Customer Reviews

Makita 5008MGA Magnesium 8-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Electric Brake

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After spending a couple of weeks looking at circular saws by everyone from Craftsman to Festool, I selected this one.

In the past I have tended to buy Milwaukee or Porter Cable, but their saws either didn't have the features I wanted, or the quality didn't make the "cut". I wanted a high quality, well finished, and well engineered saw that I could rely on for many years to come. I also wanted blade braking, and I thought an illuminated blade path would be nice for those times when the work might not be well lit. And finally, because I would sometimes be losing some cut depth to having the saw mounted on top of a cutting sled, I wanted an 8" saw. All of these factors led me to make the leap and buy my very first Makita product.

Having made my choice, and being anxious to get started on some much needed home repairs on a weekend when I had some help available, I ordered the saw for next day delivery, and received it on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon it was hard at work. So how did it perform?

First, the saw is pretty quiet, to the degree that any circular saw is ever quiet. Perhaps it would be better to say it wasn't as incredibly loud as some.

Cutting with this saw was effortless. There was the sense that I was simply sliding the saw across the surface, and that the cutting that occurred was some sort of surprising, and wholly unrelated, coincidence. In other words, it was as effortless as one could ever hope for.

I was using the saw with an undersized 71/4" Freud blade I already had on hand, so it is hard for me to speak to the accuracy of the depth scale, and I wasn't making any precision cuts anyway. But adding in the 1/2" fudge factor for the difference between an 8-1/4" blade and a 7-1/4" blade seemed to give the result I was shooting for. The blade brake seemed to work reasonably well, although I don't have any experience with other braked saws for comparison. The lighting was moderately helpful when I was working underneath a structure in reduced illumination.

Now for the downside. First, unlike its smaller and nearly identical sibling, the 5007MGA, the 5008MGA does not ship with a case, and according to Makita customer service, none is available for purchase. (NOTE TO MAKITA: THIS IS SHORT SIGHTED AND STUPID. This isn't a cheap saw. Not providing a way to protect it during storage and transport is just poor. Please start offering a case and I promise I will buy it.)

I was also VERY disappointed to discover that the saw was built in China. I have never had a tool built in China that had decent quality. I hope this one will be the lone exception.

For those that are trying to decide between this saw and the 5007, the differences I found are as follows: the 5008 weighs half a pound more, and is about half an inch longer. 8.25" blades are a little less common, but not all that hard to find. (You can substitute the 7.25" blades if you need to, and they work just fine in the 5008.) And of course, as mentioned, no case for the 5008.

So to sum things up, after two days of use I am favorably impressed with the fit, function, and finish of my first Makita product. I will be making follow up edits when I have done some precision cuts, and as I get more hours of operation on the saw. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a good case for this saw, please post a comment on it.

We modify Circular saws to work better with our track saw system.
We buy retail, via Amazon, and we don't have to support any manufacturers.
After extensive testing we pick the best saws to modify and provide "EZ Ready" saws to our customers. ( dust collection, antichip protection and alignments.)
This is one of the best saws for use on our patented track system.
I can go on and on about the benefits of this saw but you can visit our forum and talk with other woodworkers DIY's and pro's. [...]
Most of our customers use the Makita 5008 MGA.
Much stronger than normal plunge saws and easier to use on and off the track.
Unlike the plunge type saws, you don't have to apply down pressure to keep the saw from lifting. Safer and easier to slide eon the tracks.
The quality, fit and finish of the new line of Makita saws are the best available in the market today. We don't like their plunge saw, Same way that we don't like any plunge saws. But all their MGA's and 5104 including thir 16" monster are very nice saws.

This saw was a big step up from my little Skil saw, and don't let anybody kid you, magnesium or no, it's substantially heavier than an entry-level homeowner's 7 1'4" circular saw. How it compares weightwise to a pro saw I can't tell you. It's manageable, though, and well balanced and ergonomically agreeable.

I bought this saw to use with the Eurekazone track saw system. I needed the larger saw to achieve decent cutting depth with the track. It's got plenty of power for trouble-free cutting through hardwood plywood, a pleasant improvement over my old saw. Of course, the tracksaw keeps it dead straight, and I'm able to get cuts as smooth and true--or more so--than on my table saw.

Features I like about the Makita saw are the light, which is a lot more useful than I expected, and the dust ejection, though with the track saw I usually end up standing right in its path. I don't have a dust port for it, so I generally chase it with the shop vac, and it catches a fair amount of the sawdust. Eventually I'll install a front-mounted dust port per the recommendation of the Eurekazone system. It's a good saw that I expect to last as long as I need it to.

I use this saw to frame new houses every day winter and summer .I like that it has everything and 3" cut depth ,brake and LED light cool. I owe 3 others 7 1/4 Makitas and this is sircular saw to go with .Also own many other Makita tools and glad I do ! Hope they will be coming out with new products !

I found myself with a lot of 3 inch thick material, so looked for a saw capable of sawing it in one pass. This saw seemed promising. It's wonderful! It has a nice heavy base plate (not some whimpy stamped thing), cuts a full 3inch deep, marked adjustments for depth, bevel cuts to 50 degrees (with auto stops at 22.5 and 45), plenty of power, and not noticably heavier than my usual saw. And did I mention the light illuminating the blade? Now I'm using it for everything.

I bought this 5008MGA specifically to use with my EurekaZone track system. The problem with 7-1/4" saws on the EZ track is that they might not cut all the way through 2X boards, especially with undersized blades (not all 7-1/4" blades are a full 7-1/4" inches in diameter). My other saw was a mid-priced consumer saw, not the best for serious hobby-level fine woodworking. This saw gives adequate depth for all materials I'm likely to cut, has a blade brake so I can reposition the saw quicker when I'm done with the cut, is light for its size, and is much sturdier and more powerful than sub-$100 saws. These attributes make it excellent for track saw use.

I purchased this saw to cut icf forms with metal studs and it is a very powerful and capable saw.I would recommend it

This saw is amazing!! Smooth, quiet and powerful. I use it with the Triton Worcentre 2000 and I'm very happy with the saw. I thought it would be a little heavy but it is not. Excellent product!

For the extra depth capacity that you get with this 8.25-inch saw, I was surprised how light it is! (It weights the same as my 7.25-inch saw and even it is light for its class). I also like this saw because the cut line is easy to see. These might seem like small things but by the end of a working day they become significant! It's nice that the rip fence is included; my other circular saws didn't come with a rip fence and even if I wanted to buy one they are hard to find (at least where I am). I'll be doing a roof soon and I am looking forward to using this saw for the rafters. In fact this is probably the only saw I will need!

I really like the size and features of the Makita 5008MGA 8-1/4" circular saw but I must have received the one bad one. On the second use, the "C.S.N. BOLT" - tightens the saw after you adjust the depth - broke. I extracted the bolt and could clearly see the wide flat end had simply torn off. I can only guess it was a bad weld or some other manufacturing defect. I'll have to mail order a new bolt. Not a good way experience after only two weeks and two uses.