I don’t like using handsaws–it’s exhausting! When I wanted a simple jigsaw to use for basic home improvement tasks around the house, I got a Craftsman V20 jigsaw, which is working great for me.

Here’s our review and real-world demo of the Craftsman V20 jigsaw.

The Battery System

The Craftsman V20 cordless jigsaw uses the standard V20 battery system that Craftsman uses for a lot of their cordless power tools. This means that if you already have tools with the V20 line, like a drill, driver, or vacuum cleaner, you can use the same battery packs for the jigsaw.

Tool-Less Blade Removal System

One of the most convenient features of this jigsaw is that it has a tool-less blade removal system. This makes it easy to swap blades in and out if you are cutting different kinds of materials. If you need a rougher or finer cut, depending on the material, you can easily swap out the blades.

To add a blade, you simply need to push the lever up and then pull the blade straight out. To put the blade in, you reverse the process. Make sure to push it all the way in and align it with the small wheel inside.

I did it wrong the first time, but after trying again it was easy to use.

Installing the Battery

Installing the battery is very simple. All you need to do is align the battery with the bottom of the jigsaw and then slide it in. There is also a safety button, which is a nice extra safety feature. This keeps the jigsaw locked until you are ready to use it.

Variable Speed

The Craftsman V20 cordless jigsaw has a variable speed, allowing you to adjust the speed depending on the material you are cutting. You can go from a very slow movement to quite a fast speed. This is a great feature for more detailed work that requires you to cut slowly or for bigger materials that require more power.

Our Real-World Test

To test the Craftsman V20 jigsaw, we used it to cut a 2×4 into various sections. You can see this in the video above.

As always, safety comes first. Make sure to wear safety glasses when you are cutting anything. Also, make sure that the area is set up so that nothing will fall and that you don’t have hands near the blade.

We started by getting some speed going on the blade before we hit the wood. Then, we squeezed the trigger and started cutting. We got a pretty good cut and went straight through the wood without any problem.

This jigsaw is not designed for the most precise straight cuts, as it is usually used for thinner pieces of wood and more intricate cuts. However, we were able to get a decently straight cut. With a coarser blade, it would have been an even easier time.

Overall, the Craftsman V20 cordless jigsaw is great for consumers and hobbyists who need to do basic projects around the house. It is not powerful enough to stand up to a whole day’s worth of work. However, it is perfect for small projects. We used it to make a perch for our chickens in the chicken shed and it worked great.

This jigsaw is definitely worth having in your toolbox and you will find it very helpful.

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Our Ratings

• Construction Quality: 4/5
• Tool-less Blade Removal System: 4/5
• Precision: 2/5
• Power: 3/5
• Battery Life: 4/5

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• High-quality construction
• Uses standard V20 battery system
• Tool-less blade removal system
• Variable speed
• Safety button for extra safety

Cons:

• Not designed for long-term, heavy-duty work
• Can’t provide precise straight cuts
• Battery life not ideal for long-term use

How We Tested it

This product was tested by using a standard 2×4. We checked the tool-free blade removal system, and then tested by cutting through the 2×4 with the variable speed feature and it demonstrated a decently straight cut.

The battery life was also tested to see if it could complete a big project on one charge (in our case, cutting wood to repair a gate), showing that it is designed more for use around the house rather than for contractor-grade work.

Where to Buy

Key Takeaways

• The Craftsman V20 cordless jigsaw is great for basic home projects and uses the V20 battery system.
• It has a tool-less blade removal system for easy blade swapping.
• The saw has a safety feature to prevent it from accidentally turning on.
• It has a variable speed for more precise cutting.
• It is not designed for contractors, but is great for hobbyists and basic home projects.

FAQ

Video Transcript

Let’s take a look today at the Craftsman V20 Cordless Jigsaw. So, this is a really great jigsaw if you want to do some kind of fairly basic tasks around the house. The things that I like about it, it’s Craftsman, so the quality of the construction is overall going to be really good.

Another thing is that it is a battery powered jigsaw. It uses the standard V20 battery system that Craftsman uses for a lot of their cordless power tools. So, if you have other tools in the V20 line—like I have a drill and driver, and a vacuum cleaner, and that kind of thing—you can use the same battery packs here in the jigsaw.

You basically can just put that into the bottom, and I’ll show that in a minute. But, I want to show first one of the most convenient things here; it’s got a tool-less blade removal system, so you can easily swap those blades in and out if you’re cutting different kinds of things. If you

want a rougher cut versus a finer cut, depending on what you’re working on, and I’ll demo the actual cutting in a sec too. But, I just want to show you before I put a battery in. Obviously, if you cut your hands anywhere near the blade, you want the battery to be out.

This system is super easy to add and remove a blade. So, we’re just basically going to push this little lever up, and then that allows the blade to slide right out. So, lever up, and then you just pull the blade straight out. Then, to put it in again, you just basically reverse the process. It’s

hard to do this one-handed, but I’ll push that down and then I’ll put the blade in. You can see it’s just going to lock it right into place. So, there it is. I’m still holding this open. You just want to align it to the small wheel in there. You can see that little wheel on the inside, and

then I’m just going to go ahead and let go. Whoop, didn’t get it the first time. Let’s try again. Yeah, make sure to push it all the way in, and now we’re locked in installed. So, obviously not 100% foolproof; I can still mess that up, but fundamentally very easy to swap those blades in and out.

Now, again putting the battery in is very easy. I’ve got my V20 battery on here. We’re just going to align this with the bottom of the drill, and then we’re just going to slide that—sorry, the stars—and slide that in. And now we are ready to go.

There’s a little safety button; I think this is a nice feature too. Obviously, you should never rely on it fully, but it’s a nice extra safety feature that’s going to keep this locked until we’re ready to actually use it. You can pop that back off again just by pressing this over here, and now when

we squeeze here you can see we get a variable speed—everything from a very slow movement all the way up to quite fast speed on there. So, you can adjust your speed. Obviously, if you’re doing more detailed work, you’re going to want to slow it down very slowly to cut through the wood. Or, if

you want to, you know, boost it up and get through something bigger, then you can obviously go at a higher speed. The variable speed is a nice element on there. So, I think that’s enough talking about cutting things; let’s actually cut something.

This is a standard two by four. I’m gonna go ahead and demonstrate. I just made a little notch there where I want to cut at the five-foot mark. Here, I’m going to make a perch for my chickens in the chicken shed.

Obviously, Safety First—where safety glasses when you’re going to be cutting anything here—and make sure that you’ve got the area around it, you know, nicely set up so that nothing’s going to fall, and you’re not going to have hands anywhere near the blade here.

Obviously, with a handheld jigsaw you always need to do a little bit more careful because it’s not anchored to anything. It’s not obvious you know that you’re in a shop, so just be more careful with any kind of hand tool. Let’s go ahead and start cutting this. It’s going to get some speed going on the blade

first before we hit the wood. All right, and there we go. So, we got a pretty good cut here. Went straight through that, not a problem on that standard two-by-four. Like with any kind of a jigsaw, you know, they’re not known for the most precise straight cuts really; you’re usually using them on a thinner

you know thinner piece of wood and you’re trying to cut something more intricate. So, we’re not going to get the most perfect straight edge like you would with a circular saw, but overall pretty good. I wasn’t even following a line there; I was just sort of going for it, and I think we got a decently straight cut on there.

Worked its way through fine. Probably with a bit coarser of a blade, it would have been an even easier time. It’s not the most powerful saw, you know; it’s not like a contractor grade saw. I think it’s really designed more for consumers, hobbyists, DIY around the house kind of stuff. You’re probably

not going to see this at a job site, and certainly the battery life. You can do a fair amount of cutting with this. You know, you can probably use it to do your big project all in one charge, but you’re going to want something more contractor grade than this for basic around the stuff a house kind of stuff though.

I think, like this little perch I made for my chickens, I think it’s going to work great, and really a nice tool—something you’ll find very helpful to have in your toolbox.