Best Makita Cut-Off & Mitre Saws
Makita LS1040
I loved this saw until 3hrs of use time cutting pine skirting, it died. WHAT THE HELL MAKITA? – Brought from Sydney Tools late Aug 2022, didn't get to use it until October 2022 due to landscaping being brought forward. Used only to cut skirting… Read more
and Archs, total run time of around 3hrs. Saw stopped working but still power to light and laser. Took it into Sydney Tools and they sent it immediately to local authorised repairer. Repairer advised that brushes were totally worn out and NOT covered by warranty. At first I think everyone just assumed I was lying and had used and abused the saw, but I asked them to have a look at it and they agreed it was as new and definitely NOT a saw that had been used much at all.
Makita have denied everything and any warranty claim despite the repairer suggesting they should, and the rep won't even call me to discuss. It's not necessarily about the money, but the principle. The saw brushes are obviously faulty.
My Dad had said decades ago that Makita had lost their mojo so I had avoided them for all this time - and I have bought a lot of tools as I regularly move and renovate my homes. So, I finally went out on a limb and back to Makita and this is the result. I am out of pocket for the repairs and totally disgusted in their after sales service. I took the worn brushes back to ST and they suggested that the brushes can sometimes have material contamination which weakens them and they just shatter. Sydney Tools felt my pain, know me well enough and have offered a store credit for the repair costs as I buy a lot from them.
I really look after my tools and I don't flog them. I am sooooo disappointed and based solely on their lack of response, you can be sure that the long list of tools I have on Santas list won't be Makita - its a running joke with the trades on site already. Sadly for Makita I have a wicked sense of humour and they can BANK on me telling my friends and acquaintances (and maybe I'll even go and make new friends just to tell them) how crap this experience has been. Things go wrong with products - noone denies that but its reasonable to expect respectful after sales service when there is a legitimate issue. The rep for Port Macquarie should have just called...
Excellent lightweight drop saw – Used this drop saw for a sauna build so it needed to cut framing, lining boards and lots of mitres. It never missed a beat and was easy to finely adjust to get 45 degree angles perfect. Would definitely recommend. Show details
Best power tool purchase in ages – I made the mistake of buying an entry level Hikoki (Hitachi) mitre saw online to replace my old commercial grade Hitachi but took one look at it out… Read more
of the box and thought: nup, not going to do the job.
Flicked it and bought this, admittedly for a much higher price. There are several Makita slide compound mitre saws available. This and its big brother 305mm (12”) version have a unique design where the saw comes forward on fixed double slide bars instead of the bar/s sliding through the main body. This is a huge benefit to anyone with less bench space. As long as you’re using the vacuum port rather than the dust bag, you can push it right up against the wall.
Cutting is fast (comes with an excellent stock blade), with soft start and motor kill after handle release. Quiet compared to many others. Slide rail is a dream to use. The base bevels easily on the horizontal, with firm click locking on the most common angles and an easy adjustment to fluid freeform angle setting. Vertical bevel is easy and accurate, designed well so it’s not a huge weight and difficult to set an angle left or right.
The cutting flexibility for a 10” is so impressive, it’s better than my old 12”. No wonder this sells for more than the bigger model. If you’re doing something like decking, this thing is adaptable enough to make tricky compound cuts and even a super long straight cut out to 300mm. It’s also got a really tall cutting capacity, so for narrow wood up to 100mm, you can leave the slide locked for stability and cut straight through, for example, 5 stacked lengths of 19mm dress decking or 3 of 32mm in one cut. Huge time save if you have multiple pieces the same size. For me building a deck around my swim spa, it was an unbelievable advantage.
The horizontal handle works well, making it easier to bring the saw down onto the wood, and it’s not fiddly to start, just a simple thumb press on the safety button to release the squeeze handle. There’s a built-in laser, but for me it’s not that helpful, as it’s only on one side and difficult to see in broad daylight. But at least it’s switchable, so I just have it permanently off.
Only two real downsides for me.
1. With wet wood the sawdust pipe clogs. But then that’s probably the same for any of these types of saws. It’s really set up for a vacuum attachment. Minor niggle, though. A manual vacuum at the end of the day and remembering to empty the dust bag 3-4 times if you’re cutting all day is not a great inconvenience to me. 2. The weight. If this will sit on a work bench it’ll never bother you (unless your workbench isn’t strong enough!) but for moving into cutting site daily it’s a bit of a pain. There’s a solid metal carry grip on the top, but at around 40kg, it’s a big lift with knees bent and requiring both hands. Easiest with two people.
Despite the above, I still rate it 5 stars. Beautifully clean cutting, quick, powerful, accurate, quiet and effortless to use. And the fixed slide rails system works really well.
Powerful, Lightweight, Almost Perfect – I do not have a workshop so I need a sliding compound mitre saw that is easy to move and not too heavy (compared to my previous large, heavy 240V… Read more
one). I own quite a few Makita cordless tools so I thought the Makita DLS714 saw would be perfect as it is lightweight (compared to the DLS111 or DLS2111 which are much heavier but provide additional features - laser, depth of cut, larger bevel). The cut is accurate and the motor is powerful enough to cut through 45mm dressed hardwood. I experienced kickback (for the first time in my woodworking life) that was so severe that 2 saw blade teeth were damaged and the back fence was gouged and pushed off line/center by a huge splinter/chip so the saw blade had to be replaced and the back fence sanded and re-aligned. Due to its size (190mm), the bevel angle is limited, there is no laser to align the cut location (I bought a small laser and embedded it near the rubber chip/sawdust extraction port) and the depth of cut is limited, especially for bevel cuts. I am not sure if I would buy this particular model again due to its limited depth of cut - the reason for giving it 4 stars. If you want to add a cutting guide using a light shadow, buy a bendable flexible USB LED light, a USB male female switch cable and a small USB external battery on eBay (total approx cost = $25) and use a hot glue gun to glue the USB LED light in front of the blade, on top of the blade housing but under the blade guide and then position the USB external battery near the carry handle (I used double sided tape, otherwise use velcro).