Craftsman has recently introduced a new multi-material miter saw that can cut through steel, aluminum, wood with nails, and plastic with its special 8-1/4″ blade. We’ve seen similar technology before in Evolution’s Rage saws, and for the most part such saws work reasonably well.
The saw is powered with a 10A 4,000 RPM motor. Fence height is 1-3/4″, and the base features 17 positive miter and 2 bevel angle stops.
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This multi-saw is priced at $100, and its release date is 5/31/12. We just checked, and it appears that the saw’s already on sale.
Buy Now(via Sears)
Craftsman says that an optional diamond-tipped blade can be used to transform their new multi-cutting miter saw into a tile cutter. (Even so, we wouldn’t recommend anything but a wet tile saw for cutting tile. It doesn’t make sense that Craftsman would recommend using this saw for cutting tile, even with a diamond blade.)
Overall, the new saw seems like a good buy, but its cut-performance will heavily depend on the quality of the blade. We’re a bit concerned about the availability of replacement blades. While Evolution also makes multi-material cutting blades in an 8-1/4″ size, their blades might not be designed to be run at the same speed as the new Craftsman saw. Never buy a power saw unless you know replacement blades are affordable and readily available.
rob
Not a bad deal, you can place a pre-order now and it includes the 15% discount, free shipping, plus you can “stack” the Sears5off50 to get an extra $5 off.
fred
We have a couple of the larger Evolution hand held saws and another seemingly identical saw that bears the Morse name. The blades we’ve bought over the years to fit these saws – have all come from Morse
Stuart
You’re right – they make Metal Devil blades in 8-1/4″ blade size.
It seems a little odd to use a $60 replacement saw blade with a $90 (on sale) saw. Makes me wonder how good (or bad) of a blade Sears bundles with the saw.