Best Craftsman 10 Inch Compound Miter Saw
Craftsman 10" Compound Miter Saws | |||
 |  |  | |
| Model # | 21236 | 21237 | SM2509RC |
| Price |  |  |  |
| Laser Guide |  | | |
| Sliding Saw |  | | |
| Ext. Supports | | | |
| Sliding Fence | | | |
| Main Seller | Light & Simple | High Versatility | Compact Slider |
| Blade | 10" | 10" | 10" |
| Weight | 28 lbs | 39 lbs | 43 lbs |
| Crosscut Max | 5-1/2" | 12" | 12-1/2" |
| Miter | 45° Left & Right | 50° Left & Right | 50° Left & Right |
| Bevel | 45° Left only | 45° Left only | 47° Left only |
| Power | 120 vac | 120 vac | 120 vac |
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Craftsman 10 Inch Compound Miter Saw Comparison Summary
As you can see, Craftsman’s 10″ family of miter saws have a lot to offer, all at a decent price. They have impressive cutting capabilities, none of them are overly heavy. They’ve got laser guides to help line up cuts faster. They have many features that make them some of the top-selling saws in their class. If you still can’t decide which is the best Craftsman 10 inch compound miter saw, keep reading for summaries of each saw. I’ve also linked to our full reviews for each one.
The Craftsman 21236 10″ Compound Miter Saw
This saw is perfect for professionals, DIYers, and hobbyists, assuming you understand the limitations of the saw and take that into account. So basically, manage your expectations:
This is a basic non-sliding compound miter saw that bevels only 1 direction.
But with that said, it’s low-priced and very lightweight. This makes it fantastic for job sites and home projects.
And if you need a simple saw to use for handling most crosscutting needs, this tool works fine for beginner woodworkers and hobbyists as well.
For its class, it does have slightly better than average cutting capacities. It can handle up to a dimensional 2×6 and 4×4 in a single cut.
It also comes with a laser guide built in so you can quickly and easily set up your cut without having to touch the blade to the board to get it just right. This isn’t a huge seller for some people, but I really like this feature and use it a lot.
This tool does great for projects that include framing, deck building, basic trim molding, hardwood flooring, building furniture, and many basic hobbies that require crosscutting.
Our Ratings
Most Professionals – 5 of 5
Do-It-Yourselfers – 5 of 5
Beginner Woodworkers – 4 of 5
Serious Woodworkers – 3 of 5
The Craftsman 21237 10″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw
This is a great saw for all professions, all types of users. If you need to move it around a lot on job sites or DIY projects, it’s fairly lightweight and has an easy-carry handle.
It comes with a laser guide that helps line up your cut quickly. When making many cuts on a miter saw, the time that this laser saves you really adds up.
It’s got miter adjustment capabilities beyond the standard 45 degrees (it goes up to 50). This allows for more customized and specialty cuts for all kinds of projects.
The extendable supports lock in place and have board stops you can flip up. This allows you to set a specific cut length with a board and then using this board stop you can make the exact same cut over and over again on many different boards. These subsequent cuts would require no marking or lining up the blade. Just place the board against the locked-down board stop and cut.
The sliding action provides for a wide crosscut capacity of 12 inches. This means cutting wide boards for furniture, shelving, paneling, and stairs become easy and completed in a single pass of the blade.
If you need a stationary shop saw for woodworking, this is perfect for building a miter saw bench around. Its extensions are removable. It can be anchored down with screws. Even the dust collection is pretty good if you add a shop vac, or build a shroud and attach your central dust evacuation system to it.
And for its class, this saw is priced really well. This means even the occasional DIYers, hobbyists, and beginner woodworkers can get a great saw that has many features, without over-spending.
Our Ratings
Most Professionals – 5 of 5
Do-It-Yourselfers – 5 of 5
Beginner Woodworkers – 5 of 5
Serious Woodworkers – 5 of 5
The Craftsman SM2509RC 10″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw
Similar to the Craftsman 21237 above, this model also has many features and works well for many projects. The big selling point of this saw is that it’s a compact saw, while still being a sliding model.
To achieve this, Craftsman designed this saw to have its slide rails alongside the blade carriage. Most sliding miter saws have the rails extend out the back, meaning you need more space in your work area to accommodate the saw. But with this particular model of Craftsman, you don’t need this extra space. You can back the saw up right against a wall and still use its full sliding capability.
However this feature adds a bit to the complexity of the tool, making it higher priced, and a bit heavier. For this, I don’t give it 5 stars for beginners and occasional users.
This tool really shines for contractors with limited space, and for DIYers and woodworkers that also require a miter saw with a smaller footprint. You’ll have to decide for yourself if its worth the extra 20 bucks or so to get these features.
But all in all, it’s a great saw that also has an impressive crosscutting capacity of 12-1/2″ (just slightly over industry standard). It too has the laser guide making for quick and easy setup of your cut.
This miter saw includes extendable supports that even have the lockable board stops for making quick repeatable cuts without needing to mark or line up the blade to the board. This is a very handy feature if you do a lot of cutting that calls for multiple identical pieces.
Our Ratings
Most Professionals – 5 of 5
Do-It-Yourselfers – 5 of 5
Beginner Woodworkers – 4 of 5
Serious Woodworkers – 5 of 5
The Guide To Choosing a Craftsman 10 Inch Compound Miter Saw
If you have a history with Craftsman tools, you know that they are generally good and well-liked by their users.
With that said, you need to manage your expectations. These Craftsman compound miter saws are built for the low to mid-range price shoppers. They don’t have all the features and the same build quality as say this $400+ sliding miter saw.
So as with most lower-priced miter saws, this line of Craftsman uses some cheaper parts, plastic in place of metal on some components, and a low to standard dust collection system.
As with most miter saws, dust collection performance is not that great. You most likely will have to attach a shop vac to the back dust port on the saw to do any good. And that may still only capture up to 70% or so of the dust.
Building a dust shroud or box around the tool and connecting it to a dust evacuation system is by far one of the best ways to control dust. But this option is only feasible for those who work in a shop and use the saw as a stationary tool.
Another miter saw you may consider if dust collection is important to you is the Makita 10″ slider, you can read about it here.
What’s Your Purpose?
If you are a homeowner or a landlord that needs a tool to tackle home repair projects, I would recommend the basic Craftsman 21236. It’s cheap, it’s very lightweight, it cuts well, and is super-easy to move around from project to project.
If you do a lot of home renovation projects, or if you’re a professional that needs a daily use saw, the 21236 is still a solid choice. However, if you cut a lot of 2x8s or 2x10s, if you build staircases, or if you do any projects that require wide boards, the sliding model would be better. For this, I would suggest the 21237.
If you’re a woodworker and you want to build furniture, then chances are you also do plenty of DIY home renovation projects. However furniture builders often build panels out of solid boards, and the wider you can cut these boards, the fewer pieces needed for the glue-up. So a sliding miter saw is ideal for a woodworker, and you should consider the 21237.
For anyone who has limited space and needs to park their saw on a shallow worktop, you may be happier with the compact version of the sliding miter saw by Craftsman. This is the SM2509RC model.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I like a good Craftsman 10″ miter saw. I personally have owned the model 21237 sliding saw for 5 years now and I really enjoy it. I’m a woodworker, and this saw has served me well.
I believe these saws do really well for their intended uses. As with anything, you get what you pay for. This family of saws is not in the high price range, so don’t be one of those users that expect a gold-plated saw of perfection, and then leave bad reviews because it didn’t perform like a $500 saw would.
So consider what your needs are, and then decide on a Craftsman 10 inch compound miter saw that fits the bill. Read the manual when you get it. Learn your saw well. Understand all the components and how to make fine-tuning adjustments. This will create harmony in your shop. By that I mean, you will know your tool well, and you will get more out of it.
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