Motor: 15 amp; direct drive; soft-start; blade brake; 3,200 rpm
Miter angle: 60° left to 60° right; stops at 15°, 22.5°, 31.6°, 45°; detent override
Bevel angle: 47° left to 49° right; stops at 22.5°, 33.9°, 45°; detent override
Horizontal cut width at ¾ in.: 12 3/16 in. at 90°; 8 1/8 in. at 45°
Horizontal cut depth: 3 3/4 in.
Vertical cut height at ¾ in.: 5 1/8-in. through cut at 90° and at 45°
Nested crown capacity: 6 5/8 in.
Dust collection: 2 lb. 15.6 oz.
Weight: 58 lb.
Price: $550
Website: makitatools.com
Comments: I had high hopes for this saw given the overall design. The forward-facing rails and up-front bevel controls are nice, though they limit bevel capacity to the left and line of sight in some configurations. They allow you to push the saw up to a wall, and this means that you don’t have to reach behind it to change the bevel setting. The overall footprint is relatively small despite the larger table—a feature Makita fans of old will remember and new users can’t help but appreciate (I loved this table). The tall fences are fixed and need to be removed for any bevel cuts, which some will dislike and others, like me, won’t mind. I like the tall fence because it provides extra support to tall base and crown, but one side was bent significantly out of square to the table—likely from shipping. Despite an electronic control sensor that maintains rpm under load, the head vibrated a fair amount in slide cuts in denser woods like 8/4 mahogany. And when I first started using this saw, the blade brake did not engage immediately—the blade spun wildly and eventually stopped. After about 15 cuts, though, it did engage properly for the remainder of the test. The laser was difficult to dial in, and I found it fairly useless; it has an on/off switch, which is good. Overall, despite some vibration in denser materials, this saw cut easily and well through all other material in the test and showed no measurable blade wobble. The slide functionality is smooth and effortless. It performed among the best in the chop-cut accuracy test (0 inch in 4-inch cut), and worst overall in slide-cutting accuracy. Given the saw’s packaging, I would recommend buying this saw in person instead of having one shipped. At this price point, Makita needs to address the way the saw is packaged, which I speculate accounts for the inconsistent experience users are reporting with the slide-cutting accuracy.
