Craftsman 21802 (10 in. Table Saw with Stand)

does your saw have smooth miter slots or does it have a few little “teeth” to help hold the miter gauge down to the table? Mine had teeth and that became the reason I needed to replace it. I couldn’t use any homem ade jigs. I hope they changed that.

My dad has one of these, and while it’s no cabinet saw, it does OK for utility-grade projects, such as crosscutting and ripping cedar fence pickets, and cutting 2-by lumber for quick work benches. One of the better features is that the whole thing weighs about 30 lb complete, so you can pick it up and set it right where you need it.

-- Measure twice, then try to figure out which one was right.

You’re on your way now. Next comes the router table, then the drill press, then the …. oh you know the rest.
Christmas is coming, better start making your list. Nice job on the review. Thanks for taking the time.

-- Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy-May all your dovetails fit tight and right the first time

good review enjoy your new saw.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

i had a saw similar to this and it was my first TS as well. For $100 it was the right tool for me at the time. Plus it’s size makes it portable and less intimidating than a big cabinet saw. Other than outgrowing it the only problem I had with it was the fence. The fence was always out of square and eventually broke and I had to rig up my own which took FOREVER to set up for each cut. Anyway, I still have mine buried on the bottom shelf in the garage and I’d like to use it for something but I need to fix that fence issue;)

My only advice is watch that fence and make sure you don’t get any wicked kickback.

Congratulations on your first table saw. I remember when I bought my 5 function combi machine. I used the tablesaw right away, but I was very new to woodworking, so I just tiptoed around it for quite a while before I actually got up the nerve to try the other 4 functions.

-- Mike, American in Norway

I had two of these and took them both back. I couldn’t get the blade to line up with the miter slot or fence. The first one I tried to adjust the blade using the alen screws and they stripped. I got some replacement screws and still couldn’t get the blade to line up. The second time around was about the same. I’m a very paranoid woodworker these days, and all of my tools frighten me to some degree, but a misaligned tablesaw will keep me out of the shop. I’m glad to hear you’ve had better experience.

To answer HokieMojo’s question, the miter slots have little tabs (teeth?) to hold the miter gauge in the track. They don’t do a very good job and there’s a lot of slop in it. I’m going to run a few layers of duct tape trimmed to fit the miter gauge rail to “beef up” the rail. That should hold the gauge tighter to the tabs while letting it slide. I’ve fund that a light coat of WD40 in the slots helps too.

To add to Tim_456’s comment about the rip fence, I agree that it is less than accurate when it’s used. I’ve taken to using my speed square a lot to make sure the rip fence is square to the table and parallel to the blade.

Again, for the price it does a pretty good job. My next project will involve using a dado blade for the first time and also cutting some compound miter’s.

-- www.michaeldmunro.com

Just wanted to add an additional comment on the rip fence… make sure the tension screw is tight enough or the fence will travel on you and you’ll end up with an out of square cut. Found that out tonight while cutting legs for my scrap wood workbench project. Doh!

-- www.michaeldmunro.com