Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Anyone familiar with Craftsman Table Saws

In my Jr. High Industrial Arts class, a girl managed to rip off her thumb on a circular buffer. She was trying to polish a necklace.

That was pretty horrifying.

A hitchhiking lifestyle choice totally thrown away.

Or a star turn in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Thanks again all.

I'm pretty limited as far as brand names go here. Nearest Steel City or Grizzly dealer I can find is in Ontario. You used to find a lot of Delta stuff around these parts but they seem to have all but disappeared except for some sturdy but overly rusty looking used models I've come across. Makes me wonder if Delta also had a problem with table rust but of course it could just be coincidental.

I noticed last night the Ridgid R4512 is no longer listed on Home Depot's web sight. I then later happened to come across a post on a woodworking forum where a person noticed the same and called HD and was told HD is getting out of the floor model tool business. They will stock contractor style, portables only. Certainly, they would be the most popular buy.

This presents a dillema for me though. There is one left at my local store and they do not plan to have a clearance sale on it that they knew of. I offered to free up their floor space with it if I could get a discount after mentioning the rumor I heard and they confirmed the rumor but wouldn't budge. It's $642 and thus a bit over the limit I set for myself but do I risk missing out on the last one? I also admit, I absolutely hate and suck at bartering.

My dilemma may seem silly to folks living in more populated areas but it's a tougher choice due to my geography. I'm thinking now it's definitely my best choice in name brands for PEI and my 'used' hunt has been two months ongoing without great luck. The next nearest HD (or any TS vendor of any worth) is a four hour drive away including a 45$ bridge toll so the gas and tolls have to be factored into the equation.

What to do, what to do??

Murph, that granite-topped saw came out just after I bought my iron-topped saw. Initial reports were a little rough, with some chips in the granite, missing pieces in the box, etc. That was several years ago. I used to hang out on a Ridgid forum and I also remember that those who got a saw with an undamaged top, etc. liked it very much.

If Googling for info gives you the impression that Ridgid got through those "new-model blues", I'd say go for it. IIRC, your budget was $500 and this isn't that much more. I'm a little older than you, but my feeling at this point is that if I buy a good quality tool now, I'll be using it for 20 years if not the rest of my life. So why not spend a little more to get above the minimum and have a saw that you enjoy using...rather than one that frustrates you with shortcomings?

Thanks Mark,

The 4512 is back to being a cast iron top, so no worries about the granite. I read lots of complaints about the granite models as well.

Nice. That shows I haven't kept up with the model changes.

Maybe something along these lines is occurring in the Maritime Provinces and you can help out a bit?

Remember, too, that all HD tools come with a lifetime warranty. My return experience was full replacement. They didn't even want to know why or how it failed. They just told me to go pick out a new one.

HD tools have a lifetime warranty? Never heard about that. I know Rigid offers one if you send in the proper paper work.

I have the larger portable Rigid TS and it does the job very well, a reasonably sturdy fence and once set it up stays true. I hope to make a tablesaw station one day to mount it into for larger projects.

Jason, I was using HD and Ridgid interchangably, since it is HD's signature brand.

The downside to "It's broken, gimme a new one," is that, sometimes, you're back with the "new one," 'cause it crapped out in 1/2 the time your first one did.

I'm over their lithium drills, but that's a battery/battery contact design flaw that doesn't apply to their 15 amp stuff, which has all held up very well.