BT3100 or Craftsman 21805

[mzancz]

I just found this forum, and it as alot of really good information! I'm about to buy my first table saw and am trying to decide between the bt3100, or the craftsman 21805. I know you guys all love your ryobi's, but I need something more portable, and the craftsman has collapsable legs. I have read on here that most of the craftsmans fences are really bad, but haven't found any refrences to this particulart modle. The ryobi is on sale at home depot right now for $250, and the craftsman is on sale for $199. Price really isn't a concern, it's more of a space issue. I have a two car garage, but don't really have enough room to have a saw set up all the time. Plus I am only going to be doing small projects, like shelves, coffee tables, chair rail, nothing too crazy. If you guys were to say go with another saw that cost $300 but was better quality and still was kind of portable then I would go with that one. Does the ryobi's table break down at all, or once the saw is set up , thats about it? Any help would greatly be appreciated! Here is a link to the craftsman.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00921805000

[Knottscott]

I think you can do better than that particular Craftsman. For portability, the Porter Cable 3812 is priced reasonably at Amazon for $370 with free shipping if you choose it. Add to that their current Product Promotion code "PRESDAYS" at check out, and it's $320 delivered. Nice saw that sounds like it'll suit your needs well.

Items: $369.99
Shipping & Handling: $64.58
Shipping Savings: -$64.58
Promotion Applied: -$50.00

Total Before Tax: $319.99
Estimated Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $319.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013

[Ken Weaver]

Big question is how mobile to you need to have the saw. The BT can be moved around but that's not its forte. If you plan to leave it generally in the same spot, I'd spring for the BT. The craftsman setup seems to me (although I haven't seen it) to be shaky. I have my bt on a mobile base so I can move it around the shop (HTC/Woodcraft base), but I don't toss it in the back of the truck to take it to a job site or anything.

[bakufthanek]

Hey, first post here. I've been shopping and comparing for several weeks now too. I've made the trip back and forth from sears to HD. I've noticed that the craftsman 21829 looks very simialar to the BT3100. I crawed under both and they appear to be identical as far as belt drive, table top, the smt, etc. with an exception to the fold up stand of course. Is it possible that these are basically the same saw? The BT is $200 less expensive and has a better warranty. I was looking at that $199 craftsman also but after noticing this, it makes me think that its a lesser quality saw if the $400 saw is comparable to the BT. ya follow me...?

[bakufthanek]

A link to the craftsman....

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00921829000

[RmeDad]

"BT3200" if you will....not available as a Ryobi product.

[thestinker]

I would think that unless you need to fold the base up and store the saw under a work bench or something that the craftsman base wouldn't benifit you much. It doesn't look to stable to me. For less than 50 bucks you can get a mobile base for the bt and then you can wheel it where you want it. Then when you need it, you have a more soilid base than the craftsman. But I haven't actualy used the craftsman, it just doesn't seem that solid to me.

[mpc]

Another idea to consider: skip the factory BT3100 stand, make one of your own - go through the some of the portable saw stands posted by others on this site. That gives you wheels for portability, a couple drawers and shelves for storing saw accessories, etc. The net space won't be much larger than the Sears saw in the end and it'll be far more stable to use. Unfortunately right now the "articles" section of the site is still in transistion... the archive of all sorts of very good, clever, and useful ideas including the stands isn't available yet.

The BT3000 version of the saw (earlier model) came with a box shaped set of legs, rather than the splayed legs of the BT3100. It's very easy to build a wood box inside these legs although you can just make a solid wood box and not use any legs too. Find a set of casters that lock - find the type that lock both the wheel AND the caster portion for the best stability. Rockler and Woodcraft carry several varieties; Woodcraft often has them on a buy-3-get-1-free sale too.

That's what I've done with my saw to fit in a 2-car garage that also has the washer & dryer and water heater taking up space. No problem fitting 2 cars in the garage every night.

mpc

[mpc]

Heres a photo of what I put together a while ago based on ideas picked up from this site since the articles aren't available yet. Nowhere near as fancy as those that inspired me; I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew though being a woodworker rookie. My saw is one of the original 13-amp BT3000s which came with the square-box leg set.

The idea for building the box inside the BT3000 legs is based on Norm Haven's article although I simplified mine a bit. The drawers just rest on quarter inch panels and can open from either side of the saw... makes it easy to grab the blade/throat tools from either side of the saw. Blades store in vertical compartments on either end. I'm using the casters from the accessory kit, with a couple washers tilting them - again as Norm posted. The factory castor set requires you to wheelbarrow the saw to move it; adding washers makes the casters tip closer to the ground so you don't have to lift the other end as high. Really simple, really helpful idea from this site. (thanks Norm) I made 3 deep drawers because mine also store the router bits, dovetail jig, etc. Not visible in the picture: I added a piece of sheet metal between my wood box and the bottom of the saw, shaped like a funnel, to catch sawdust and allow a shop vac to clean it out. Norm and Jim Frye posted originals to this idea.

Another smart idea (Jim Dwight's idea, and I didn't use it though I considered it) to make saw cleanout and maintenance easy: mount the saw to the stand with a piano hinge along the left side. To stiffen the saw body, mount the saw to a panel of plywood or MDF with a big square hole in the center (for cleanout/maintenance access) and mount the panel to the piano hinge.

You can see the black pipes I use as the wheelbarrow handles (lifting by the saw rails is not recommended) from JP Honeywell's article on this site. They slide in/out inside those "U" bolts visible along the front.

mpc

[JimD]

The Craftsman you are looking at seems to be essentially a modification of the BT3100. There is another post on this website where an individual is asking for pictures of stands others have built. Rod Kirby's is a nice simple stand that would give you mobility, stability when you are using the saw, and some drawers to store blades and other things you will need for the saw.

Jim

[Salty]

The folding stand is an interesting concept but looking at it closer it looks like it would be wobbley. I wouldn't want to try to cut a full sheet of ply on the thing.
Looks like maybe Ryobi has made a new saw for sears and put it on a stand that looks like it is on steroids!

[MattMcC]

BT3100 v. Craftsman 21829

Hi guys. I've been doing the same back and forth on these two saws. but today was able to get my hands around the Craftsman stand. YES, it is VERY wobbly. I check the bolts to see if loose; it all looked well-tightened up. It did not compare with the more robust tubular aluminum frame of the bosch it was sitting next to. I was very bummed out by it because there are aspects of the craftsman saw I liked (slotted accessory table, mitre, non-ribbed table top, metal cranks, color and of course the mobility and storage) and I was in a position to walk away with one for less than the BT3100 + Accessory pack. Between current sale, new sears credit card discount and the fact that the manager was going to allow me to claim I could squeeze one corner of the box into one of those president day sale red bags (for 10% more off) , it looked like the ticket. I just cant get by the stand.

So I am back on the fence trying to decide if I just jump in with the 3100 and a herculift now on sale at HD for 29.99 or perhaps find something used at a higher price point.

[Salty]

If you really like the saw, buy it and put it on a better stand. Then put a Herc-u-lift under it and sell the other stand.
You just won't be able to stand it up in the corner. I'm not convinced that is a good idea anyway. Looking at the pictures of the saw standing on end, it would appear that the amount of space is only about half of what the BT3100 takes up.
IMHO!

[LinuxRandal]

I have the BT3100 and looked at buying just that stand (still would like one). My local Sears, doesn't even come close to having it set up right, it is even missing one of the feet, so the whole thing wobbles. Use the search engine and find the previous discussions on these. There was one person who bought one and has been happy with it (don't remember who).

[mzancz]

What about the 21806?

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...cat=Table+Saws