Lons
Established Member
From my first thread I know a couple of members have been looking at this saw so not a review but just my initial impressions.
Axminster apparently won't price match these days but I did get an axcalibre saw blade with a list price of £40 thrown in foc so happy enough and collected the saw on Wednesday but only today had the chance to look at it properly and cut some wood for a small table I'm making.
Straight out of the box it's impressive with very little to fit apart from the blade however I immediately noticed that one of the tall work guides was out of alignment in fact it was actually bent! Not fancying a return trip of 40 miles to the store I phoned and they immediately ordered a replacement from Makita which hopefully won't be long though I won't miss it for the time being.
To my surprise, apart from that the machine was set up almost perfectly. Preset angles are spot on, indents are tight even without locking the front handle and I like that it's simple to disengage the preset catch and lock it to any position so even if right on the edge of a notch it doesn't try to slip in. Virtually no play even with the saw extended and the glide action is silky smooth. Festool style locking knob on the front is good but feels loose and you still have to tilt the saw by hand, I always hated the locking knob on the back! Other adjustment knobs seem easy to use although I haven't tried any trenching yet and those look a little fiddly.
The saw cut very cleanly through the sapele I was cutting though only used max 50 x 50mm and through the test MDF and ply I tried, cuts were spot on square. Dust extraction was pretty good connected to my Aldi vac so would be even better with a good system. Soft start is nice and the saw seems quiet compared to my old one.
So, overall early days but I'm more than happy with my purchase although I should point out that I'm no expert, this is my first sliding mitre saw and not a fair comparison to the DeWalt 705 I've used for many years. It could be that I'm also lucky to get one so accurate straight out of the box but I love the thing already!
Maybe that will change as time goes on but so far so good.
Bob
Axminster apparently won't price match these days but I did get an axcalibre saw blade with a list price of £40 thrown in foc so happy enough and collected the saw on Wednesday but only today had the chance to look at it properly and cut some wood for a small table I'm making.
Straight out of the box it's impressive with very little to fit apart from the blade however I immediately noticed that one of the tall work guides was out of alignment in fact it was actually bent! Not fancying a return trip of 40 miles to the store I phoned and they immediately ordered a replacement from Makita which hopefully won't be long though I won't miss it for the time being.
To my surprise, apart from that the machine was set up almost perfectly. Preset angles are spot on, indents are tight even without locking the front handle and I like that it's simple to disengage the preset catch and lock it to any position so even if right on the edge of a notch it doesn't try to slip in. Virtually no play even with the saw extended and the glide action is silky smooth. Festool style locking knob on the front is good but feels loose and you still have to tilt the saw by hand, I always hated the locking knob on the back! Other adjustment knobs seem easy to use although I haven't tried any trenching yet and those look a little fiddly.
The saw cut very cleanly through the sapele I was cutting though only used max 50 x 50mm and through the test MDF and ply I tried, cuts were spot on square. Dust extraction was pretty good connected to my Aldi vac so would be even better with a good system. Soft start is nice and the saw seems quiet compared to my old one.
So, overall early days but I'm more than happy with my purchase although I should point out that I'm no expert, this is my first sliding mitre saw and not a fair comparison to the DeWalt 705 I've used for many years. It could be that I'm also lucky to get one so accurate straight out of the box but I love the thing already!
Maybe that will change as time goes on but so far so good.Bob
