagine how a saw will look after some of them are assembled by sears and HD employees that have no idea what they are really doing. Funny thing is the saws that I have seen photos of fully assembled in the shop do not look cheesy at all when completely set up, they look like really nice machines. You might want to reconsider that as majority of purchasers are very very happy with them. They are nearly identical to the Delta hybrids as well, with the exception of the Delta colors that is :) Also, the Ridgid is a 569 saw and won that same review in Wood and comes with a mobile base. It's worth the extra few bucks! No shipping issues.
Hope this helps.
Corey

[Jim W. White]

How about the 2HP Contractors unit from Woodworkers Supply? Slightly over budget at 599 but comes with FREE SHIPPING if you enter the site through ToolSeeker.com

http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=109-349

[scott spencer]

$500 should get him a good functional saw. A used saw is likely to get him the most saw for the dollar. If he wants a new one, he won't get the best of everything...he'll likely have to make some compromises like giving up a steel fence and cast iron wings.

The Grizzly G0444 has the best fence and miter gauge in this price range, but will run 10% over budget delivered and has steel wings, no blade, and no local support.

My first impression of the new Craftsman saws wasn't that great either. After looking at the 22124 a few times, I realized the only tangible beef I had was the nameplate. Once I got past my preconceived conceptions about the brand, my opinion changed because the machine behind the name is really a nice saw. The fence is among the best on the market. The blade guard, splitter, throatplate and motor are the same as what's on the Delta hybrid....I've even heard the Delta is made by the same company that makes the Sears. The cabinet mounted trunnions and internally mounted motor are a terrific idea that should have been popularized years ago. The serpentine belt, extension table, fold up outfeed, very good stock blade, full cabinet, standard in-home warranty and crosscut fence are bonuses. After running Tom Pritchard's 22124 I was thoroughly impressed. A month ago I bought a 22124 for < $600....it replaced a tricked out GI contractor saw, and cuts everybit as well, plus has alot of feature and design advantages...no regrets. The fit and finish of the Sears is comparable to my GI. The connecting rods are thicker on the 22124, the cast iron surface is wider, and it weighs 100# more than the GI....the GI's handwheels and miter gauge are nicer though. Sears and Orion have treated me well. The 22114 goes on sale under $500 occasionally and is frequently ~ $540. It has cast iron wings and many of the same advantages as the 22124....the fence is not on par with a Biese, but is as good as other aluminum fences in this price range....IMO the Griz's fence is better. If the fence is an issue, it could be sold and replaced with the Griz fence for $230 delivered....I saw a 22114 sell on Ebay for $175 about two weeks ago....a nice $55 upgrade! Take an open minded look at the "zip code" saws again sometime and make a mental list of what specifically makes you think they're cheesy relative to other comparably priced saws.,...you may find you were prejudging them like I was.

[Tim Morton]

$500 should get him a good functional saw. A used saw is likely to get him the most saw for the dollar. If he wants a new one, he won't get the best of everything...he'll likely have to make some compromises like giving up a steel fence and cast iron wings.

The Grizzly G0444 has the best fence and miter gauge in this price range, but will run 10% over budget delivered and has steel wings, no blade, and no local support.

My first impression of the new Craftsman saws wasn't that great either. After looking at the 22124 a few times, I realized the only tangible beef I had was the nameplate. Once I got past my preconceived conceptions about the brand, my opinion changed because the machine behind the name is really a nice saw. The fence is among the best on the market. The blade guard, splitter, throatplate and motor are the same as what's on the Delta hybrid....I've even heard the Delta is made by the same company that makes the Sears. The cabinet mounted trunnions and internally mounted motor are a terrific idea that should have been popularized years ago. The serpentine belt, extension table, fold up outfeed, very good stock blade, full cabinet, standard in-home warranty and crosscut fence are bonuses. After running Tom Pritchard's 22124 I was thoroughly impressed. A month ago I bought a 22124 for < $600....it replaced a tricked out GI contractor saw, and cuts everybit as well, plus has alot of feature and design advantages...no regrets. The fit and finish of the Sears is comparable to my GI. The connecting rods are thicker on the 22124, the cast iron surface is wider, and it weighs 100# more than the GI....the GI's handwheels and miter gauge are nicer though. Sears and Orion have treated me well. The 22114 goes on sale under $500 occasionally and is frequently ~ $540. It has cast iron wings and many of the same advantages as the 22124....the fence is not on par with a Biese, but is as good as other aluminum fences in this price range....IMO the Griz's fence is better. If the fence is an issue, it could be sold and replaced with the Griz fence for $230 delivered....I saw a 22114 sell on Ebay for $175 about two weeks ago....a nice $55 upgrade! Take an open minded look at the "zip code" saws again sometime and make a mental list of what specifically makes you think they're cheesy relative to other comparably priced saws.,...you may find you were prejudging them like I was.

Scott, the 22124 for anywhere close to $600 is a no brainer, but it is listed at my store right now for $949, so it is off the table. Now drop down to the 22114 and it is selling for $649, and the fence is junk...period. I told him to wait and see what the best price they put on it for fathers day, but right down the street is a Shop Fox W1703 for $539...no it doesn't have cast wings...but it has a better fence and better fit and finish. He can buy some HF cast iron wings if he needs that, but I would take a better fence over better wings anyday. Ultimately it will be him making the choice, and we'll see what he thinks.

[Dale Rodabaugh]

The latest issue of Wood magazine gave a thumbs up to the Rigid table saw.price was around $500.:confused: :confused: :confused:

[Corey Hallagan]

Tim, the Shop Fox is nothing but a White Grizzly and will be a very nice saw for the money if he goes that route. I would rather have a great fence as well over the cast iron wings up front, but if he is going to be doing alot of wworking he will definitely want to upgrade those wings. I hate my Delta CI SS wings.

Corey

[Tim Morton]

Tim, the Shop Fox is nothing but a White Grizzly and will be a very nice saw for the money if he goes that route. I would rather have a great fence as well over the cast iron wings up front, but if he is going to be doing alot of wworking he will definitely want to upgrade those wings. I hate my Delta CI SS wings.

Corey

I know...I'm not sure if he would be a pick-up guy or mail order guy. the advantage of the SF is that its a floor model so it is assembled, and it seems on inspection that they did it right.

[scott spencer]

The SF for $540 would signal a "buy" for me.....a fine fence, good miter gauge, plus local support. The better fence and miter would be more important to me than CI wings, but those sure are things I've come to like.

BTW - The Ridgid is in the $569-$597 range.

[Tim Morton]

The SF for $540 would signal a "buy" for me.....a fine fence, good miter gauge, plus local support. The better fence and miter would be more important to me than CI wings, but those sure are things I've come to like.

BTW - The Ridgid is in the $569-$597 range.


The SF looks good to me too...but the 444z from grizz has a 2HP motor and 2 cast iron wings...and is at his door for $633. which after he pays tax on the SF might be only a couple of pizza's difference. he can wire the 220 himself so that cost is maybe a couple more pizza's:) of course I'm waiting for him to ask me about the Ryobi 3000:rolleyes:

[Corey Hallagan]

Tim, just curious is your BIL an aspiring woodworker looking to get into it after eyeballing your equipment and shop :) or does he want it for general run of the mill household remod chores?

Corey

[Tim Morton]

Tim, just curious is your BIL an aspiring woodworker looking to get into it after eyeballing your equipment and shop :) or does he want it for general run of the mill household remod chores?

Corey

I think it is mostly for household remodel...ripping pine boards and plywood.

[Bill Fields]

Tim:

I bought a Hitachi hybrid TS about 5 months ago for $499 from Loew's, and at first I regretted it. Now I like it, and am spending money and on modifications and upgrades' such as:
-CI wings
-Extension table(s)
-sealed the interior some w/duct tape to cut down sawdust leakage
-rigging external connection to guard fixing bolts, so removing guard is a 10 second matter instead of a 10 minute one.
-changed out the belt to a linked belt, whichmake it possible to pass the "nickel test" now.l
-Converted the removable cabinet panel (6 self-tapping screws) to a quick off and on arrangement
-Plan to change the up-front tilt control to the side where it should have been-(they touted the up front location as an improvement, but it adds a lot of friction and forces the design to use a too-small hand-wheel.

THe legs on the base are too flimsy, which makes the included mobile casters almost useless, so I built a custom mobile base with large casters and a storage drawer underneath.

Supplied blade is excellent, TEFC motor is strong, "slam switch" is included.

Tim, what I did not hear from anyone is that the $500 li,it is a relly tough one. For just 20-25% more he will get a better saw.

Do I like it now--more than before. Knowing what I do now, would I buy it? No.

Good luck!

BILL FIELDS

Negatives:
-Owner's Manual
-It's great that it's heavy--about 350#--but you must have 2 people of more to assemble and flip.

[Don Baer]

Bill;
I was just at Lowes and saw the saw you are talking about.
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<TABLE class=bluborder3 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=556 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir bgliteblu" width=230>15 Amp induction motor (3.0 HP)
27" x 40" table top with extension wing
Blade tilt and blade height adjustment knobs up front for easy access
Table top angle scale
Enclosed motor to protect from dust and debris
Adjustable T-slotted miter gauge
Micro adjustment on fence
Deluxe caster set included
Cast iron trunnions
--------------------------------

Are you using it with a DC ?

I did notice that the base looked a little flimsy.

How about the fence. Does it seem to loks square or does it require tweeking ?

All in all for the money it did look like a pretty good unit. They had a Jet sitting next t it for $100 more that seemed like a lot less saw for more $$.

</TD><TD class="tir dot_y_blu"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir pad0">Amps:</TD><TD class="tir pad0">15</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Blade Diameter:</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">10"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Arbor Size:</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">5/8"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">No Load Speed (RPM):</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">3,450</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Max Cut Capacity (90°):</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">3-3/8"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Max Cut Capacity (45°):</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">2-1/4"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Max Table Size:</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">27-1/8" X 20-1/8"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Max Dado Width:</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">13/16"</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Dust Collection:</TD><TD class="tir padtop5_sm">Yes</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>