Customer Reviews

Makita LS1013FL 15 Amp 10-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I needed a saw when my old DeWalt 708 slider was in the shop for bearing replacement. I considered buying another DeWalt but the new model is not as nice as the old 708. I have the opportunity to use all of the comparable high end saws that my co-workers use. I did not choose the Hitachi because the dinky table makes it difficult to cut wide stock accurately. The laser on the Hitachi does not shine on the leading edge of the piece either.
The Makita laser is better because it will shine on the front edge of the piece. That makes it nice when cutting bevels. Recently I was cutting beveled siding and I needed the piece to be cut with the finish side down so the exposed cut would be square. I needed to mark the bottom of the leading edge. When using the Hitachi, the laser was not shining on the edge so I had to line the cut the old way by bending over and sighting down the blade.
The laser on the Makita will not move far enough over to line exactly on the mark. It needs to move another 32nd of an inch to line up. I may be able to fix that with a file when I have time. You can easily move the laser to either side of the cut.
The saw was easy to calibrate. It did not need much. The 0 degree bevel was perfect out of the box. The 45 degree right and left just needed to be tuned a hair.
The blade that comes with the saw makes very smooth cuts. There is no need to buy a Forrest blade like I had to with my DeWalt. I miss the high fence that comes on the Dewalt. The Makita only has a high fence on one side. You can buy a high fence for the right side.
The guard works nicely and you can see through it by means of a slot. No more bending over to see the blade on the mark. The Hitachi does not have a slot so you have to bend down to see the blade on the mark after the guard is old and opaque. Because of this there are some carpenters who remove the guard and that is not good.
The dust collection on the Makita is very good. The bag fills up frequently. The dust collection on my DeWalt is non existent. I would prefer a zipper on the dust bag instead of the slotted tube.
The table on the Makita is one of the nicer tables out there. It is very wide and stable. It swings smoothly and locks with a quick twist. The saw bevel release has been improved from the earlier Makitas. You no longer have to bump the saw hard to move it out of the 0 degree detent.
The soft start prevents the saw from jumping when it starts up. I always wait a moment with any saw before plunging the blade.
The little light, although not very bright is a nice feature when working inside.
This saw is much lighter than my DeWalt 708.
I have had this saw for about two months now and so far it is a pleasure to use. No complaints. Five Stars

I'm a repeat customer for this model. The first one I bought was in 2000, it's worked well. I do alot of kitchens and other remodels and found it wise to buy the crown molding stops from Makita. Makes the crown work a breeze, no messing with bevel stops anymore. Pay attention to the instructions with the stops, you have to cut the molding upside down, but once you get used to it, it's pretty much flawless. As for the saw, the first one I bought had the long handle, it's a bit different than the current one with the stubby handle. It's worked well, about once every two years I take it apart (not too difficult) and clean things, along with applying a small amount of wheel bearing grease to the bearing surfaces (1/2 moon shaped metal shims about 12" long). This is only necessary when things start to get hard to move or there is noticeable drag in the saw movement. Reviewer ShopMister is correct, wait for the discount from Amazon, the new saw I bought today is shipped for $374.00 total, can't beat that price. First saw paid for itself, and then some. I'm not stuck on some brand name, my tools come from various manufacturers and I pretty much love the Dewalt and Bosch line, but Makita makes the very best sliding Miter saw out there today. Buy a good saw stand to go with it (like Dewalt) and you're all set. The Makita blade is every bit as good as my 80 tooth Freud's, probably even better than the 60 tooth Freud's. Another nice feature is the capability to remove the dust bag and hook a small shop vac directly to the saw, helps keep the dust down when doing trim inside a residence that's lived in...a note about safety too, there is a small button you have to depress prior to pulling the trigger on the saw. Don't trust it, sometimes it will not be necessary, just pulling the trigger will start the saw, something to be aware of should you develope a habit of believing in the safety button.

I debated for a very long time on which sliding 10 inch saw I was going to choose. After almost a year of reading reviews, waiting some more, reading etc... i finally pulled the trigger on this saw. My final two choices were the Makita LS1013FL and the Bosch 4410L. The recent article in FWW made me pause due to the review on the Makita but after personally handling the saw my doubts were erased. The first Makita saw I received in the mail looked like it was knocked around pretty good during the shipping process so I sent it back and the new one that came was in perfect condition. Love the stock blade that comes on these saws. The laser is actually quite useful and the light comes in handy more often than you might expect. The great thing about this saw is they both have independent controls from the power switch on the saw. This means you can use the laser when you want to, the light when you want to, and they can both be on before the blade is spinning. Much safer than the saws where the blade needs to be spinning in order for the laser to work. Out of the box the saw was perfectly square and all of the stops were lined up. Overall I would definitely give the saw 5 stars. Time will tell if this saw is going to hold up as well as the original LS1013's have. This saw is a pleasure to use and I don't have any regrets. It also helps that I paid $408 shipped to my door. Wait for a deal on this saw. No reason to pay full price if you don't have to.

First off, let me give you some background. I have been making fine furniture for over 30 years so when my old Sears radial arm motor finally went I decided to look at both radial arm saws and miter saws. After considerable research I decided that a sliding compound miter saw was the best choice.

Again more research to determine which saw to get. After many reviews I narrowed my choice to either the Festool Kapex or the Makita ls1013fl.
Now I am a big fan of Festool products as they are all top notch quality and are great shop tools because they are virtually dust-free. But the best reason to own Festools is the superb quality they produce. Many people are turned off by Festools due to the high cost but I have always found them to be worth the investment.

So with that in mind, I decided that I would try the Makita first and then the Kapex. I was going to order the Makita through Amazon but their were some complaints over the poor packing and damages resulting from shipping, so I decided to go to Home Depot and purchase the one with the best looking box.

Results, Results, Results

So to cut to the chase, let me tell you that I will not be revisiting the Kapex. After plugging in the saw and getting ready to make all of the adjustments to fine tune it I was pleasantly suprised. First off, the quality of the cut is the best I have ever seen. I had fully planned on getting a Forest 10" blade to replace the stock Makita blade but after making several cuts I was amazed at the finish of the cut. I have a Denali digital protractor that measures to 1 tenth of a degree. The cut was exactly 90.0 degrees. Then for some thick stock to check for tilt. Again 90.0 degrees. The edge of the cut had no visable chipout and the endgrain looked absuolutely shiney. I viewed the edges using a magnifying glass as well as the end grain. This sample looked like it was cut with a scalpul. Absolutely flawless.

I was so amazed at the quality of the cut that I finally realized that something was missing. As I marveled at the cut I looked over at the saw and to my suprise noticed that there was absolutely no dust around the saw. When I hooked up the saw I had connected it to my Fein turbo II dust vac (the kind that powers on when the tool starts). This arangement allowed the tool to perform right up there with the Festools as far as dust control. I then tried the laser line. I marked a scrap piece with my marking knife (more accurate than a pencil line). and centered the laser on the knife cut. I then cut the stock and immediately went to the magnifying glass. Wow, I could clearly see 1/2 of a knife mark on the edge line.

Needless to say, this saw will be a keeper for me. I cannot speak to longevity as I have just purchased this but I will state that from one person that purchases fine quality tools I would highly recommend this tool.

I Have used almost all the higher end chop saws over the years extensively. including a few iterations of this ten inch Makita. I've been using a co-worker's brand new one for a few months now, and have to say that I'm very dissapointed.
By no means am I griping, I just figure others would like to know about the issues I have run in to.

Firstly an old complaint, when you have a piece of stock ready to cut, it completley covers the miter gaudge. Minor I know but still annoying.

The laser is very faint even in a dark room, and only casts about four inches of laser light on the piece of 1x12 you are trying to cut at an odd angle. Also the adjusment of the laser leaves alot to be desired as well. You just loosten a thumbscrew and it wiggles around all over the place (as opposed to the Hitachi 10" saw that has a great laser system).

I have had some serious problems with the blade guard recently, where it gets caught on the work piece in various different cutting positions (including square), thereby ruining the cut and forcing another attempt. I've taken to just pinning the guard up with my cutting hand to get the job done which is not very safe.

the ability to tighten the miter gaudge out of the detents isn't very strong at all, which leads to trouble when you for example, set the miter to say 4 degrees, tighten the handle, then try to adjust the bevel to say 3 degrees, frequently you end up having the miter click back into the zero detent as soon as you touch the bevel adjustment.

The bevel dosen't go past 45 degrees (maybe 46) which should be available on a higher end saw such as this.

As far as the good is concerned, The depth of cut adjustment is great. It allows you to set depth, and if you need to make another cut all the way through the piece, you can just swing the adjustment setting out of the way and back again when ready to continue with depth adjusted cuts. I haven't seen this ability on any other saws. The light is very handy, and bright in most lighting situations. The saw is relatively light weight.

Lastly a couple of thoughts on other saws. I owned a 12" Bosch with the up front bevel. I wouldn't buy another for sure. It got very innacurate over time, and I've heard the same from a few other people (about the 10" as well). I loved the up front bevel but the thing was huge and heavy, and fell just short of the mark. Don't even get me started on the Dewalts, I hate those things. I got a chance to try the new Hitachi's last summer and liked what I saw. The only issue I had was that the entire base of the saw was too small for the size of the cutting head itself, which led to it being very top heavy and tipping prone. With a proper saw stand this should't be a problem. I haven't tried the Rigid but have used there table saw recently and it is of good construction. The only other thing to consider is that very very very rarely does a tool come along that's close to perfect. every hop saw model out there is going to have issues. It's just a matter of minimizing the problems and trying to keep it within the budget. for my money the Hitachi 10" is the way to go. Even though it looks like an alien's love child.

Nice saw overall, but the bevel detent is junk. Depending on whether you're returning the saw to 0 from the left or the right, the blade will be up to 2 degrees off zero - meaning I have to check it with a square every time. Inexcusable, from a saw in this class.

When i recieved this saw the box was in very poor shape. Part of the saw was prodtruding and two sides were split from top to bottom. The saw had shifted position clockwise 45 deg. in the box and I was concerned. I set the saw on my stablmate stand fully prepared to spend the next couple hours tuning it up. Was I surprised to make my first test cut and find it right on. I put it through the shakedown and didn't have to make a single adjustment. Nothing I expect to put this machine though can possibly compare to it's trip here. The blade is as good as my Forrest and I was amazed at how quiet it was. I have used a number of miter saws and have to say using this one has spoiled me. The light is probably not of much use unless you are working in unsafe conditions anyway. The laser is a plus. Great price from Amazon weekend special, saved big $s.

Woodworker's Journal (part of Rockler) evaluated six 10" Dual Bevel Sliding Miter Saws in the June 2008 issue. The top rated by a good bit was a Festool saw. Festool is European in origin and a VERY good saw. However it costs more than three times as much as this one. The reviewer says if you are gifted in the money department, buy the Festool because it excels in every test done. Kind of expected for the Germans...

This saw came in second, only three points behind the Festool and actually excelled in cutting power. For the price, power, and accuracy it will be a very good buy for yawl looking for a new chop saw...

I have a 10" LS 1013 in last year's reincarnation without the fluorescent light, but with the laser. It is a beautiful saw --- I also looked at the Bosch (most of my tools are Bosch), but luckily I didn't go for it. I agonized over whether I needed to spend the money for a sliding miter saw and didn't think much about the laser. My advice to anyone in a similar position is do not think twice about spending the extra money for the slider, and the laser is a wonderful help when making multiple cuts. I have used it to cut wood, metals, plastics and it has always performed very well. One caution. When cutting metals the kerf guide is made out of plastic and will melt unless protected from the metal stock.

I replaced an older Delta compound miter saw with this on because the delta wore out after 15 years...

This saw came from the factory with a pretty good blade, a laser and fluorescent light and Makita through in a free job site radio as a promotion.
The price too was great.

For me now in my 40's the fluorescent light and laser help with my aging eyes and the saw was aligned correctly when it arrived. The saw cuts very accurately and is easy to adjust. I would recommend this saw over a 12" non-sliding saw to most people. The blades are less expensive the saw is smaller and this saw will do everything I need it to do. I have a small furniture building company so precision and ruggedness are both important to me.