Craftsman 71/4 in sliding miter

[tellittojake]

I often make furniture for my home and family. I have a larger miter saw but it is too big and heavy to easily move around and I have a small shop space to deal with. I had an old 8-1/4 Delta miter saw that died after 20 years of faithful service that I would often pull out to use, instead of the 12 incher. I missed that little guy and saw the Craftsman 7-1/4 sliding miter on sale for 99.00. It is usually about 169.00. The small blade is fine for one inch material that I usually use and it will cut 2 inch masterial as will a circular saws blade. It tracks very smoothly, and holds its settings well. The small blade is relatively stiff due to its smaller diameter and cheap to replace. It came well packed and all settings were dead on out of the box. I find myself using this saw more and more, due to its decent cutting action and light weight and small size. It is much quieter than the larger saw as well, so nice to use when family is around and I am in the shop working. They have been getting good reviews as well. Seems like Sears has moved to better tools for a reasonable price, as until recently I found them overpriced and lacking in quality/features even at thier sale prices. I purchased thier new router line and they have been getting great reviews, are priced very well and I have grown to really appreciate them. I am not made of money and cant pay high dollars for top end tools for everything I buy. There is a need for a good tool at a middle price for many of us. I see some people just swoon over the top end stuff out there but not everyone has that luxury . Sears seems to be working to bring the Craftsman name back to a level of respectability. As most people know the bigger table saws are put out by a division of Steel City, and when on sale are a good value. I own one and love it. If you need a handy saw that is easy to tote and doesnt take a large foot print, check this little saw out as it is not just a toy. The 12 inch Dewalt is gathering a lot of dust now but still glad I have it. This new saw is pretty sturdy as well, it came out of the box in good shape, needing no adjustments. A child in my shop one day was "helping me" and when walked by it, his arm brushed it and knocked off of my work bench to a concrete floor. Nothing broke, knocked out of alignment or let me know it fell other than his look of horror followed by the typical adult question 'what did you do" and he fessed up.