Vintage Sears Craftsman Miter Box Saw

Before posting about the next project I thought I'd share this thrift store purchase I made today. Not only was I surprised by the tool itself, but I found there were some additional surprises inside the box once I got it back to the shop.

The tool I'm referring to is a vintage Sears Craftsman Miter Box Saw model number  36306 seen above. It was stated online somewhere, though not confirmed by me, this saw was produced and sold back in 1985. Again, I haven't confirmed that so don't spread it around as fact unless you check yourself to be sure. I will say if it's not from 1985 it's from around that time. It's vintage...

I didn't pay much for it and I certainly don't need another one as I already have one that's complete and one that's missing an upright of the same make. It's a good one that I may have shown in another post. I'm not sure at the moment. But for the price, I just couldn't pass this Craftsman up. And after cleaning it up and giving parts a coat of wax, I'm glad I didn't.

A word of advice if you're going to purchase a used tool, even from a thrift store, especially from a thrift store in some cases, don't do what I did this time. Make sure you take it out of the box and check that everything is there and nothing is broken. I didn't in this case and got lucky. The box was sealed, and yes I broke the seal but I just gave a quick glance to make sure there was actually what was on the box, in the box. Seeing the base and the handle, I closed the box and made my purchase. Given it was in original packing on the inside, I didn't feel like taking it all out, blah blah blah... So I got lucky and all was there.

My other miter box saws are I believe 24" and have 4 uprights. They also have detents at the 90°, 45° and possibly the 22.5° though I'm not positive.

The Craftsman Miter Box Saw 36306 has a 22 inch saw blade and two uprights, no detents. But it has other features my other saws don't. And I'll go over them here in a bit. But first let me do a mini unboxing for you of this purchase.

It came in the original box. The instruction manual was inside as well.

But there was more. Inside at the bottom end was a Sears Miter box Accessories Clamp model D9 66662. Very cool!

Wait there's more in the box! There was a Sears Craftsman Corner Miter Clamp and Saw Guide Set model number 9-6664 with an additional Craftsman Corner Clamp model 9-6666. Sweeet!

Personally, I've never seen a corner miter tool or saw guide like this before. Lucky the instructions for it were also included in the box.

I made custom picture frames at one time years back and it's obvious this tools previous owner may have been using this to do the same. Or framing windows maybe? I don't know I'm not a Rough or Finish Carpenter.. maybe they use these type tools, maybe they don't. Picture framers would possibly. Though I never did with the exception of the miter saw itself.

The above pictured Corner Miter Clamp/Saw Guide is rather interesting in how it can be used. You can use it to not only cut corners but it gave a tip on correcting a bad miter using the clamp. So I learned something new to boot! Cool...

Now it was apparent that whomever owned this previously didn't keep this in their garage. And that they had taken care of it and in keeping it all together. Had they keep it in their garage, here in S. Florida, this thing would've rusted to all get out. As it was, there was just a minor amount of surface rust on the saw blade. Which as I mentioned, I cleaned everything up, dusted things off and gave everything a coat of wax and where needed a drop of oil. And once done, all movements are as smooth as silk.

Let's take a look at it and some of its features. Some of which I really like, even better than my other miter saw. Which as I said, is a good one. At least the best I've owned. And it's vintage as well.

There's no detents as mentioned and the locking mechanism is different. But I gotta say, it's solid. I was impressed. It feels different than my other saw. Like it's grabbing a wider area and it holds firm, no warble to it. No miss tracking when tightening. It's a clamping style lock. Not a screw lock style. On the box it states it's a "Cam-Lock with angle setting to 0.5° precision." After testing it, I believe it. And yes, I like it.

It has a removable center polyurethane support. I'm not sure how I feel about this feature but it certainly does protect the teeth of the saw and has from the looks of it by indications of the previous owners use. BTW - You can cut pieces up to 5 inches wide with this saw.

One of my favorite features is the Swivel handle on the saw itself. I really like the feel of this.

A big difference between this and my other Miter Saw is how the blade is held true. My other uses 4 posts which are thicker in diameter while the Craftsman has two posts, but the blade still rides in-between the two posts, just caticornered. And very close to the posts. I was surprised at how little slop there was. Very nice indeed. Very tight feel to it.

The blade guides are also different and I like these much better. No slop whatsoever. Very nice tolerances. And they are metal, not plastic. A nice gap for the blade kerf with no interference from the guide. And you can tell the difference from those that aren't as close a tolerance or the blade kerf cuts the bottom of the guide depending on position or angle of the blade fore and aft.

You'll also note the blade that came with it, a 22 inch 18 tooth, is tempered. And there's nice thumb screw depth guide stops on each end.

The Miter Box Accessory Clamp instructions say it fits all Miter Box's and you're suppose to drill a hole and mount the support to the more box frame with the given screw. There was no given cut screw and it wasn't previously mounted. But in just putting it on to dry fit it, I really didn't see how this thing is suppose to work despite how well built the actual clamp is. It's a heavy duty built clamp but I found flaws or things that didn't make sense to me and I'm not sure it will work as it should.

I'll show it next and talk about things I noticed or question. Maybe you have one and can help me out on this part of it.

Here is the clamp mount on the frame, top view. It simply clips over the top edge.

On the back you can see the hole at the bottom where you're suppose to drill the hole in the frame and put the cut screw.

To me, in just looking at things, where you're suppose to put the cut screw in, will limit the clamp leg from going past it and lower the clamp before adjusting it. This didn't make sense to me.

Next you'll see the clamp mount is smooth.

However, on the leg of the clamp itself you'll see the back has serrations. Two sets of serrations, one on each side of the half moon.

Without ribs of some sort on the clamp mount, there's nothing for the serrations to catch on to to hold it in place in the clamp mount. Not even a dimple. At the clamp is going to want to ride up the mount as far as I can tell.

Also as you can see below, according to the instructions you slide the clamp into the mount one way for use, and turn it to the side and slide it in the mount when not in use. It doesn't even come close to fitting when put in the not in use position. I mean not even close.

If I can modify it slightly I think I can get it to work hold properly. Though I don't think I'll be able to get it to go into the rest position as it shows. Otherwise, it's a nice clamp. Anna I did try it. It holds a little bit not like it should in my opinion. It's helps a little let's say as it is.

There's a nice wheel on the front I need to get to actually move once tightened, if it's suppose to and I think it is. It seems that you slide your work piece under the wheel and using the hand crank on the back side crank the clamp arm down to clamp it.

In testing out this Craftsman Miter Saw I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate it was. This saw is spot on. I even tried cutting at 1° intervals and it was right on mark. This really impressed me.

Proof is in the pudding they say. Here's a few cuts I made with it at 90°, 45° and a 5°. All spot on.

Here's a couple more full shots of the saw...

I should mention the legs are metal as well. It doesn't have side stops like my other miter saw does or extension support rods but you could make something to extent the bed area if you wanted.

I did see in looking the Craftsman 36306 up on Google there's a number of them on eBay. Some look to be new old stock even. Prices vary of course.

I was very impressed with this miter saw for a number of reasons. The lack of slop you see on some lower end miter saws, the swivel handle which I really like, the feel when you do make a cut is really good. It feels "tight" if you can follow what I mean by that.

If you are considering buying one, depending on price of course, I wouldn't hesitate. This particular saw is used and one can see it was used quite a bit. Granted, taken care of, but it hasn't loosened up and got sloppy when making cuts.

It's going to be a hard decision for me as to which saw I'm going to keep. I only need one miter saw. They're all good and have some strong features I like with both styles. I got to say, I really like how this Craftsman cuts. I like how it feels when I'm making the cure. I like the accuracy...

I'll have to pull out the others and do a Miter Saw Off before I decide.

Hope you all enjoyed this post.

Stay creative, stay Happy, and I'll see you all in the next post.

Cheers...