Craftsman 21237
Craftsman 10" Sliding Compound Miter Saw Review | |
 | Craftsman 21237 Review Highlights
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| For the Professional Contractor | 5 out of 5 |
| For the Do-It-Yourselfer & Weekend Warrior | 5 out of 5 |
| For the Hobbyist and Beginner Woodworker | 5 out of 5 |
| For the Serious Woodworker | 5 out of 5 |
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The Craftsman 21237 10″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw
Here’s the Craftsman popular 10″ slider. It’s been around for years, and it has very impressive user reviews in the online marketplace. Plus this particular writer can seriously vouch for it, as I have one of my own which has done me good for 5 years now.
This saw handles cutting really wide boards due to its sliding capabilities. And with its laser guide for lining up your cut, setup is quick and accurate.
It’s got the standard 5/8″ arbor for a regular 10″ blade.
The extension wings are above average and provide for quick and easy, built-in end-stops for the cut piece. This makes for really accurate and quickly repeatable cuts.
The miter adjustments are above industry standard, but it only bevels to the left (which is on par with most competitors, but still a downside in my opinion).
The motor is not soft start, but it is 15 amp, 4,800 rpm, and cuts really well. This includes dimensional lumber and hardwood.
This model comes with a dust bag, 2 support extensions, a blade change wrench, and a hold-down clamp that can be used on either side of the saw.
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Craftsman 21237 – What It’s Got, And What It’s Not
Cross Cutting capabilities
The Craftsman 21237 can cut easily through any type of wood. Being a sliding miter saw, it can crosscut a 12″ wide board. This is really helpful in many applications.
Being a woodworker, I personally use this feature to make the individual boards wider when gluing up a panel, say for a table top. This is much quicker than doing wide crosscuts on the table saw.
The max thickness of board it can cut in one pass is 3-5/8″. This means it can handle a 4×4 post, which is really nice.
Miter and Bevel Capabilities
It can cut at a board mitered at 45 degrees that is 8″ wide.
If you’re cutting a bevel at 45 degrees, the max thickness you can cut through is 1-5/8″.
For the most part, this will handle any project you throw at it. The miters in both directions go to a max angle of 50 degrees. This makes for more customized cuts and better versatility.
However, the single bevel action maxes out at 45 degrees, left-leaning only. This is pretty standard in the industry, but there are some saws out there that can go beyond the 45-degree bevel, like the Dewalt DW713.
The miter adjustment includes positive stop detents at common angles for doing various trim and crown molding projects. These include 0, 15, 22.5, 31.6, and 45 degrees, both left and right.
Dust collection performance
Most miter saws will let you down if you really expect stellar dust collection performance from the little dust bag that comes with the tool. This model is no exception.
The cutting action of a miter saw tends to throw dust in all directions. However, the bulk of the dust coming off the back of the blade can be captured if the manufacturer gets the port in the right spot.
This saw does ok in that regard, while others I’ve reviewed completely miss the mark.
If you truly want good dust control, you’ll need to attach a shop vac to the port on the back in lieu of the dust bag.
Even this though will not capture all the dust created with the saw in action.
The best dust control I’ve found is to create a shroud around the back of the saw and attach a dust evacuation system. This is only feasible for shops, typically for woodworkers and cabinet makers.
Versatility
The weight of this saw is not bad at all. It’s light enough you can carry it pretty easily around the job site. Plus its got an easy-carry handle, which makes it better than average.
The cutting capabilities, including the increased miter angles beyond 45, make this saw more diverse and project friendly than many others.
Who it’s made for
Professionals and woodworkers will reap the most benefit from this saw. This is due to the easy carry handle, light weight, impressive cutting capabilities, and the laser guide.
As a woodworker, I regularly use the laser guide for making quicker cuts when rough cutting a board. This doesn’t save a ton of time, but it does save seconds. And after making many cuts in a short time frame, this adds up.
DIYers and hobbyists will also get great use out of this saw due to its versatility and fairly low price.
Basically, if you have the need for a sliding compound miter saw, and you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, this model is a good choice.
How it stands out
This saw stands out in that it has the features already mentioned, and really its only lacking the extended bevel capabilities. This is of course considering the low price range it falls into. You can get saws with more and better features, but at this price point, you’d be hardpressed to find a real challenger.
Also though, it has extension wings that have board stop built in. So you can slide the wing out with the board stop flipped up, line up your cut, then adjust the extension to just touch the board edge.
Then tighten down the extension and make the cut. Now you can make repeatable cuts over and over. They will all be the same length. And you don’t have to take time to line up any of them.
Opinions Based On Real User Experiences
Positive Reviews
- A fantastic saw for house projects for framing, trim work, and siding
- Found to be very easy to setup, use, and performs perfectly
- Great saw for installing stairs, especially those with wide treads
- Overall this saw is found to be well-liked and highly recommended
Negative Reviews
- some users don’t like the amount of plastic used in the design of the saw
- one user had an issue with the miter adjust handle breaking right after the warranty expired
Review Summary
After years of solid sales, this Craftsman miter saw has retained very high user ratings. The vast majority of those who leave a rating give 4 or 5 stars.
It’s been highly recommended by most users and seems to work great for any job.
I personally have owned this very saw for several years. I’m a woodworker by hobby, and I’ve had a great experience using this saw.
I can say firsthand that this saw can handle just about anything. I’ve used it for furniture building, renovations, deck repairs, and I’ve brought to jobsites for remote projects and it has faired very well. Easy to carry and setup.
Is This Low-Priced Sliding Compound Miter Saw Worthy?
This miter saw is great for DIY projects because of its versatility and it’s easy to carry. Professionals will also get plenty of use out it.
Woodworkers and hobbyists also love this saw. This is the category I’m in and I can attest to the fact that this saw has served me well for over 5 years.
Overall I highly recommend this saw to just about anyone. This saw will handle wide cuts, deep cuts, and miters, bevels, and compound cuts.
It’s got a laser guide for quick setup, which I really like. It’s got really handy board extensions with built-in flip-up board stops for making repeatable cuts.
Its capacity allows for any project, even though it lacks dual bevel, I would still be happy to use it for large crown molding jobs.
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