posted by: camber
12/11/2008

I've been using this saw for about a year, after moving on from the bosch, and for the most part I am happy with it. It is a well built tool, and I have had no accuracy problems with either the miter settings or the laser. That said, I have no idea how one is supposed to set an accurate compound miter on this saw. The compound miter release lever is at the back of the saw, almost out of reach, and the saw lacks any kind of spring or tension assist to hold the angle while you reach around to lock the saw. This leaves me wondering if the absurdly expensive Festool miter saw is in my future.

posted by: Henley
3/6/2008

posted by: PAZ
3/29/2007

I have the model with no laser attachment. I have not had any of the problems that others mentioned. I have had no problems with accuracy and it has been dead on or at least precise to within 0.1 of a degree every time. And anyone that worries about 0.1 of a degree is foolish because you can easily affect an angle by that much or more on any saw simply through operator error. It is superbly well made, very smooth and easy to operate. It does suffer from too short of a fence but that is really its only downfall. I purchased this saw before the new Bosch with front controls came out. If I could do it over I might choose the Bosch but the Makita is an excellent choice also.

posted by: bigruss
2/22/2007

I recently purchased a Mikita LS1013lf. At first the saw seemed well built, light, large table, smooth and a solid slider. However, the saw was not even close to being true out of the box. Truing the saw took some time but was fairly easy to do. After truing, the saw cut perfect 90s both vertically and horizontally, the bevels were perfect, the left miter spot on but the right miter was not even close and can not be adjusted.You could move out of the detent but that defeats the purpose of the detents. Hard to use a saw that does not cut all angles perfectly. Its a shame because the saw handle excellent, quiet and smooth with excellent cut quality. I have a USA made Dewalt 12 in single bevel compound miter saw that is 8+ years old, get used every day and still cuts as good as new. I was looking for greater cross cut capacity with the slider. I returned the saw after contacting Makita customer service.They were not helpful,and suggested trying another saw.I swaped for a second Makita and had exactly the same problem. Not very good QC.

posted by: bennyj
2/10/2007

I have two and have been using them for years. Very smooth operations with this machine. Easy to use and a pleasure to own. Ben B./Ferndale,MI

posted by: newtothetrade
1/26/2007

I moved to this saw after using a 10" Hitachi for a long time. I have not been impressed with this saw from the getgo. Right out of the box, the saw was not setup correctly. The angle was off 0 by about 0.5 deg. The detents are not accurate and once you get the saw close to 0, it won't let you lock it easily to get anything off 0. The worst aspect of the saw is the rear fence. The fence bolts to the frame at the edges. You adjust the fence forward and back on each side to adjust the miter angle. When you adjust the fence to set it up to zero, the mounting stud on the frame rests too high and holds the stock up off the base of the saw. The lift is about 1/8" and it just holds up the edge of the stock.The other problem with the fence is that it stops too close to the end stop of the blade. As such, there is a tremendous amount of tearout at best and splintering at worst. When cutting oak or maple for example, it is hard enough that unless you are using a $100 miter blade from Forest, you will destroy your stock. I have had multiple instances where the stock has been ripped out of my hand causing massive splintering and dangerous flying stock.I have stopped using the saw for important cuts and now rely strictly on the table saw for all ripping, cross cuts, and miter cuts. I would not recommend this saw to anyone given the cost of the saw and knowing what else is available on the market. The general build quality is decent however the engineering that went into the design is not very good.

posted by: diymark
8/18/2006

I bought this tool about 2 years ago now and overall it's been great. I have mine mounted in a miter saw stand that adds extended infeed/outfeed tables and a wooden zero clearance fence. It replaced a 10" compound miter saw (non-sliding) and it makes life so much easier in the shop. Once you realize the ease of cross cutting wide boards, the table saw will only be a place to rip and dado. The blade that comes with this saw is top notch and won't need replacing. I also added a blade side laser for about 30 bucks which make it a breeze to sight with. My only complaint, which was pointed out is the miter angle pointer is covered by the work so you have to set it up before cutting. Minor.Also you should be aware when cross cutting long lumber...i.e. 10 ft or longer (like long rough lumber) if the stock is not true (cupped or warped) as you cut the board has a tendency to slip and bind on the blade. This can create kick back, which in my case the first time it happened it scared me and I let go of the power. What I got was a wedged blade in a partially cut piece of stock. Took me a while to free it. This is true of any sliding miter or radial arm saw. The key is to support the cupped board well so as you cut it doesn't drop flat on the table or make a series of shallow cuts.