scroll saw

[laidback66]

I just purchased a brand new crafts man scroll saw..its 18 inch, with front controls and the foot pedal..very nice saw...was just wondering if any one else has tried the craftsman..ive had a delta, and a dremmel...both wore out in about 4 yrs...just wondering how durable the crafts man might be..it came with a 2yr replacement warranty...so atleast i know im good for 2 yrs anyway...thanks..tony

[William Young]

What model is it?
Craftsman has some junk tools and some good ones . Usually the higher priced stuff is better but certainly not always. Some of their highest priced tools are grossley overpriced and not worth taking home. That is why they are able to put tools on sale at half price occasionaly to bring them down to the same price as the same tool with a different brand name sold elsewhere at the "real" price. They have already made a killing on the ones previous sold at ridiculous high prices and have also paid off the expense of their thick , color catalogs that they keep mailing out .
W.Y.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Tony

I do not own one and never scrolled on one but from past reviews their saws fit into the same line you already had. They are prone to vibration, and the motors are not top rated. But if you got a good price then who are we to say you did bad. You can google amazon and get written reviews if you would like. It is not a heavy duty saw but depends on how much you use it, it is hard to tell how long it will last.

[ndtroll]

I had an 20" Craftsman Professional series saw about 3 years ago. It had some vibration, but the biggest drawback for was the blade system..... I thought changing the blades was a bit awkward. The knobs to tighten were on the left side and I was not used to that.... shortly thereafter I switched to the DeWalts.

[Kenobi]

Tony-
I've had my Craftsman 18" saw for about a year and a half. It seems very durable and well built to me. Some vibration, but I've put a carpet between the saw and the table and that seems to help. My biggest problem is the blade changing. The bottom blade clamp is hard for me to tighten when I feed the blade form the top, so I've become a bottom feeder. This works well when my piece is 8X10 or a little larger. But when I do an 11X14 it becomes very hard to thread the blade from the bottom because the saw head gets in the way. For some of the holes that I can't reach easily enough from the bottom I have to feed from the top. The clamps also don't always hold the blade perfectly up and down so there is sometimes some blade wobble. I guess I've learned to live with these issues. I do like the teflon table and the controls are located in areas easy to reach. Have fun with your new saw!

Ray

[pops-shop]

I have had two of them. Took both of them back. That's why I really liked the 2-year replacement warrenty. Maybe I was just using them too much. Liked them while they worked, though.