My new saw (finally)

[Joe Trotter]

I am not sure if I can "gloat" about an old Craftsman contractors saw or not. This is my first table saw and I look forward to making some of the things on it that you all have made.

I waited until I could find a 1 1/2 HP, cast iron top saw. I really appreciate all the advice I got here as I searched and asked questions. I think I would have accepted less if it had not been for the guidance I received.

I paid $125.00 for it and feel like I got a good deal. It was the original owner so I got the manual, and a couple of extra blades. One of the blades was a dado cutter unlike any I have seen here. It has a cam on it that allows the blade to wobble in the arbor. It looks kind of dangerous.

Anyhow here is to all the help I received....

Thank You,
Joe

[glenn bradley]

Congrats Joe. That looks like a cousin of one I had at one time. I did the usual things one does to a contractor saw and it turned out quite well. I might still have it if my dad hadn't been looking for a used saw about the same time a hybrid I'd been eyeing went on sale. My dad is now enjoying my old saw as I'm sure you will yours.

[Mike Langford]

Looks like you got a good deal Joe!

The style dado blade you got is called a "wobble dado" and because it wobbles from side to side the dado it produces has a rounded or crowned bottom and not real clean sides. Also because it wobbles it causes vibration......get yourself a stack dado.

Do you know the year of your saw? It looks like it's been well taken care of......

[Joe Hardesty]

Joe,

A table saw for $125 is worth a gloat in my book. Congrats and good luck!

[Roy McQuay]

Congrats on the saw. The dado is called a wobble dado and is just different. It is adjustable without removing from the saw. You just loosen the arbor nut and turn, or dial to the desired width. It is not for precision work since it doesn't make a flat bottom dado. It will have a slight crown in the center. Stacked dado's leave a flat bottom.

[scott spencer]

That's a fine starter saw Joe! Keep it tuned up and with the right blade, you should be able to cut anything with it. The nice thing about a saw like that is that you can upgrade just about anything on it you want or need to.

Be safe.

[Gary McKown]

...yours is several years younger than my old 1-hp 113.299040 which is still going strong after 37 years, as a right-side extension to my Griz 1023SL. I actually find myself tending to still use the Craftsman side for quick cuts, rather than cranking up the 3-hp monster. (Besides, I haven't yet made All of the requisite jigs to fit the Griz). BTW, if for any reason you need replacement parts (bearings or whatever), they likely are still available from either the Searsparts site or Ridgid.

Don't expect much from the wobble dado, though, unless you just want to butcher some wood. I'm sure you are aware that it (among other bad things) produces non-flatbottomed grooves.

My advice is to get a good blade(s) for it, like Forrest or Freud or ?. I know what it is like to spend nearly as much for a blade as you have in the saw, but believe me it is worth it. Take it from someone who suffered through Craftsman and similar-quality blades for too many years.

Second piece of advice is to get a link belt for it, and also machined pulleys if you can spare the change. I think Woodcraft still offers the complete kit for somewhat reasonable $.

[Anthony Anderson]

Yep, you bet you can gloat about your new saw. I believe that you got a very good deal on that saw. I have pretty much the same saw that you just bought, and it has worked great for me for the last 13 years. I upgraded the fence to the Align a Rip, recently installed a new Freud LU88 thin kerf blade, and upgraded the drive belt to a link belt. those three upgrades made a huge difference in the performance of the saw. I don't like the wobble dado blades either, I had one and pitched it. Keep an eye on Amazon and you can get a very nice Freud SD508 for around $120 when they have their sales. A good blade will make all of the difference in the world, so I would go with a good sale priced blade from Amazon and a link belt. Make sure you leave your guard on at all times, regardless of how many pics you see of guards removed, of course unless you are cutting dados, in that case you have to remove it,so be very careful. Always use push sticks that keep your hands away from the blade. I like the Grippper design although I don't have one. Always think safety, and try to think about how the cut will go before you make the cut. Congratulations on your saw. It will serve you well, and at a great price. Regards, Bill

[Von Bickley]

Joe,

Congrats on the saw.... I'm sure you will enjoy making sawdust with it. My personal opinion on wobble dado blades is "Toss It".:) :) :)

[Jim Becker]

Yes, you can absolutely gloat about an older Craftsman saw...congrats!

[Rick Moyer]

Congratulations Joe. I have a nearly identical saw as that one and it has been fine for me for a long time. Does anyone know how old it probably is? Mine was my fathers, but I don't know when he bought it.
Joe, if you keep that fence, put some velcro near the locking mechanism and the opposite pc on the yellow safety plug. Then when you shut the saw off, get in the habit of pulling the safety plug and sticking it on the fence velcro. It's a good safety tip to use.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats Joe! My first table saw was a Craftsman and it served me well for over 20 years. When the LOML bought me a new one, I passed it on to a friend along with the panel cutter and he's still using it for fixing up around the house! Great buy!

[Cody Colston]

Joe,

I had and used an identical saw to yours up until this past fall when I upgraded to a Grizzly. That saw will serve you well if you keep everything aligned.

Congratulations.

[Scott Brihn]

Joe,

I think you did very well picking up that saw for $125. Five years ago I sold what appears to be the same saw for $175.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

And not to worry about the wobble dado. I used one for years with great success. True the bottom of the dado might be slightly rounded but that is of no consequence except here the end of the dado might be visible. Any glue joint of the bottem of the dado is going to be cross grain or end grain so it doesn't matter.

[Calvin Crutchfield]

That was my first saw although Im not sure of the HP. I had great luck with it and at the time they had an upgrade fence for it that I installed and used it with much success.

I remember one of my first projects was a maple end grain butcher block. It cut plenty of hard maple just fine. My friend still has the saw and uses it occassionally.

Have fun and be safe

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats Joe. Those were decent saws. I had one that was the newer version and it wasn't as good as those older ones. Just becareful in the open webbing cast iron, I was constantly banging and hooking fingers in there. :)

Corey

[Joe Trotter]

Thanks for all the great comments, and tip's!

I forgot to mention it is a 113.298842, and the manual shows 4/91 print date.

I am looking forward to using it although that is at least 6 weeks out. I am restoring an old tractor, and it is spread out all over my garage. I have been waiting for a deal ,so I guess I can wait a little longer to cut some wood :)

[Ted Baca]

Joe that is the exact same saw I just sold when I got my new saw. I sold it to a buddy in Windsor. I got a lot of good years of service out of it. I had built a mobile base and added a Excalibur fence and the saw worked flawlessly. I beleive I have some trunnion adjusters for it if you are interested. The trunnion can be adjusted anyway but these actually have some adjusting screws that allow it to lock into position with out having it slide back when retightening the trunnion bolts. Of course before you buy them check the blade/miter slot for parallel as you may not need them. I had bought a set at the woodworking show and forgot I already had a set. You know the second thing to go is the memory>

[Dan Lee]

I had the same saw for 10 years and built a lotta nice stuff with it. I got better performance when I installed a link belt and a Biesmeyer fence.
Enjoy

BTW I gave mine to a friend and its still going strong

[Brian Dormer]

Congrats on the saw.

I used to have one VERY similar to that model (I think it was 1 3/4 hp - and the fence lockdown was a little different but otherwise identical - probably the consumer version). One bit of advice - check that the blade is square to the miter slots and the fence (use a dial gauge). I had a devil of a time keeping mine in tune - was never able to do much better than about .008 or so. Doesn't sound like much - but I burned lots of cuts and had a few close-call kickbacks because of it. I bought a new saw and traded the old for help in some plumbing work - the new owner says he has similar results - so it wasn't just me.

It was a good saw - but never a great saw. Maybe one of my trunions was bent - the thing got moved around alot.

Hope your experience is better.