Customer Reviews

Makita LXT406 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 4-Piece Combo Kit

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had Makita tools for over 20 years and all of them are still working. I am not a Contractor but more towards the occasional renovation. I have a big project coming up and need portable Pro tools. Only recently have the power from higher voltage batteries made this possible. Not the cheapest "Set" but far better built than the competition. This set is a nice combination of tools and though most people don't think they have need for the light, it ends up being used often. Great to have during a power failure - 12 hours of a powerful light with the two batteries. Charger is fast and should be able keep up with heavy tool use. A battery powered circular saw with this much power and stamina - never thought I would ever own one! Love it!!

OKAY! It is now a year later and I have finished my Log Cabin in Vermont. Actually, I just did the interior but that is still a whole summer of work. All the walls, doors, stairs, plumbing and electrical work. All done with just this set of power tools with just the addition of the LXT jigsaw. I also got 2 more batteries as often you work with more than one tool at a time. The tools made it easy. Batteries last and recharge faster then I used them up. Drill and jigsaw last the longest. The circular saw needs the most power and depletes the battery fastest but the next battery is already waiting. The included blade for the circular saw is high quality and lasted for the entire project - still good for a while yet! I used the reciprocal saw the least but it is fine also. I have small hands but the tools are really well balanced and not too heavy. The batteries deliver maximum power till the end and don't slowly get weaker and weaker. You know when it is time to recharge. Very glad I got these tools. No hesitation in recommending them or any other Makita tool! Just wish I had another cabin to do...

I bot this set a few days ago and rec'd it within two days of it being shipped. Amazon had the best price, plus free shipping. Good deal ! Upon inspection, the three main tools - drill/circular saw/recipro saw all look to be of very high quality. The forth tool(if you can call it a tool)is the light. It is just basic plastic with 4 increments of adjustment, but it works well. The carrying bag is very nice. It's made of a heavy material and is slightly padded all around. My reservation at this early stage of ownership is with the drill. The chuck appears to have a slight wobble. It is noticeible at the lower RPMs. At the higher RPMs it's more of a slight vibration. I will need to try it under different scenarios to see if it affects the precision of drilling,screwing etc. The drill is the BHP452 model. Has anyone else noticed this wobble?? I would be disappointed if I had to return it back to Amazon, plus I would have to pay a hefty shipping cost.
I'll follow up once I give the drill a good trial.

I have been using this tool set a couple weeks. Very satisfied. Batteries charge quickly and last a long time. The price is better than anywhere else I looked. I have many makita tools and am happy with the quality of the tools.

I put off replacing an older Makita 12 Volt drill, because it still worked well. This set has provided good performance and good battery life. Easy to handle is a plus. I am pleased with the 6 1/2 in circular saw and the Sawsall. I have not used the Light much. This is one purchase I would recomend to my friends and have.
I use the Drill most often. Now if they could make one that would know if I want to drive a screw or take one out, that would be nice. After the purchase, I found a sale for a dollar less at a store.

Makita cordless tools are the best on the market! This set is worth every penny and this references comes from an electrician that uses a set like this on jobs that are in corrosive conditions and abusive and abrasive locations ! these tools are exposed to these conditions for 8-10-to 18 hrs a day ! they have never let me down!

I've owned this set for about 3 years now. In that time, we've used the circular saw, drill, and reciprocating saw intermittently, but they always performed when we needed them. All have performed phenomenally actually. As for the light, we never use it. Plugging in a $75 battery to the light just seems like overkill when you could be using the tools or charging the spare (and using a much cheaper light).

The biggest problem, and the reason for the 4 star rating, is the batteries. After only 2 years, one of the batteries decided to die... permanently. It worked one day, and after I drained it from use I popped it on the charger and came back the next. The charger had an error on it. I tried again, same issue. After getting confused, I Googled it and found this to be a common problem. The batteries just die one day, and for me that day happened after I was out of warranty (as it seemed to for most people). Apparently it has something to do with one cell failing, and the controller marking the whole battery dead. Replacements are about $75 currently (for the full size battery), which is a major bummer because I love these tools. Electronics is another hobby, so maybe some day I'll learn how to fix it...

Otherwise, the tools themselves are GREAT. They provide more than enough power for most jobs and have lights on them to see where you're cutting/drilling/etc. They are built durably, and keep going. Each has separate settings depending on the job you need to do. The rapid charger allows you to be running one battery, and by the time you need the next, it's ready to go. The only real downside I've found with the tools themselves is that I wish the drill had a level, but that was no deal killer.

Don't get me wrong. I definitely love these tools, and highly recommend them, but don't be surprised one day when your charger tells you the battery has bit the dust.

This is my third set of tools in about a 2 years. I started with a Ryobi set and was not happy at all. It was a NiCad set and did not have enough life to be worth the money at all. I used this set for about a year and finally got rid of it to get some better tools. I then purchased a Ridgid lithium set, which I hoped would be much better than the Ryobi. Unfortunately, this set was about as bad as the Ryobi. The battery life was not very good at all and I found myself charging batteries constantly. Furthermore, if these tools were stored in the garage in the wintertime they would not work at all if left for a few hours. My garage is not extremely cold either. This rendered the tools all but useless in the wintertime. I finally gave up and purchased this Makita set. My only regret is that I did not get this set in the first place. Compared to the other tools it is far superior. The drill is much lighter and I can work all day with it without tiring of the weight. As many others have said this is an extremely well balanced tool. The batteries have great run time and charge in about 30 minutes. Overall for the price these tools are well worth the price and I would highly recommend.

I did a lot of research before finally settling on this combo set. It came down to either the bosch or the makita and I decided on this set mainly because of the free tool that Makita was offering as a rebate. Ridgid and Milwaukee was also on my list but my friend had a makita set so it was easy to swap and share batteries/tools. It also helped that the price of this was only $389 (plus free tool) vs mid 400s for the other brand. Obviously the quality on the Bosch seems much more refined and solid performing (smooth), but in the end price was also a factor.

The drill/driver itself was a little on the noisy side since I was coming from a 9.6V DeWalt Ni-Cd. But boy does this thing have power! I do see a little chuck wobble but not so severe to cause problems with my spade wood boring bits. Btw, as a side note, if you decide to use bi-metal hole cutters with this drill, it'll eat up batteries. A better alternative would be to get the carbide tipped hole saws. Some reviewers also noted that the reversing switch may accidentally engage but I didn't have that problem. The switch is positioned a little low and I can see how someone may hit the switch going from reverse to forward. In the forward mode, there's less of a chance of that happening. Side note: the bosch reversing switch is just the opposite, it's up and further away. If you have large hands, there wouldn't be a problem. I have medium hands and I can barely reach the Bosch switch without repositioning my hand. The LED light does cast a V (maybe more like a U) shaped shadow. Bosch seemed to have solved that problem by putting the LED near the base of the handle (near the battery).

As for the circular saw, I didn't even use the stock blade. I switched it out for a Freud Diablo 24T and it cuts thru PT wet lumber like a hot knife thru butter! The base is pretty solid and way better than my Skil saw. I can see how the lever to adjust the cut depth can be broken; gotta be gentle on it. The guard is made of plastic as is most of the other 6 1/2" cordless saws I've seen. Power is decent and adequate for working on deck lumber. I now use this saw mainly over my corded Skil and love the fact it's so portable and maneuverable. The blade is on the left and I've had to adjust how I clamp, stabilize and cut (since the Skil had the blade on the right). The advantage though is that I can see the cut more clearly.

I haven't used the recip saw yet but I'm sure it'll perform well. It is on the heavy side but what model isn't? And speaking of heavy, the combo kit bag is heavy with all the tools packed in (obviously). I keep my drill/driver separate in another bag and I'm thinking of putting the circ saw in the makita 16" 821012 bag which someone else had done and said it worked well.

And why do they have to always count the flashlight? It really should be a 3 piece combo kit plus flashlight, rather than a 4 piece kit. Btw, Makita packages their lessor models in their combo kits. i.e. the BSS611 instead of the BSS610 circ saw, the BHP452 vs the BHP454 drill/driver, the BJR182 vs BJR181 recip saw.

In the end, I would recommend this combo kit for above average performance. If I had the money I would get the Bosch set instead but be aware that Bosch does not have as many tools in their Li-Ion collection as Makita does.

Good old Makita! My only real criticism of this package is the LED light on the drill. It's sort of marginally useful due to its location and casts a very annoying "V" shaped shadow upward from the bit. However, this still beats the hell out of my 1995-vintage 9.6v Makita drill that has no light. Also, the included old-school incandescent work light casts a weak, yellowish light and is of little value in my opinion and I've never used it, but some folks might like it I suppose. Other than that the whole kit is great.

Batteries last long and they are very lite. Great power from the drill. Flashlight works great.