Wide Sliding Miter Saw

YellowHammer · September 27, 2018, 10:41:33 PM

We are pretty hard on miter saws, and we have gone through a Delta, Dewalt, Hitachi (two sets of brushes) and now have just started using the best one I've ever had, a Makita LS1219L, not to be confused with the previous model the LS1216L. It was just released, and unlike most sliding saws, except the Hitachi, it does not take up excessive space to the rear of the saw, but instead slides forward, on the smoothest bearings I've ever used in a sliding saw. It will cross cut 15" effortlessly and has the largest crosscut capacity of any of these style saws on the market. It also has upper and lower dust collection ports, which work exceptionally well, and a laser that can be adjusted to either side if the cut, if desired.

Although the Dewalt DWS780 is advertised at 16" it must be done by removing the fence and building and using a spacer jig so doesn't really count.

We have considered some of the truly commercial radial arm saws in the $4,000 range, but the ones I've seen in person I would not trust my employees (or me) to not cut body parts off. This Makita cost about $600 and hopefully it will last awhile.

If anybody is considering a wide crosscut miter saw, this is a good one.

Southside · September 27, 2018, 10:44:54 PM

Nice saw. But what's with that electrical cord?? I have been on the lookout for a good jump / upcut saw to serve the same purpose. Grizzly had a good one a few years back that is no longer made.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · September 27, 2018, 10:45:38 PM

Looks like Yellow Screw Driver cut that Maple with no trouble.

YellowHammer · September 27, 2018, 10:49:59 PM

That cord is a temporary 220V I've run to a secondary booster dust blower for my Baker edger which is on the other side of the wall. :

It's not the cord for the Makita.

Nice thing is the Makita was a drop in replacement into the saw well on our 20 foot crosscut table.

Poston, it blew through the 2 inch maple like it was styrofoam. It's got some kind of geared head motor that reduces cutting effort to nothing. So if Martha's happy, I'm happy. :D

PA_Walnut · September 28, 2018, 07:09:16 AM

Congrats. Modern sliders are great.

Last year, I added a sliding Bosch that looks similar. Was seriously considering the Festool Kapex (yes, I'm a Festool junky for that over-priced German gadgetry, but is JUST WORKS...and I am of German descent.).

Decided on the Bosch at 1/2 the price and its awesome. The 15 year old Dewalt slider has served me well, but it needs to be like 3' from the wall to work. Has always driven me MAD!

btulloh · September 28, 2018, 08:30:13 AM

Nice saw. Good review. Thanks for posting.

I need to update mine pretty soon.

Bruno of NH · September 28, 2018, 07:05:42 PM

I have Makita miter saw and believe the make the most powerful motors out there.

YellowHammer · September 28, 2018, 10:36:54 PM

Supposedly it's the widest sliding crosscut saw on the market, and we crosscut a lot of wide boards and slabs. They've got the blade geometry and the sliding attacking angle optimized where it literally floats through hard wood like it was cutting air. I'm still not sure how it's doing it, but it is amazing. I agree on the motor, I've had a few Makita products in the past and they have all been exceptional. I'm interested to see how long it lasts.

PA_Walnut · September 29, 2018, 09:35:00 AM

Quote from: YellowHammer on September 28, 2018, 10:36:54 PMSupposedly it's the widest sliding crosscut saw on the market, and we crosscut a lot of wide boards and slabs. They've got the blade geometry and the sliding attacking angle optimized where it literally floats through hard wood like it was cutting air. I'm still not sure how it's doing it, but it is amazing. I agree on the motor, I've had a few Makita products in the past and they have all been exceptional. I'm interested to see how long it lasts.

I have to see what width mine actually will cut--never really checked it.

Larry · September 30, 2018, 09:31:34 PM

I've had good experience with the few Makita tools I owned. When power miter saws first came out Makita had by far the best one for a long time.

Whata you use when you have a 16" wide board to cut?

YellowHammer · September 30, 2018, 10:39:02 PM

We use a Festool Tracksaw. Another wonderful machine that has more than paid for itself for crosscutting and ripping wide slabs. We use it almost constantly for trimming, custom cutting and edging customer's slabs real time for them. To give you an idea how much we use it, I am on my third blade already with it, not counting the one I ruined hitting a bolt I had laid in the table.

PA_Walnut · October 01, 2018, 06:29:46 AM

I have one of those and the table too...LOVE that thing. Very seldom use my tablesaw for crosscutting ever since.
Haven't considered tying two tables together. Great idea!

hackberry jake · November 17, 2018, 10:37:52 AM

I've got a 7-1/2 hp DeWalt 16" radial arm saw that would work well for that. I've got a soft spot in me for old equipment though. Nice saw!

farmfromkansas · December 30, 2018, 08:23:19 AM

Did a search on those saws, and they also make a 10" version, which would fit all the blades I have for my older model Makita slider. Anybody tried the 10" version?

scsmith42 · December 30, 2018, 11:09:37 AM

Quote from: hackberry jake on November 17, 2018, 10:37:52 AM
I've got a 7-1/2 hp DeWalt 16" radial arm saw that would work well for that. I've got a soft spot in me for old equipment though. Nice saw!

I have something similar but it's an Original Saw Company 16" 5 hp 3 phase model. I've been told that Original Saw bought all of the old Dewalt tooling. It's a beast and powers it's way through 3" dry oak like butter.

DWyatt · March 26, 2019, 12:37:09 PM

@YellowHammer How's the saw working out for you after getting a few months of use? ??? I have a Dewalt miter saw that's been dropped/abused far too much in it's life and I'm looking to upgrade. I will be building a workbench to fit whatever saw I get. For this reason I like the rail forward design of the Makita. Dad has a Kapex in his shop and I love everything about it but it doesn't fit the budget. Just wondering about repeatability of cut and how sturdy everything feels at full extension making the wider cuts. I was also looking at the Bosch glide but I've heard things feel a little loose at full extension. Thanks in advance!

YellowHammer · March 26, 2019, 01:02:41 PM

@DWyatt
After 7 months use, crosscutting many ??thousands of boards, it is far and away the best crosscut saw I've used, including some of the older Original Saw and Dewalt Radials. Its not as powerful as a 3 phase machine, but still slices through 2 and 3 inch like styrofoam, although most of what we crosscut is 4/4. We use it to trim cracked ends of boards before they go on the rack, or live edge slabs, if they will fit. To give an idea of how much we use it, we are just about ready to change to our third blade as I noticed our second was was getting dull the other day. So 2 blades in 6ish months. Its still the smoothest crosscut action I've used, smooth as silk. I like the full blade guard and also like the fast blade brake. It has a split inlet dust collection system, with one port for the upper saw, and one behind the base. I use a 2 inch line from our shop system and it catches most of the dust, but not all. The deadman's switch is easy to grip.

The laser was a little fiddly to get adjusted, as it can be adjusted to either the left or right side, or actual project on either side and split the blade. However, once it was set, it hasn't moved since.

We have ours mounted in a drop pocket in the worktable, with plywood top extending on either side, marked with a Sharpie at 1 foot intervals. So I can drop the board on the table and cut accurately without using a tape measure. I don't know how it would stand up to much handling and dropping, ours was mounted when it came from the box and hasn't moved since. I assume it would do fine, but ours is bolted down.

The angle adjustment seems to work fine, but we don't use it much, its always set at 90°.

There may be better sliders out there, but in terms of space, cut quality, cut width and safety, I haven't used them. If I had to buy another one tomorrow, I'd get two. :D :D

DWyatt · March 26, 2019, 01:19:33 PM

I might as well consider it ordered then :D

I will be mounting it exactly like you have yours, in a drop pocket. That's what I've grown up with and it is so much nicer than others where the whole feed path is raised, rendering your whole bench worthless. I don't plan on dropping this one :D The Dewalt has served it's time, remodeling several rental houses with Dad and building my house. I will keep it for mobile work and keep the Makita mounted solid.

It will be hard going from the dual laser on the Kapex to a single laser but I'll make due, I normally prefer not using it at all when doing precision cutting anyways but for rough breakdown like you do it is priceless.

Thanks for the fast response! You are so fast to spend my money :D

DWyatt · March 26, 2019, 01:20:36 PM

Another question, what blades are you running on yours?

YellowHammer · March 27, 2019, 12:08:10 AM

I have run a Dewalt replacement blade available locally, but it didn't cut as sweet, so I took it off an put it on my old Hitachi. I just ended up buying the Makita Ultrafine blades off Amazon like are on the saw. They have something unique about them, they just seem to float through the wood.

I guarantee it, the first time you crosscut a board on your new saw, you're eyebrows will go up in surprise. You won't barely even feel the wood.

The laser is very accurate, the blade shadows it, so the edge of the laser is the edge of the blade.

DWyatt · March 27, 2019, 06:33:34 AM

I've heard very good things about that Makita blades. Well the saw is ordered and should be here tomorrow! I will hopefully get the bench built this weekend. Also moving all the other tools into the shop this week/weekend, this is getting exciting 8)

Bruno of NH · March 27, 2019, 06:55:04 AM

I like the Makita blades
Have you folks seen the new Skil worm drive chop saw?
Cuts 14" wide × 4" thick
Would be a nice saw for trimming at the Mill site.
I use a Makita for my finish work for the last 13 years.
Haven't touched the 12" Bosch it just sits

YellowHammer · March 27, 2019, 08:36:41 AM

For the sawmill and the edger, I have been using our Stihl 200 battery powered chainsaw. This way I don't have to lift the boards, don't have to trip over cords, don't have to worry about gas ad oil. I simply slide the end log the board I need to trim off the pack or roller table, and saw it off. This little guy is fast.

Here is a video.

Hobby Hardwood Alabama Battery Powered Stihl 200 Chainsaw - YouTube

Bearpau · March 31, 2019, 09:18:49 PM

I picked up one of those makita 12" miter saws this week. What a beast been using it all weekend cutting 1x12 cypress. Much smoother than my kapex. It even cuts better also.
I also picked up the Skil worm drive table saw for portable work. Been a great saw so far ripped 2 inch thick lumber with out any hesitation.

DWyatt · April 01, 2019, 06:40:11 AM

I got the Makita this past week. That thing doesn't leave you wanting for power! Used it to make the bench that the saw will be mounted in, cutting SYP 2x12s as fast as you can push the saw and it never bogged down.

My only complaint is that the button you press down for the miter adjustment is plenty cheap feeling. I can't find where other people have complained about it but to me it just feels broken. I'm going to call to see what they say.