Rant: My $40 estate sale table saw fence clamped on crooked and ruined 6 boards

I was at a garage sale in Akron last weekend and picked up this old Craftsman table saw for $40. Thought I scored big. Got it home, set it up, and tried to rip some oak for a shelf. The fence clamped down at a slight angle every time no matter how careful I was. Ruined 6 boards before I grabbed a square and saw the gap. Took the whole thing apart and found the rail was bent from someone dropping it. Now I'm out the cash and lumber. Has anyone else had a cheap old tool turn out to be more trouble than it's worth?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_campbell15d ago

ruined 6 boards" cmon man that's like $30 of oak at most. You knew it was a gamble when you paid 40 bucks for a rusty table saw at some dude's garage sale. A bent rail is pretty obvious if you just eyeball it before you even plug the thing in. Sounds like you skipped the basic inspection and just went for it. Lesson learned but let's not act like this is some huge tragedy.

jakeb254d ago

Honestly, @evan_campbell, this is just like when people buy a used car and act shocked it needs new tires - we skip the basic checks because we want the deal to be real, then blame the tool instead of admitting we got excited.

samwalker15d ago

$30 for oak? Where are you buying oak at, @evan_campbell? A single decent board of red oak is like $8-$10 at my local lumber yard. Six boards is closer to $50 or $60. But that's not even the point. You're telling me a guy who paid $40 for a rusty table saw is gonna spot a bent rail by "eyeballing it"? Half of us can't even see straight after staring at a garage sale for twenty minutes.