Latest reviews about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

PBW3 says "Awesome saw for the money!" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

PBW3 — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:16:38 GMT

There are a TON of bandsaws on the market, but I shopped around for 2 years before buying one. I am a serious decoy carver and all my buddies have saw that were 2 to 3 times more than this, but do the same thing basically. It was easy to put together if you have any mechanical inclination and I was using it within an hour of opening the box.

First, the blade it comes with is HORRIBLE so before you put it together get yourself some good blades. Timberwolf are ALL I use. For the cost of a $25 blade, this machine will as good as any other machine out there.

The tension adjustment is great and I recomend letting the tension off the blade every time your done using it.

I also recomend getting a table cover for it because my table had surface rust after the first summer of using it. I keep it clean but the weather in my garage got to it I guess.

I gave it a 4 because few things are a 5, but this is very close. If you consider I got this on sale for $350ish and there are similar saws out...

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Norksy4652 says "Not worth it, piece of junk!" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

Norksy4652 — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:22:32 GMT

I've used the bandsaw for maybe a half an hour total time over the last 3 years and the motor has already died. The capacitor blew, the shop said the motor was bad already, Sears would do nothing for me, except sell me a new one. I would NEVER buy another Craftsman powertool again.

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hdrock says "Nice Saw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

hdrock — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:28:56 GMT

I replaced my 14 inch Jet 14 inch band saw with this one , and it is much nicer, smoother running saw.

Guide adjustments better, also.

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woodworkeria says "The Good and the Bad in a band saw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

woodworkeria — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:13:11 GMT

Had the band saw now for a good month and I do like it. Ill start with the pros... It was easy to switch the motor from 120V to 240V. It has good power and cuts well. I resawed red oak, Cherry, Maple, and Cedar to this point. They verried from a few inches to six inch resaw and it cut smoothly through all the woods. Now for the cons.. The manual is really bad and causes you to fill in the blanks a lot! The light on the unit is a joke. It will not really stay in place and seems to get in the way more than it helps. They should have just left it out. Adjusting the table at first is very hard. The fence that come with it has to be moved left or right to cut pieces longer than six inches if you want to use the fence. I was concerned about the blade length as well since 99.5 inches is not standard for a 14inch band saw. You can purchase blades from Sears. I purchase blades from Carter Products as well, so getting a good blade 99.5 inches now and in the future should not be an issue. I also read...

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kharvey says "great bandsaw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

kharvey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:54:52 GMT

Great saw for the price. Ball bearing guides with cast iron table

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stipes says "I love this bandsaw.." about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

stipes — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:50:31 GMT

I searched the web along time and compared and finally decide this is the one...I bought it on sale with the 15% off and it was instock at the local Sears...Saved me a alot of money in shipping.... I been lookin at alot of the c-frames type saws and after you have to buy a rizer kit for more re saw hight,,,change out the blade guides to a roller bearing type,,you end up spending alot of money to up grade,,what I love about this Craftsman. Oh,,,the larger table is a big plus too!!! I noticed this saw was almost the exact copy as the Rikon 10-320 except the fence is included with the Craftsman model,, and the Craftsman also has a bigger re-saw cap...The instructions can be alittle bit better written,,but anyone with any mech. skills,,it wasnt that hard to put together...The roller bearings for the guides,,and the micro adjustment is sweet....I re sawed some red oak and formed some blanks,,and made some bandsaw boxes from them...If you take time and really tune this saw in you will be suprised...

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bdupholstering says "You can do better" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

bdupholstering — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:09:24 GMT

Am a Craftsman hand tool fan but stay away from their power tools. I replaced a 25 year old Craftsman band saw that was destroyed in a fire with this one. Wish I had the old one back. Thie 224010 14" looked like a good machine for the price but lots of problems.Replacing the blades is a pain in the but and I can only buy them online. The quality on these blades is inferrior and you have to buy them from sears. The manual leaves much to be desired. Assembly is the worst. The angle adjustment is haphazard at best. The resaw should be higher. The positioning of the light is a JOKE! Should take it back but that would be a real chore. Save your money.

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Anonymous says "14" Band Saw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:00:07 GMT

Purchased new band saw to replace older Craftman band saw. Boy oh boy--wrong decision. The new saw is of lesser quality, thinner materials and lighter weight. I also found the same with the radial saw and table saw which I replaced at the same time. If I could I would buy back the older machines, spend the same amount the new ones cost and have them rebuilt. I have a complete wood shop and always need accurate cuts--not possible now. Buy the heaviest machines, even it they cost more....

toolbubba99 says "4 Stars because of the manual" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:45:06 GMT

As noted in some of the other reviews the manual instructions are not as understandable as they should be and are incorrect relative to the lower blade guides. 1. M8x45 hex bolt installs in rear of talbe on the bottom and supports the table by bearing on the lower housing. It shows in some of the pictures but i is not referenced. 2. Lower gudie roller (left and right) are adjusted by loosening the rear set screws - difficult to get to and seat the hex wrench. Once loosened they adjust easily. The microadjusters only adjust the distance between the gullet and the left/right rollers and the rear guide gap. 3. Table was not aligned to blade but following the manual instruction to loosen lower trunnions it was able to be adjusted dead center of the insert and trued both diretiions with the blade. So much for the aggravating part. Fence is true vertically and horizontally and slides easily and accurate. I initially allowed both washers to get between the carrier and fence where the knobs......

Dedvw says "Good saw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:15:07 GMT

I've used many commercial brand band saws- Delta, Jet, and Lagunas so this is not my first time behind a band saw.If you wait for this saw to go on sale (and it usually does), it can be one heck of a deal. Plenty of power to cut through hardwoods (Mahogany and White Oak). and I actually prefer to use the bandsaw to rip frames for boatbuilding (much less wood wasted). While not as clean as a tablesaw, it serves the purpose very well and leaves a fairly smooth surface. The resaw capacity is just is closer to 8 1/8" and beleive it or not that 1/8" has come in handy a couple times. This has been a great bandsaw that has seen lots of work without any issues. Things I'm not crazy about- removing and adjusting the blades can be time consuming but gets easier with practice. The blade sizes are not standard but luckly my store does carry them (and Sears has always been very good about finding parts for their equipment). I do question their quality control a bit. Mine does not vibrate and runs very......

LarryJr says "disappointed" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:30:06 GMT

I had high hopes for this product... and was fairly satisfied for a few weeks. Then the novelty left. First, it was not the easiest to assemble but patience will help everyone. Second, the owners manual leaves much to be desired and the parts listing is less than acceptable. Third, the bearings are an ongoing problem - there have been 4 that have come apart in a few months! Last but not least, this saw states it has 8" resaw capability... let's just say good luck. Perhaps someday Sears will make some changes that will allow this product to resaw - at this time please do not buy one anticipating successful resawing. Treat it as a beginner product and you will be fine - expecting 'professional' I am disappointed....

woodpeg says "14" Bandsaw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:15:04 GMT

This saw looks and sounds like a good deal, but look closely. I have had one for a little more than a year and would love to sell it back to Craftsman. Wood magazine disqualified this machine in testing for too much vibration. I found you can only buy a 99 3/4" blade from Sears. Blade replacement is a easy hour to realign every thing. You get what you pay for....

RonD1 says "14" Bandsaw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:45:05 GMT

Very Nice! I really like it. I read some reviews that complained about the fence being difficult. I did not find that to be the case. It is made so that you can mount it on either side of the blade and square it up with the table and blade. I thought it worked out pretty well....

1catsmokie says "14" Craftsman Bandsaw" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:30:06 GMT

For the dollars I guess it isn't so bad, I bought this saw due to a tool rating from a woodworking mag. I need a higher resaw height, the machine itself isn't so bad. The thing that were not mentioned was all of the misalignment of parts and the poor stand that made this top heavy, the so-so rip fence,but some other bought items it is alittle better. If you want this for quick turn over this isn't your saw, if you have time for change over then it isn' so bad.putzing AS THE SAYING GOES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! not to happy...

Oldnavy says "My .02" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:00:03 GMT

I've only had this saw for a couple of weeks and can tell that it will be more than enough to fill my needs. That said, it does have it's problems to deal with. No matter what adjustments I make, I can't get the table to square up correctly to allow the blade to pass through the center of the guard hole. It runs very, very close to one edge and I'm going to have to come up with some sort of spacers or something to adjust the table. The only word I can use to describe the fence system is awful. The fence is hard to put back on once removed and is a pain to move to use on the other side of the blade. Also, the scale is a full 1/4" off with not nearly that much adjustment in the table to refine it. Again, I'll end up using spacers to set the fence properly. I built my own stand for this saw out of 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood with 4X4 braces and locking casters. I'm 6'6" tall and this not only helps move the saw around, but brought it more up to my level for easier working. Someone mentioned not......

MRT1 says "4 stars" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:15:02 GMT

Nice saw for the price! The assembly instructions and instruction manual however are poorly written (as with all of my Craftsman products). Assembly instructions are out of sequence and adjustments are incorrect. Just one example; the manual instructs the user to adjust the lower blade guides by turning the micro adjusting screws. You will find that there are no micro adjusting screws on the lower blade guides; only on the uppers. Another example; you will find after using the assembly instructions that you have a bolt (M8 X 45) and nut (M8) left over. The bolt and nut are to be installed under the table for squaring the table to the saw blade in the right and left position. When assembling the cabinet stand ignore the jiberwash paragraphs and just look at the parts diagram....

Southwest says "Very Poor Support" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:45:11 GMT

It is a very good saw over all. However the retail stores carry no parts nor blades. All blades must be ordered on line. The three pack was suppose to be in store, but never is. Had the product for a year. Bottom bearing froze, due to saw dust. They are not sealed. The center disk which the blade pass through is hard rubber, not steel. It also boke. Try find band saw in the parts catagories. It doesn't exists. Very tough to get parts....

JPintucson says "4 stars" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:45:34 GMT

The saw overall is a bargin. I give it a 4 star rating. The major draw backs are the blade guides with their tricky micro adjusting features, the high cost of replacement blades,and the fence mounting arrangement. The owners manual and operating instructions are very skimpy and need improvement. It's not easy to remount the fence once you have to remove it. The saw begs for a better fence arrangement. Although the price would go up some, a blade tensioning feature would really be a major plus....

Frank0 says "Tensioner mechanism problems" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:45:12 GMT

I bought the 14" saw to use for some resawing. After buying a custom length resaw blade I cranked up the tension to the top end and gave it a try. After about two dozen uses (tensioning and untensioning the blade each use), I noticed the tensioner getting hard to turn and took it apart to see what was causing the problem. Turns out that at the high end of the tension scale you can over drive the tensioner screw into one of the fixed supports and if you try to tension past this point the threads on the tensioner bolt strip since the bolt can no longer travel past this point. Probably not a problem if you do not need the tension of a resaw blade. I contacted Craftsman via email to see if this was a known problem but have not heard back yet. I have since fixed the problem myself. For normal sawing the saw should be ok but beware if you need the high tension of a resaw blade....

wtesh says "Just bought it" about Craftsman Professional 1 hp 14" Band Saw (22401)

sears-feed — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:45:09 GMT

I want to thank all the previous reviewers of this bandsaw. The info I got from them really did help in making my decision to buy this bandsaw. A few things I would like to add are, use a ramp to get this saw from the truck to the ground, and the wheel set from Sears is really great. I was really impressed with the ease of assembly of the wheel set, and its ability to resize itself to what ever is needed. All four sides will adjust to fit this saw base. At 230+ pounds, this saw is too heavy to try to slide around without wheels. It took about 4 hours to assemble by myself, but it was pure pleasure time. I found that using 2 small 6 inch pieces of 4x4 raised the saw up off the floor just enough to put the wheel platform under it, and they fit between the wheels. A rope over a rafter helped balance it. I looked at all the bandsaw reviews under $1000, and by pure luck Sears had this one on sale for $475 with 20% off just when I was ready to buy it, and I got 20% off the wheels that were on......