Rockwell RK7241S Table Saw with Laser

I don't write many reviews, but this table saw deserves one. If for nothing more than the fact that it doesn't have enough as is. So before I begin, I must preface this review letting you know that I'm upgrading from a $100 Craftsman that I've been using for about 12 years. I am a DIY, weekend warrior type, so not a professional by any means. My budget was also not large enough to spend on a cabinet saw, so that left me in the "contractor" arena of table saws. So onto the review... The table setup was super simple. Lifted it out of the box, flipped it on end, lowered the legs, and set it upright. The knobs that lock the legs in place, just take a half twist to unlock, and then when you begin opening the legs, you give them another half twist to allow them to lock into place once the legs are open. The first thing that you will notice is that with the exception of the manual and dust bag, there is nothing left to pull out of the box. That's because everything is attached to the saw in its own place, including a spot for blades, tools, fence, push stick, shield, and miter. Next was opening the extension. Just press the little spring loaded clip and open the extension. I saw one mention in my research where someone questioned the extension hinge. This was a point of question for me, but not anymore. One, the hinge seems decent, especially knowing that you won't put hardly any weight on that area. Here's the thing. The extension table sits almost 1/2" lower than the main table, and this is by design. For most materials, they are thick enough that the extension is not needed for support. It's mainly there for the fence. However, if you are running something thin through and want a bit of support, then there is a support bar that you can attach to the fence that would give you this extra bit of support. What else is nice about the extension being lower is that it will reduce drag on any material that you are running through the saw. So for these reasons, I'm not concerned about the hinge at all at this point. Blade installation was next. The throat plate is a tool free plate that just pops out and back in. This is good and bad, in my opinion. The good is that it's really easy to pull out to replace the blade and to install/remove the riving knife or shield. The bad, in my opinion, is that I was hoping to build/buy a zero clearance insert. With this design, I'm not sure yet how or if that will be possible. So after I got the plate removed I just used the 2 wrenches that came with the saw to install the blade. Not much to say here, other than it was nice and easy, especially compared to my old Craftsman. While I had it open, I also installed the riving knife. There is a lever behind the blade that you just flip to loosen the clamp-style mount for the knife or shield. Just slip in the one you want and lock the lever. After that, I popped in the throat plate and was ready to go. I then set up the fence. When I received it, the fence was not perfectly parallel to the blade. In fact, it was about 1/16" tighter at the back. The nice thing is that this is completely adjustable. I made my adjustments, and it's perfect now. The fence slides reasonably well along the rail, clamps tight, and holds solid. You can also adjust the "window" that shows you your measurement to make it as accurate as possible. There is also the ability to adjust the tightness of the clamp. Neither was necessary to adjust. The laser was next to be set up. I installed the included batteries, and that was that. The switch is just to the left of the main power, so it's easy to flip on when you flip the other. I am kind of surprised that the laser requires batteries when it could have been just as easy to tie it into the table power. Either way, it's easy to flip on and off. As for the function of the laser, the jury is still out. Basically it shines a laser line on the surface of the table, and not the wood itself. This may be ok, but it appears to me that the line is just too close to the front of the table so it may be a trick to use for larger pieces. One other thing to note is that the laser is not adjustable. I did not test to see how perfectly aligned it was, but it did appear pretty accurate. All in all, it's something to advertise, but I doubt that I will ever use it much at all. The out feed support is a really nice addition for me. Always used rollers or saw horses in the past to accomplish this, and now those aren't required. Not much else to say about it, other than it just pulls out from the back of the table, and provides nice support for anything up to about 2 feet in length without teetering. Haven't played with the bevel much yet, but appears to be quick and easy to adjust. Just unlock, slide to the desired position, and lock. Not sure how easy it is to fine tune, but initial tests didn't seem too bad. Dust bag seems decent, but definitely didn't catch everything. It was able to catch a majority of the dust and debris, but not all of it. Sadly there isn't a connection for a shop vac, but I believe that this could be built on with a little bit of ingenuity. That will probably be my primary tweak when I have the time. Last thing to review is the miter. It is plastic, but I suppose that that's to be expected from this price range. It slid through the slot nicely, and when there was lumber on top of the guide rail to hold it flat, there wasn't hardly any play from right to left. If you do not have anything sitting on top of it, you can wriggle it from right to left, but that's because it's lifting a bit in the t-slot. When held flat, it's a nice tight fit, with very little play. Other than that, it slides smooth, and will do the job. Oh, and there is a hole on either side of the handle that could be used to mount a wider support for better control if desired. All-in-all, this is a very worthwhile upgrade in my opinion, and I am very happy with my purchase.

This is one solid saw, espcially since it's a "jobsite" saw. On the doorstep, out of the box and setup, maybe 30 minutes. Setup was a breeze and everything is within about 1/64"; more checking and possbily some tweaking needs to be done, but it has already performed well above expectations on the first use. I'm on a budget and couldn't afford a cabinet saw so I got this and the Rockwell RW9189 Table Saw Sliding Extension Table Attachment for RK7241S Table Saw [I have a seperate review on that.] Point being, I needed to cut some very accurate templates for a large set of bookshelves and these two items made that a breeze. Although this is basically my shop saw, the ability to fold it up and store it away is a big bonus and no additional adjustments are needed; just pull it out, fold out the legs and go. A couple of shop built accessories (an outfeed table, possibly an infeed table and a couple sleds and I expect great things out of this machine. HIGHLY recommended!

I was starting a woodworking project and I had no experience in woodworking at the time. With any woodworking/cabinet project you need a table saw. I knew I didn't want a low end table saw, yet I knew I didn't want to spend (nor had the room) on a cabinet saw. I did a lot of online looking and research. The Rockwell fit my price point and appeared from some You Tube reviews and also from the reviews on Amazon it would meet my needs. With the project complete I have to say The table worked very well. The laser advertised did not last very long and I really didn't have much use for it anyway. I contacted Rockwell about it's failure and they did send me a replacement FOC (w/o instructions). I've yet to install it and I'm not sure I will. The Rip fence did need adjustment but that was no issue. A cabinet making friend of mine saw my saw and he was very impressed with it's power and quality. One thing he did do which made using the saw easier was using furniture paste wax on the table and buffing it. My wood glided much easier. I also purchased a Dado blade set (From Amazon). This required me to also purchase a larger blade clearance insert (also from Amazon). I'd give this table a 5 star except for the laser. Though probably not very practical it didn't hold up very well. Like other reviews the components are very well laid out. I also purchased the table extender and finisher. All the components are integrated very well and very portable.

Overall I give this saw an 8 on quality and features. Price gets a 10 for affordability. Strength gets a 7ish but close to an 8. Before purchasing this saw I compared other top brands at big box stores for price, quality, & features. I found that everywhere I looked price was at least 120 bucks more for the same stuff. So I kept on searching and watching user reviews on YouTube until I saw this same model be put to the test for a week with a contractor. I took my chance since I planned on building some furniture. So far I've done a least 70 cuts on maple, mdf, and birch. With my first cuts I noticed the ruler was of by 1/8 on the right side but I was able to work around that by marking my own lengths.

This saw was at the top of my budget and It seemed like a dream come true. Tall cutting depth, long extension arm, easy to store. But Its terribly inaccurate and I've had to fix so nearly everything. It can't cut a straight line. It bows on angled cuts. The miter gage fell apart in my hands. The fence wobbles and its not true. The blade guard projects an amazing amount of dust back at me. The included blade wobbles so much I'm afraid to use it. Only about 50% of the saw dust actually falls into the bag, I have to clean the interior constantly. The laser serves no purpose, its covered by your material. With the amount of money I spent fixing this, I could have bought a $100 junker and modified it to something better than this. Its junk, save the disappointment, and buy something else. I am filled with regret.

Well designed to travel, secure storage for removable components..to be honest I liked the layout and converted to a permanent table saw with addition of stand and wheels......worked out nicely..... Updated on this saw.....I've had since March and spent some time with various materials.....I've read all the reviews and I can't believe the amount of bad reviews....as they say we are all entitled to our opinion.......I know it's not a top of the line $2500 (starting price) unit......my shop is not a full production shop either.....I was using a 25 year old Craftsman portable Contractor unit that must have traveled 200,000 miles from job to job with me. This was a huge improvement, PLUS the $1500-$2000 I saved bought a boat load of upgrades and improvements to my other machines...I could go on but point is I've set up and run six different production runs. Cut from 1/4" to 3/4" plywood, 1/4 sawn oak 1/4 " to 1 3/4", same for teak, mahogany and some others.......no problems, really nice cuts......AND.....on mine my ruler is dead on......I always check each setup with a separate ruler (very old habits) and it's been right on the mark every time... finally the one item which seems to come up a lot in the reviews is table being uneven....can't deny it, looks like result of portability......I took small piece of plywood and use to pad the right wing and when folding over leaf it goes on shelf underneath...one last benefit I stumbled on (it is advertised) is blade height approximately 3 5/8", 3 3/4".....4x4's are not a problem anymore.......

I am a DIYer, weekend and holidays time. I reviewed several contractors saws before deciding to buy this one. Main selling points were the integrated stand with wheels for easy rolling, the 4 inch thickness capacity, the 30 in ripping with the extension table and the powerful motor. It was a little pricey for my budget but I thought it was worth the effort. Upon receiving it I had it up and running in half an hour, inmediately I found that the blade was not paralell to the miter guide, it was off by 1/8 in. This problem is reported in several reviews and is known to Rockwell since several years ago with no corrective action taken, which is a negative check mark for the brand. The adjustment is not in the owners manual, however it is described in some of the customer reviews. It requires some minor disassembly to get easy access to the adjusting screw and nut and it is a trial and error thing. It took me around 20 mins to get it done with the blade paralell to less than 1/32" (0.5 mm), not hairwidth accurate but good enough for my needs. The fence is a little flimsy but much better than those found on other cheaper saws. It came well adjusted from the factory. The miter is not good, it is too lose in the track. I have used the tool for about one month and so far I am satisfied with the power and portability. Long term durability is a question mark as many of the parts are plastic. I would recommend buying a DeWalt if your budget allows.

I ordered this from Amazon about 2 weeks ago. They were out of stock at the time. It took less than a week to get back in stock and have one shipped. It came and the box was pretty damaged. The handles were ripped out and falling apart. It had most of the packing material, but the bubble wrap between the saw and the table was not packed in tight. I got it all together and measured the blade was about an 1/8 of an inch off in the front and back. Originally I planned to just adjust it myself like other reviews suggested, but then I tried the laser and it didn't work. The batteries looked like they had teeth marks on them, so I tried some other AAA batteries and they didn't work either. So, at that point I decided it need to go back. UPS picked it up the next day, the day after the new one was delivered, and what a difference. The package was in pristine condition. I tested the laser first and it worked. The bubble wrap was tightly packed between the motor and the table to the point I had to lower it a bit to get the bubble wrap out. I to a square, and the blade was perfectly parallel to the table out of the box. Front and back distance to miter edge was equivalent for any practical needs (might have been 1/64th off). I clipped the fence on and it was perfectly square without any manual measurement needed. I ripped a piece of wood, and it was exactly 3" across the entire piece and the cut was smooth, well as smooth as a table saw can cut. So, my recommendation is if you get a lemon, send it back until you get a good one. At this price point, it's no surprise it has assembly defects. It's probably assembled in China. All in all, I love this saw and am looking forward to using it a lot this summer!