posted by: bais1
11/20/2008

I bought this saw almost 2 years ago on "Black Friday" after Thanksgiving at $799! I had looked at much bigger and pricier saw like the Powermatic and the Unisaw but for what I do, furniture and lighter stuff, I couldn't justify the price. I'm now glad I didn't because the saw is a real honey. It will go through 8/4 oak with a thin kerf Freud rip blade like butter. The Beisey "commercial" fence is in itself a $400 item! It works like a dream and have used it a lot even for ripping "2 by" stock to make a deck on my house. The fit and finish are excellent. The only think I had to do was chase out the threaded holes in the top with a tap in order to attach the extensions. These needed some shimming but it was not very difficult. With he money I saved I bought a Bosch compound miter saw and still came in for less money than any of the 3 hp cabinet saws.

posted by: Theo98
5/2/2008

The industry calls the Craftsman 22124 a "Hybrid"...a cross between the very common light duty contractor saws vs the heft, power and stability of the full cabinet saws. Make no mistake, this saw is MUCH closer to it's big brothers than to a contractor saw. It shares all the positives of the big cabinet saws except the extra muscle (1.75 vs 3 to 5 hp) and higher prices (club sale of $900)!Well, after carefully researching the other hybrids on the market (Jet-Delta-General-Grizzly-Steel City), I choose the Craftsman! It had many useful features I wanted: [110 volt operation, out feed table, quick release guard\splitter assembly, miter gauge holdown\crosscut fence, laminate side table, large cabinet door, wide 18" rip left of blade, very nice Leitz 40T blade, weight and heft close to 3hp cabinet saws, excellent Biesemeyer T-square Fence system, small cabinet footprint, and "Cabinet" mounted Trunnions]. Besides the loaded extras, it just Looks real nice too!It was very well packaged, wrapped in a shroud of 1" tubular steel. Assembly could have taken me about 3-4 hours, but I used a whole day, enjoying the process and ensuring that each step was done right the first time. Happy to see All parts present and from the cast tables to the cabinet itself, materials were well wrapped with no damages noted. The cast side tables mated near perfect to the main table, but the extra laminate table has a 1\16" bow to it...will have to get it replaced. After installing the front\back rails and the guide tube, found the Biesemeyer fence was slightly catching the lip of the miter slots towards the lock-down knob (front of saw). I had no more adjustment up on the front rail, so added a "1\4" washer shim" to the fences riding pads, now all okay. The table was perfectly square to the blade and the fence was a breeze to square to the miter slots. Machine tolerances are tight, table flatness an acceptable .002", arbor runout at .001". The completed assembly looks great and feels Very Solid, just like a good 450# cabinet saw should!In operation, there is very little vibration as the saw Easily passes the start\stop nickel test (using 1957 and 1955 worn coins...not an easy test). It runs relatively quiet (80db at table), with no need for ear plugs unless cutting wood stock. How does it cut...Don't know Yet, just got it set up. I've installed a Forest Woodworker II, a blade that has served me Extremely well these past 10 years, so I'm sure the saw is going to be a dream to use. I'll be making a storage chest and will be soon testing it on some oak hardwood...I'll report back later!With the features\quality\value it offers, I feel it was the Best Buy of the HYBRID Bunch!Theo

posted by: ffhair
4/15/2008

I've been a bit concerned about the accuracy of Craftsman saws, but found this was made by Steel City. With a sale price and a Beismeyer fence, it seemed to be a great deal, and it is. Get help smarter than me to assemble the beast! I could have rated it 5 if the wings had bolted up flat on the first try. A call to Sears (quick, friendly, helpful) suggested a shimming process that worked just fine.The saw is accurate and reliable. I'll need to find a new set of excuses for mistakes....

posted by: Knotscott
2/9/2008

Best in class of the 110v saws. It'd take a full blown 3hp cabinet to get a more substantial machine. 425# of stability, excellent Biesemeyer commercial fence, very good Leitz stock blade, easy to align cabinet mounted trunnions, laminate extension table, 44" of cast iron surface, fold up outfeed table, efficient serptentine drive belt, good DC from the enclosed cabinet, and miter gauge fence with hold down clamp. It has plenty of power for a homeshop environment and is a joy to use....works well with good thin kerf blades. Frequent discounts make it available for much less than the MSRP.