Craftsman  3-1/2” TRAK-CUT ™ Circular Saw with Miter Guide Base

I bought this saw despite the fact that it only had 3.5 stars, and the people were right, it is not a good tool. I wanted it to cut plywood sheets, so to try it out I used a straight edge as a guide, and tried cutting .5" plywood. It cut well for about 2 feet then the saw began to get fatigued, and then began to stop. Trying to restart the cut was difficult because of the plunge cut, and I ended up messing up my sheet of expensive plywood. So back to Sears the saw went. I had no trouble gripping the saw, but I can see that people with smaller and weaker hands might have trouble holding on to this saw. The way you have to hold the saw, and then use the plunge release button, as well as, the unusual on-off button made the saw very unnatural to use, and I suspect in the wrong hands dangerous. I would not recommend this saw to anyone, despite how neat it looks. I guess I got suckered in too.

Great Tool. Very poorly designed. You Must rely on the "Notch" to cut anything and hope its close, Then the depth lock is cheeply made that it did not last ONE day. The saw dropped down past the Necesary depth, ruining the project and my hopes of owning a tool that HAD potential. AND NO REPLACEMENT BLADES EVER AVAILABLE?

Excellent tool, easy to use, comes with plenty attachments, and a really nice carrying bag.

Does great cutting and plunge cutting. Great for hobbies and cutting where a skill saw or table saw is too big or not able to use.

Received 3 1/2" Circular Saw with Miter Guide Base via UPS. Worked fine, except the trigger lock wouldn't engage. Returned to local Sears store for exchange. Same deal...trigger lock would not engage. Returned to Sears to exchange. Got 3rd one home and tried it out...trigger lock still would not engage. Three strikes your out. Returned to store for refund.

Much better than rockwell.

Have been looking for smaller circ saw for a long while. Haven't used much yet but much easier to use than traditional circ saws. 1-1/2" depth is great for smaller than 2x4 sizes. I'm happy with purchase.

bought to use in areas of limited access. didn't work in that situation. definitely need BOTH HANDS on saw at all times. the depth of cut gauge would not hold position if ANY pressure placed on saw when cutting. felt that was more accident prone and harder to use than conventional circular saw.

As I read some of the reviews, they basically discouraged me to buy the saw as I had the previous CM model which was a disappointment. Anyway I thought the new version the CM guys developed should be better. To be honest I had to get use to the on/off switch at first but just finished 700 square feet of flooring......... I am more then happy with the results and still did not find the dangerous part, I had no kickback at all while I plunged over a 100 times. What IS disappointing me it seems some people write reviews without ever using the tool at all, really disappointing..... Coz, I never really write reviews I had to do it this time!

I bought this saw to help with a laminate flooring project. I read other reviews, but gave it a try anyway. It didn't take long to discover all the flaws. For starters, the Guide Base is worthless. There is no such thing as a precision cut. There is too much wiggle on the guide. Plus, the angle arm does not completely lock, and the angle marks are not accurate. I even tried setting up a 45 degree cut using my carpenters square, and the arm still shifted after I locked it down. The blade for cutting laminate dulled quickly, About an hour into my project I went back to my miter saw, which doesn't call all the way across my 7.6" laminate floor boards, but I was better off rotating them 180 degrees to finish the cuts. I decided to give the saw another try on a few rip cuts, and the saw simply quit on me. In total, I probably made about 10-15 cuts using the saw before it died. It was a total disappointment. On the upside, I returned the saw to Sears without any hassle.