[2 of 6 customers found this review helpful]

Craftsman Professional 10 in. Table Saw Review

Nice saw but

"I bought this saw in October 2006, after much deliberation. It had good reviews from every source I could find, and the combination of features on this hybrid saw are a great value for the money. The HD trunnion assembly is cabinet-mounted like the 3HP cabinet saws out there for more money, but it runs on 110v making it a nice option for a basement shop. It has cast iron extension wings, a nice fold-up outfeed table, decent blade guard, and good capacity with over 13 in front of the blade, 30 right rip capacity (actually about 31.5), 18 left rip capacity, and an AWESOME Beisemeyer Commercial Fence System, which once adjusted, you can set and forget. I can set mine on a measurement desired, rip the board, and not even have to measure as I know its right on. The 1.75 HP motor has plenty of power and it handles sheet stock or hardwood smoothly. The blade arbor had less than 0.001 runout and the arbor flange face runout was also less than 0.001. It passes the nickel test easily (stand a nickel on edge on the table, turn on the saw, and it doesnt fall over), and it even passes the penny test (sometimes). After adding a crosscut sled, Im able to cut base cabinet side panels from sheet stock down to finish size (roughly 24 x 31) quickly and accurately without using any other tools. The 90 and 45 degree blade stop screws are conveniently located and accessed in the table top, and the fence storage hooks and on/off buttons are nice touches also. All in all, this saw packages a lot of pricier cabinet saw value in a hybrid design with quality features for a good price. After getting the saw up and running and dialed in, Im extremely happy with its performance.



However, the getting the saw up and running part did not make me happy at all. From what research Ive been able to do, this saw is manufactured in China by Orion, and even though the design of this saw is pretty solid for the most part, the quality and consistency of its manufacturing and assembly processes still have a lot of room for improvement. Issues I had (and in some cases still do) are as follows:



1 of 4 trunnion screws loose, allowing play between blade cradle and trunnion end brackets. Once tightened, and after installing a blade, I found the mitre groove (and saw table) out of alignment to the blade by 0.010. Ive since adjusted to less than 0.001.



The table top had a hump near blade opening at about the center of the blade which I had to stone out. Its still high in the middle on the back side of the blade by approx. 0.005-0.007, but I havent worked on this because Ive got it flat from the cutting area forward, so its not impacting my cuts. But I did have to do considerable work to get a crosscut square to the table. This was compounded by the fact that the worm and eccentric for adjusting the blade angle had a lot of slop, allowing the blade angle to continually change (I ordered warranty replacements which should help in the future). Once I adjusted this, I still had problems due to the Leitz blade supplied. It wouldnt hold true, and I believe it warps as it heats up the expansions slots are extremely small. I complained at the store and they sent me a replacement, but I havent tried it yet because I had to buy another brand blade to keep my cabinets going while the replacement was shipped. (The problem finally went away after all of my adjustments and the blade replacement but it cost me two nights work!)



The stock miter gage is OK, but the screws that are used as positive stops dont locate the pivoting head well enough to maintain square cuts. You cant set them, move the gage head and then move it back and expect reliable angles. Also, the aluminum extension fence for the gage is not perfectly flat, so it mis-locates boards depending on their length. I had to remove it to get a repeatable square cut. Ill probably just scrap it and buy an aftermarket brand precision miter gage.



The dust port screws stripped out the first time I tried to install them, so I had to use oversize screws.



The Beisemeyer fence is awesome, except the faces are about 0.004-6 out of flat (with no option for adjustment or shimming to make flat or square to the table), and the extension table supplied was warped about 1/16 in the middle. I had a replacement shipped via warranty and the replacement was even worse.

The table wings were not flat. One is about 0.005 low in the center, the other about 1/32. I had warranty send a replacement, and when I received the new one, it had a 1/8 sag or bow in the middle completely scrap. Im living with the originals for now, but Im not done pursuing this one to my satisfaction yet. Ive read other reviews talking about dead flat tables and extensions but Ive certainly not seen them. Surface grinding cast iron isnt rocket science and it should be easy to produce flat surfaces, unless the metal isnt allowed to fully cool or cure or it warps during or after grinding. At any rate, it should never be allowed to ship out in such a condition. This is a very basic manufacturing quality control practice that obviously is lacking in many cases.



The fold-up outfeed table is nice, but the holes were not in the right location on the support bracket, causing it to sit below the table top. I re-drilled the pivot hole in the proper location and then shimmed up the hinges with washers and now it works great.



Bottom line this is a great saw by design with its combination of features, and its working quite well now, not at all due to as shipped factory quality, but due entirely to the days Ive spent (and 3 trips back to Sears to order warranty replacement parts) getting it working right and Im still not done. I gave it a 3 overall, splitting the difference between a 5 for design and a 1 for delivered quality. Even though I now love the saw and its working well, Im not sure Id go through it again. However, once the manufacturing quality improves so the product is made to design standards, I would heartily recommend this saw since it is capable of performing quite well if made correctly."