Skil tablesaws, by Emerson, any good?
raybrowne
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
Someone passed a older Skil 8 1/4″ tablesaw along to me this weekend, portable unit, instruction manual indicated was made by Emerson, didn’t get a chance to see country of manufacture. I’d say the tool was at least 15-20 years old, perfect condition, clean, etc…2HP was the claim on the front of it. Anyone used these saws? Any opinions? The miter gauge looked like junk, decent looking rip fence. Something I should invest in a good blade, dado blade set, etc.. for? I’ve been using a older Craftsman workhorse with a great solid tabletop, been just lugging it on site and considering it exercise when it’s been needed, rarely actually have to bring the tablesaw along w/ me.
-Ray
Replies
Emerson Electric owns Skil.. Also Bosch and Insinkarator and a whole bunch of companies that need motors and relays and...........................
they also make craftman tablesaw.
I don't think so Larry
http://www.bosch.com/en/company/facts/struktur_1.htm.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Emerson does now lots of companies including Ridgit, Lousisville Ladder, Insinkerator, etc, etc.
But not Skill or Bosch which have the same parent companies.
And Emerson does make Craftsman anymore, but they did back 15-20 years ago.
I know Emerson owns Skil, I guess what I meant is that this appeared to be made by a Emerson factory, not like the recent Skil stuff that seems to be subcontracted out to a junk shop in Japan. I can't imagine any of the current Skil tools other than the 77 are anything but junk, the rpm and torque specs on the drills are terrible and the prices are at Ryobi levels. I guess the only way to determine if the saw is worthwhile is too buy some blade and put it to work..just figured someone might have had some experience with the Skil tablesaws from that era(1980s I'm guessing).
-Ray
I don't have any idea why Skil kept the 77 and put all of the industrial proudcts into the Bosch line, but it is purely marketing.
Bosch (and a number of simialr companies) really try to get the divisions separated. Here is the only link that I have seen that mentions the different groups.
http://www.boschtoolcareers.com/
Bosch, Skil, Dremel, and Vermont America.
They also own RotoZip.
A few years ago the they used to be called SB (Skil/Bosch) Power tools.
No, Emerson does not own Skil. Skil is owned by Bosch, which is in no way related to Emerson (who's parent company is Liebert). My brother has worked with them for a while and we have had discussions about the misconceptions that people have about Emerson's tools line.
To the original poster: I would buy a blade and find out if you like the saw. You can always use the blade in another 10" TS, or sell it on ebay.
Jon Blakemore
Emerson USED to make the Craftsman tablesaws, but I believe they now make the Rigid tablesaws you see at Home Depot. Sears dumped Emerson several years ago, so Emerson came out with the Rigid line, rather than let all the tooling and manufacturing equipment sit idle.
Look at the Rigid, take off the orange paint, and you have an older model Craftsman tablesaw.
BTW, I have a Craftsman contractor saw, which is mostly a POS, except I made it nice.
I added a Forrest WWII blade, about $109. Greatly improved the machine.
I threw away the original fence and put on a Biesemeyer. Best thing I've ever done.
Sure, the saw is a little underpowered, and cutting through thick stock like 8/4 maple is better done on something else, but the bright side is that the saw never kicks back. It doesn't have enough power! Safety feature?
After I added all the nice stuff, I figured I could have gotten a Delta for about the same price, and it come standard with nice stuff. Oh Well, it was my first major workshop purchase.