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My Makita Track Saw, Honest Review

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8.3K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  ihadmail  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Makita - My Makita Track Saw, Honest Review (Rating: 5)

I wish I could have bought it 50 years ago.

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#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
I gave a pro review of the saw with no cons. I've had this saw for about 2 years and have no cons to say about it. Since I bought the saw it's made life safer and much easier for me, especially when I'm working by myself in my shop.

I very seldom ever run any sheet goods through my table saw anymore. I've cut ply with it from 1/8 Balitic Birch to 1" Wheat plywood and it does exactly what I want it to do. I also have the longer rail for it. It also still has the original blade in it.

Recently, I've started to use it to straight line boards for table tops. I get better glue joints with it than on a table saw or a jointer. I straight lined 4, 2×8's today for a table top and the joints were as flush as they could possibly get.

The reason I didn't go with the higher priced saw is because this saw does just a good of job as the more expensive one. I've used the more expensive saw, could have bought the more expensive saw, but I liked this saw better. Just my personal opinion.

We have two of theses saws in our millwork and timber frame shops and here again, it's safer than a 5 hp table saw. This is our employees go to saw when it come to cutting down sheet goods now. They also use the saw when working on site.

I also use it to set the kerf on table tops for making bread board ends, Fast, easy, and spot on. No more time setting up a router to do this with.

I would recommend this saw to anyone.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
I gave a pro review of the saw with no cons. I ve had this saw for about 2 years and have no cons to say about it. Since I bought the saw it s made life safer and much easier for me, especially when I m working by myself in my shop.

I very seldom ever run any sheet goods through my table saw anymore. I ve cut ply with it from 1/8 Balitic Birch to 1" Wheat plywood and it does exactly what I want it to do. I also have the longer rail for it. It also still has the original blade in it.

Recently, I ve started to use it to straight line boards for table tops. I get better glue joints with it than on a table saw or a jointer. I straight lined 4, 2×8 s today for a table top and the joints were as flush as they could possibly get.

The reason I didn t go with the higher priced saw is because this saw does just a good of job as the more expensive one. I ve used the more expensive saw, could have bought the more expensive saw, but I liked this saw better. Just my personal opinion.

We have two of theses saws in our millwork and timber frame shops and here again, it s safer than a 5 hp table saw. This is our employees go to saw when it come to cutting down sheet goods now. They also use the saw when working on site.

I also use it to set the kerf on table tops for making bread board ends, Fast, easy, and spot on. No more time setting up a router to do this with.

I would recommend this saw to anyone.

- bruc101
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Awesome - thank you for the detailed review Bruc101. I'll be getting one soon.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
I ve heard others say the Makita performs as well if not better than the more expensive green machine.

I wonder how the Grizzly track saw runs in comparison. Ever seen one in use?

- Mainiac Matt
Click to expand...
Personally, I took the Makita over the more expensive one because after using both saws, the Makita out performed the other one in my opinion. I cut down a sheet of Cherry ply recently. I slid my thumb over the edge of the plywood and the edge was so sharp it cut my thumb, and that's with a 2 year old blade on it that gets worked almost every day. my blade, can't say about any other persons blade. I also take care of my tools and let the tools do what they're made to do.

The two friends I have that bought the more expensive saw, well, that seems to be a chest thumping thing for both of them. They laughed at me when I bought the Makita, but after seeing it work in my shop..well, my time to thump my chest because my saw was cutting as good if not better than theirs. I laughed at both of them and neither wanted to talk price and who got the last laugh,

I'm not degrading the more expensive saw, and I hope the people that do buy it has the same positive opinion of it as I do of my Makita.

The Grizzly saw. I know of a countertop shop that has three of the Grizzly track saws. Two are used to cut Corian and one is for general use in the shop. They put a metal cutting blade on the saws to cut Corian. I never paid any attention to their other track saw.

The owner told me they replaced the springs in the Grizzly with softer ones because the ones that came in it were to stiff. I asked him about the wobble I had been hearing about. He said one rail had a little but was simple to take out and all three of the saws were working flawlessly and he wouldn't hesitate to buy the saw again.

Here again, I think buying a power tool is a personal choice, what are you going to use it for, does price make a difference and can you make the cheaper tool do what you want it to do.

Maybe someone will showup that has the Grizzly and will give us a review on it.
 
I
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have this same saw also, and love it. It has more power than the Festool, but that's the only real befit other than cost really. I'd prefer if it had the zero clearance addition on the outside of the blade also, like the Festool, as I do notice some very minor tearout on the outside of the blade when cross cutting cheaper plywood.

My long track, as well as the 6 that my local supplier had in stock, is not straight. It has a pretty noticeable bow in the center. My remedy for this was to buy the 3000mm Festool track, which was dead on perfectly straight as far as I could tell.

I still use my long Makita track for tasks that don't need the extra precision of a truly straight track. One can get creative and even use this vertically instead of horizontally. When I built my shed I sheathed all of the walls after standing them, then nailed the track to the wall using the holes that are in either end. This made a really nice looking straight line cut for my doors and windows. Now you can't see that line because it's covered by doors, windows and trim, but I certainly couldn't have cut anywhere near this well freehand with a standard circular saw.

This saw comes with a great blade from the factory and rides just as well on the Festool tracks as it does on the Makita tracks. Dust collection with this saw is amazing also, using my Shop-Vac.
 
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