Over at Lowe’s, they have a new Craftsman 10″ single bevel sliding miter saw deal for Black Friday 2019, and it’s currently at its promo price of $189.
Neil wrote in, asking about the new Craftsman miter saw, and if it’s any good:
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Do you guys know anything about this Craftsman 10″ sliding miter saw at Lowes?
Not finding much on Google, and I don’t even see it listed on craftsman.com. The reviews so far are all from “sweepstakes entries.” Looks like it has Dewalt’s LED cut line system and similar fence/miter adjustment design at a good price.
I believe that someone else asked about the same saw recently. Generally, and I mean this in as neutral a way as possible, this looks to be your average entry-price-point miter saw. It is a single-bevel design with a cut capacity of 12″.
Craftsman never announced the saw via press release (at least not that I know of), and I also don’t know what all the “sweepstakes entry” user reviews are about. I also can’t find any reference to this product on Craftsman.com – it only exists on Lowe’s website.
This doesn’t really mean much, aside from suggesting this miter saw is a Lowe’s Black Friday and holiday 2019 “special buy.” Maybe it’ll be a regular main-line product, but if that was the case wouldn’t Craftsman have said something about it?
This Craftsman miter saw, model CMXEMAX69434501, is said to have an “adjustment-free LED cut line for more accurate cuts and visibility,” similar to what you will find on more premium miter saws by Milwaukee and Dewalt.
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I can’t find any Porter Cable or Black & Decker models that could have preceded this model, and so there are to user reviews to go by.
Price: $189
See Also: Ryobi 10″ Sliding Miter Saw with LED Cutline Indicator
Ryobi also has a new 10″ sliding miter saw with LED cutline indicator, and it’s currently $179, which is $10 less than Craftsman’s Black Friday 2019 pricing.
Home Depot has some user reviews going back two months, and most say more than the word-less ratings some most sweepstakes-entry reviews gave to Craftsman’s saw on Lowe’s website.
Craftsman’s saw looks to have a taller fence. Ryobi’s saw has basic outfeed support rails.
Craftsman’s saw looks to only be stocked at Lowe’s stores, since shipping/delivery (at least around here) looks to carry a $79 truck-to-home delivery fee. You can buy the Ryobi saw online from Home Depot with free delivery to your home or workshop.
Personally, as far as DIY power tool brands go, I have more trust in Ryobi than I do in Craftsman these days. That’s not to say that I would buy either of these saws – I’d try to snag a deal on a Dewalt DWS716XPS miter saw or spend more for their DWS779 special buy, or maybe even consider Ridgid’s smaller special buy of the season.
Looking closely at Home Depot’s Black Friday 2019 sales flyer, this Ryobi miter saw will be $139. Its predecessor was a Black Friday deal in 2018 and possibly prior years as well. That model, TSS102L, had a laser, while the new model, TSS103, has an LED cutline indicator. You can’t find user reviews on Home Depot’s site anymore, but Ryobi has some. From the looks of it, customers are fairly happy.
If I were looking to buy an entry-priced 10″ sliding miter saw, Ryobi’s sale pricing and historical reviews for its predecessor model would entice me far more than Craftsman’s deal.
With entry-priced miter saws, you often have to spend more time on calibration to ensure perfectly straight and accurate cuts. Small differences in designs, engineering, and quality can have big impacts on performance and accuracy. What this means is that it’s really hard to comment on Craftsman’s miter saw without trying it, or to gauge if Ryobi’s is better without trying them both side by side.
I can only provide you with my opinion, which is that the Ryobi would be the surer buy, and it’s also considerably less expensive.
Craftsman’s saw has grooves machined into the table surface, which I’m guessing helps to keep work flat by giving a place for strap chips and sawdust to go. Ryobi’s saw looks to have a foot near the cutting slot and miter adjustment handle, which might help with stability when cutting wider boards.
If you can’t tell, I’m stuck in trying to determine which saw I’d buy. Ultimately, I think that if shopping for miter saw with a $200 max budget and with cutting capacity a top priority, the Ryobi would win my favor. I’d then spend the difference between Ryobi and Craftsman saws on a good square or two if I didn’t already have one, for blade calibration and alignment purposes.
Price: $179
Black Friday 2019 Price: $139
Readers’ Recommendations
Let’s say you’re looking for a miter saw with two considerations:
1) $200 max budget
2) Cutting capacity is a high priority
3) LED cutline indicator as a preferred but not required feature
Which miter saw would you buy? Either of these 10″ sliding miter saws with 12″ cutting capacity, or something else?
One Other Option
There’s also Metabo HPT’s C10FCGS 10″ miter saw. It’s a basic non-sliding design, and with no cutline indicator system, but it’s inexpensive at $89. A basic saw like this might pair well with a circular saw and straightedge for when greater cutting capacity is needed.
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Ray
Memo to Neil: You get what you pay for.
Signed: All tools.
Skye A Cohen
I hope I don’t sound snobby here but I wouldn’t ever ever buy any Craftsman power tools. It’s not that I only use expensive stuff, it’s that early in my career I kept giving Craftsman tools a chance thinking they were good enough and great price but time and time again they were garbage, sometimes almost unusable and I’m not alone they are kind of infamous for making junk. If you want something on the lower end if the dollar scale I’d try Ryobi or kobalt but first I’d look on bigskytool.com for a reconditioned Hitachi (metabo).
MattJ
I get that but they’re totally different tools from what Sears used to sell now that they’re an SBD brand.
Not saying they’re wonderful, but they’re comparable to Ryobi at this point.
If you need slider functionality in a full size miter saw at a reasonable price, but aren’t a pro user (I’m not really sure who this applies to as I write it), then this seems like a good enough deal. If you’re just looking for something to make basic crosscuts in 2x4s, just get a non-slider 10″ from Ryobi or Metabo HPT/Hitachi for $100 less. If you’re going to use the saw day in day out, worth it to upgrade to something professional grade from DeWalt.
Very narrow market this tool is going after. People who will pay ~$100 more for limited increased functionality, but won’t pay for a pro-grade tool.
Koko The Talking Ape
“If you need slider functionality in a full size miter saw at a reasonable price, but aren’t a pro user (I’m not really sure who this applies to as I write it)…”
Years ago, when I built a roomful of bookshelves, I had to cut a few dozen 10″ boards to the exact same length. A slider would have made my job a lot easier. (I used a circ saw and an improvised guide, but it wasn’t much cheaper than these sliders.)
But sure, that’s not a common job.
Chad Heroman
I have the saw, I love it. It cuts super straight, the bevels are on point. The LED light works far better than lasers and it actually has a 13in cut radius (it says 12, but I cut 13in Red Oak stair treads constantly with it). I think some people are just brand whores. Some would hate the saw and if someone brought them another one but painted like a Dewalt, they would love it! Bottom line, in a mitersaw, the main purpose (for me installing stair treads) is to make straight/accurate cuts. The Craftsman mitersaw does it all day and I’ve never had an issue
The What?
I don’t think that anyone owns one to give a fair assessment as to whether it’s good or bad. I think Lowes had sbd make one and it was a last minute decision due to Lowes not having the kobalt miter saws on sale this year and they needed a diy grade miter saw that they could advertise for sale. I can tell you that I use to own the kobalt saw some years ago and it got the job done just fine for framing and trim although it was a different manufacturer that made the kobalt.
Stuart
There looks to be an average of 5 in stock at all local Lowe’s stores for several zip codes I checked.
5 per store, a little over 2,000 stores in North America.
There’s no “last minute decisions” regarding quantities like this.
Also, there is a Kobalt miter saw deal this year.
Frank D
Lowes has multiple miter saws in their Black Friday advert.
Besides that Metabo, page 17 has the small Kobalt slider.
I did not see the Delta with folding stand this year, that they had two years ago on BF. I think it came with a laser, but never even installed it.
Not going to talk HD since they refuse to share their ad early and cease and desist those who may have a copy.
Frank D
And you beat me to it while I was slowly tapping away and perusing the lowes ad to where I saw it.
Joatman
I have the Craftsman 10” sliding miter saw that I bought from sears about 4 years ago. Excellent saw. It has pull- out stops that come out of the sides that I don’t see in the picture above. This new model doesn’t seem to be as robust as the older one, but the older one cost $100 more. My next saw will be the 12” sliding Dewalt…… if my Craftsman ever gives out. But I’m probably going to have it for years to come. If it ain’t broke….
I would definitely consider this new Craftsman if the it’s in your ballpark.
Bolt
Honestly I wouldn’t put money towards a cheap slider. It’s bound to have issues and a regular 10 inch saw cuts most of what i need and takes up less space.
Mopar4wd
The Metabo looks like a sweet deal. My ancient unknown brand hand me down miter saw and more recent cheap craftsman (still 15 years old) could really use an upgrade. As much as I would like a slider the Metabo would do 99% of what I need.
Kent
Craftsman track record is less than good. They have painted themselves into a corner, and will be known for making crap tools, until they make good tools for long enough to overcome the momentum of making crap tools.
Are they making a good saw, with a low (or no) profit margin, in order to gain back goodwill? Or are they making a “meh” miter saw.
I’m replacing an ancient Delta 10 non-slider in the next 4 months and it’ll probably be the DeWalt w/o the LED. This saw isn’t even close to being on my list.
Sorry Craftsman, but you did this to yourself.
OldDominionDIYer
I would go Ryobi if I had to choose, Thank goodness I have a gorgeous RIDGID 12″ Compound sliding miter saw that I love…
fred
If you want to spend around $180 – how about some of the Dewalt saws like the DWS715 or DWS713R that seem to sell for just under $200 – but may be discounted by one of the Dewalt $25 off coupons or MaxTool’s $25 off coupon (MAX25 coupon code at http://www.Maxtool.com)
Thom
I have a DeWalt Radial Arm Saw so I sliding miter saw a redundant but if I was in the market I would buy the Ryobi.
Matt
I looked closely at this over the weekend. It was set up next to several different brands of saws and to be honest, aside from it not being dual bevel, I actually thought the saw was pretty nice. The one thing I dislike on most of the miter saws is the stickers used for adjustment measurements. All but the DeWalt’s had them though. The sliding mechanism was smooth and it felt well built for the price point. As nice as anything else on display (DeWalt aside).
Would I buy one? No. It’s not dual bevel. You can get the Kobalt 10 inch dual bevel slider for $199. This is Craftsman’s problem. Nearly everything they have is at a Kobalt price point and nearly everything Kobalt has that’s cordless is brushless. And regardless of being battery powered or corded, the Kobalt tools offer more features.
In all fairness I do own the V20 7 1/4 inch slider and it’s only single bevel. I bought it on sale at $189 awhile back. I wanted a small battery miter saw and am already into several V20 tools so.. I wouldn’t have bought it at the higher price point of $259 unless it was brushless and dual bevel though. Still, all of the Craftsman tools that are DeWalt based have been worth the purchase IMO.
However, SBD really needs to step up their game with Craftsman. I’m shocked they didn’t introduce new stuff for the holidays. Perhaps they’re working on a true new Craftsman line of power tools?? Because V20 hasn’t expanded much and most of it is pretty lackluster. Nor has anything called V12 ever been introduced despite the name on the battery chargers. It’s been a frustrating 2019 for this Craftsman guy. Particularly when I’ve been using more Milwaukee as of late.
geensok
For below $200, I’d personally go for the HF Admiral. 12″ It will be on sale fo r$169. Sliding and dual bevel. $169.
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-Dual-Bevel-Sliding-Compound-Miter-Saw-with-LED-Laser-Guide-64686.html
Frank D
The Ryobi slider beats that handily and no worries about HF quality / durability / warranty and is cheaper in the HD BF advert. Of course on may be able to counter it with a HF coupon, but still Ryobi > HF brands.
Andrew
Sears craftsman and lowes craftsman are not the same. Cannot go be historical quality. The new stuff seems ok. Certainly not top of the lone but not junk. The kobalt miter saws are pretty good with a lot of top of the line features. I would look at those, corded or cordless, much before the craftsman.
Steve Goodman
A miter saw is by definition not a toy. So why buy a pretend tool like this craftsman…..better off Craigslisting a Dewalt or any of the pro brands.
Rami
I do not know about the Craftsman, but I do know that I would not buy the Ryobi one. I work at retail and we get a lot of reclaims on Ryobi tools, they seem to be very poor quality even for diy. I never recommend a Ryobi tool for any customer as I would never buy any of them myself. Ryobi has a lot of nice things in their 18v line, but the quality of their tools, and especially batteries, is awful.
Clay
I have this Metabo (mine is still branded Hitachi) and I paid $100 and it is great. Accurate out of the box. Def punches above its weight class. my DWS779 stays in the shop and the Hitachi goes with me when I need to go somewhere.
Not sure I would trust a cheaper slider. Craftsman had a compact slider a few years ago, which would have been great, but it was inching up on the price of the DWS779, which is the best deal going..
Matthew
I don’t know why the stationary bench top tools aren’t showing up on Craftsman’s product pages. They have been replacing all of the Porter Cable stationary tools (jointer, thickness planer, miter saws) with Craftsman versions but no mention of them on their website.
Matt
Their website is a mess. Several tools (and many other products) that are in stores aren’t listed anywhere on the website. Some products that Are listed (sds rotary hammer for example) show that nobody even carries it. And they have a ton of listings for Sears era products in many categories that aren’t even available anymore. You’d think they’d take a website in this day and age a little more seriously. Especially for such a large name.
Dave
Glad I stumbled upon this post via google search! I am one of those people who was debating these two saws at this price point. Light usage at home with some trim work, but my big project coming up is redoing stair treads and the 10″ sliders definitely look appealing for this job. Other than that I use the saw maybe a few times a year here and there
Stuart
I’m glad to help!
Donnie Johnson
If its Craftsman, it has to be good. Or should I say “GREAT”