Makita LS1214 off Ebay, have I been sold a dud?..

[goldeneyedmonkey]

Hello folks,

I bought the aforementioned SCMS from Ebay, nearly a month ago. But I've only just now had a a chance to fully test it out.
I tried the motor as soon as I got it, it worked fine. But now after I've tried to slide the blade along the full length of it's travel I found it to be very difficult to do, it's not smooth by any means, and you really have to give it some. Not like Makita's I've used in the past that glide along the rails.

So, I took it apart slowly to get to the rails and grease them up to alleviate the poor action on them. Then I discovered a few things that didn't look right (see images below) The 2x allen bolts that anchor the slider housing/ sheath? (no idea what word to use here!) to the main body are not aligned correctly, furthermore the same kind of fitting on the winder that lets you change the angle of the cut are misaligned, so that when you use the knob on the front to change the angle, you can see the knob is rotating in a very haphazard way. After doing the relevant greasing I started to put it all back together again and when I'd finished I tried to move the angle of the cut round to see how it reacted, it was ridiculously stiff. The sliders work a lot better, but now the angle of the cut is very hard to change.
Also you can see that the main body looks like it has been misaligned from day 1 (pics 1 and 2), where the 2 parts of the body look like they are going to run into each other, but they miss buy 2-3mm or so.

Considering I've already left feedback for the seller (I didn't have space where it had been delivered to to fully test all the actions) what would you do? Has anyone got one of these to see if theirs is the same as mine in regards to alignment of things?

Failing all the above does anyone want to take it off my hands and fix it up and use it? I bought it for £370, so offers around this region will definitely be considered.

Thanks in advance, I really am in a pickle with this one Cheers_Dan.

 

[OLD]

The black handle/knob at the front, if tight locks the slide so could affect a smooth slide .The 'tilt' at the rear is a simple pivot with stops at preset angles so should be easy to sort.If the miss aligned holes cause poor operation get your round file to work.Best to not fully tighten the fixings and check/adjust the action before final tighten up.
The round black 'collar' locks the angle setting so that non presets can be locked.

 

[RogerS]

Sorry to hear about your problems, Dan. Suppose no chance you can send it back to your seller? If they are a largish outfit then you might be able to. Are they trade or private as rules are different...trade ...things like 'fit for purpose'.

Having said that, I wouldn't touch modern Makita SCMS's if they were the last ones on earth. Their build quality..especially in the sliding mechanism...has fallen off a cliff and they don't seem that bothered.

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

that's the word I was after "collar" thanks!

It was just a private seller on Ebay, I've not contacted them yet, I hear what you're saying on the build quality as well: but only to the extent that I've seen/ heard people going on about the new stuff being a bit ropey in regards to quality control. All my 18v stuff is makita, and all the other SCMS that I've used that have been makita have been worth their weight in gold. My mate's an engineer but very hard to get hold of, I'll see if I can collar (there it is again ) him and get him to have a gander at it. It's really bugging me as I'm pretty good with the timber, not so good with the machinery. I'll have to get my mechanical act together I think!

Cheers chaps_Dan.

 

[OPJ]

Earlier this year, I bought a second-hand LS1013 and I've generally been delighted with it. It's far more accurate than the big Bosch GCM 12 SD I owned previously. In fact, I can't fault the accuracy of it much at all.

When it arrived via. the courier though, that front knob you refer to (assuming they are identical...) was like this:

On models older than mine, these knobs were even longer and, therefore, more liable to digging in to your stomach as you walk past! :x

I managed to push it back in to shape with nothing more than hand pressure and it's not been a problem since. I just wonder whether yours may have received a clouting. Was it well packaged? Assuming you didn't collect the saw in person... My Bosch saw came from eBay and the seller basically wrapped it in a thick plastic sheet - I was surprised to find it in one piece when I got home from work that evening - the courier had simply left it "hidden" behind a couple of plants in front of our house as well!! :roll:

You might also want to study the parts diagram for this machine, unless you also happen to have the manual. That way, you can check that everything goes back together correctly. I'm not trying to imply that you may have done anything wrong, by the way... These saws are surprisingly simple to strip down. I know this because I did the same thing with my LS1013 in February, even though it wasn't entirely necessary.

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

-now sorted. There was nothing wrong with the alignment, I'd just forgotten to grease the outer ring that the whole carriage slides on! D'oh!
It now works a treat. Good stuff.

What does everyone use to clean resin etc. build up on saw blades?

Cheers_Dan.

 

[yetloh]

The CMT stuff sold by Axminster for this purpose is pretty good.

Jim

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

Cheers Jim

_Dan

edit: got some Trend stuff.

 

[MWood]

Old post I know...
I was on the Google box trying to find why the bed on the new version is half the size now and came across the image of your bent knob (snigger, snigger!!)

Was de-ja-vu. The one in our workshop has had a bent knob since about 3 weeks after it arrived and the has been no issue with it at all!

On another note I know it was done for space saving, but I'm really not fond of the new version with the double slide. To me that's just introducing more moving parts which will increase any play that developed over time!

They had a very good sliding mitre saw and dominated the market for quality and cost on what is designed to be site equipment. My philosophy with tried and tested is 'if it can't be improved on, don't try! You'll only mess it up!'

 

[Limey Lurker]

I don'i want to be a Jonah, but isn't that grey-painted die-casting in pics 1 and 2 broken/cracked?

 

[NazNomad]

I don'i want to be a Jonah, but isn't that grey-painted die-casting in pics 1 and 2 broken/cracked?

Just looks like the casting mould was a bit mis-aligned.