Makita 18v Tools

[John Grossi]

I am interested in a cordless circular saw so I can cut down sheet goods at the purchase site. I think the top two are Milwaukee's and Makita's. I am leaning to Makita's 18v bss610. Amazon's price is 325. Makita sells a package called lxt702 for around 640. It includes the circular saw, a couple of drills, a sawzall (which I really don't need) and a lite. Reading thru some reviews makes it sound like you cannot use a regular round shanked drill bit in any of their 18v drills. A hex shanked drill bit is to be used. Am I missing something or will I not be able to use my round bits in Makita's drills? John

[Bijesh Jacob]

I am interested in a cordless circular saw so I can cut down sheet goods at the purchase site. I think the top two are Milwaukee's and Makita's. I am leaning to Makita's 18v bss610. Amazon's price is 325. Makita sells a package called lxt702 for around 640. It includes the circular saw, a couple of drills, a sawzall (which I really don't need) and a lite. Reading thru some reviews makes it sound like you cannot use a regular round shanked drill bit in any of their 18v drills. A hex shanked drill bit is to be used. Am I missing something or will I not be able to use my round bits in Makita's drills? John

I have the lxt6 and the hammer drill will allow regular drill bits. it has a normal chuck.

Bijesh

[Jim Andrew]

I have 3 Makita drills and they all have normal chucks which accept round drill bits. Also have their impact driver, which you need to buy the hex shaped drill bits for. I picked up some at Sears last year's black friday sale, they are handy as you can use them in your drill extension in your regular chucks. Also works good to drill a hole in your pocket screw holes, if you need to drill easily cracked woods.

[Mike Ashton]

I have quite a few of the Makita 18V tools, most were bought as bare tools and were very affordable. The quality is great, really I have no complaints with any of them. Like the others said, the drill has a standard chuck and will use round bits without issue, I do it regularly. As for the circular saw, the first thing to know is they don't use 7 1/2" blades like corded ones do. I believe the size is 6 1/2". Next, don't expect to cut as quickly as a corded machine. Prior to buying the Festool tracksaw I planned to do the same thing as you, breaking down sheets cord-free. I picked up a finish blade so I wouldn't damage the veneers and grabbed a clamp on straight edge. The cut was so slow I couldn't believe it. Even with a fully charged battery, the saw is really working hard. If you go quick, it will bog down fast. I could be wrong, but I think these were intended more for quick framing cuts on construction sites- not for precision cuts on $100 sheets of plywood.

[Dave Gaul]

John, that kit comes with the impact driver, which has hex drive. The drill comes with a regular chuck, Jacobs' I believe. I have all makita cordless tools, but my circ saw is a corded Milwaukee, I don't think you'd go wrong with either, but the Li Ion Makita line has won my heart!

Check out cpo makita, they have even better prices on packages you might like...

I am interested in hearing how you plan to break down sheet goods at the purchase site... portable saw horses or something?

[Eric DeSilva]

Makita sells a package called lxt702 for around 640. It includes the circular saw, a couple of drills, a sawzall (which I really don't need) and a lite.

Just another LXT user piling on to say they will take normal drill bits.

That said... I'm a fan of cordless. I love my 18V Makita impact driver and drill. But I'd sell you the sawzall and circ saw for cents on the dollar if you were anywhere around me. I don't think I've ever used the circ saw, and the one time I tried the sawzall, it ran out of juice pretty quick. You want lots of power for a demolition saw, and batteries don't cut it--literally. I've got a corded Makita AVP that rips through stuff two or three times as fast as the LXT. Anyway, just a thought. You might want to try before you buy.

(DeWalt's cordless track saw might be worth a look tho'--that gets good reviews).

[John Grossi]

Guys, thanks for all your replies. I did plan on using portable sawhorses and the Makita cordless circular saw. Now it sounds like not so good of an idea. I hate buying from the borgs, but they do break down sheet goods. A step up, however, is a local sawmill which handles all the 3/4 veneer hardwoods. A large project 2 years ago justified the $80.00 delivery cost. Smaller jobs requiring 1 or 2 sheets does not, thus the cordless saw idea. Maybe I'll go buy a good handsaw. John

[Larry Rasmussen]

This was largely based on my positive impression of my 18 volt Makita drill and jig saw. The circular saw was bought bare tool at Amazon. The 18 Volt BSS610Z is a 6 1/2". I've used a Porter Cable Saw Boss about that size for years before getting the Festool circular I use now. There are decent but affordable aftermarket blades at least in the size. As stated it is underpowered compared to corded but is about what I expected. I cut a slab of walnut I had in the shop last night without problems. About 5/4" X 24". The thing is to make sure the wood is well supported and you are in a very straight line so no pinching either way. I clampled on a guide even though I didn't need the precision. It worked fine but of course walnut is not that much challenge.

I would have been very happy to have the cordless Makita when I bought the slabs as several had to be cut shorter to fit the car top. When I buy plywood I generally have the pieces cut once the long way to easier fit the car top rack. The Makita wouldn't be appropriate, just too slow. I was pleased with the nice straight smooth non burned cut in my slab though. I think the cordless will be of great use for cuts into the exterior siding of the house next Spring when cutting around the rough openings to inset the exterior window trim.

Anyway smooth sailing on your project,
Larry Rasmussen
Seattle

[Greg R Bradley]

This is a first class saw for what it was made to do. Two of us built a room addition using mainly two of these and we were completely happy. This included roofing and exterior ply. I'm sure someone half our ages would have said they wouldn't keep up on the big stuff like sheeting.

If that is your only need for cordless, would a generator have more uses? They won't cut it for you or let you plug a cord in?

If you want cordless, Makita LXT is first class. I have around 20 tools including 3 vertical flourescent lights, vacuum, blower, bandsaw, etc.

I think your confusion about the hex drive is the impact driver. I find those very useful for driving bigger screws but you would probably find little use for that for fine woodworking.

I have one BSS610 that is unused that I would sell for $50 if you buy a drill kit or something where you get the batteries and charger. Also have 1 unused recip saw, impact driver, and kit bag. I find the recip saw useful for my limited use of a recip saw, which turns out to be trimming trees. Buying bare tools at regular prices doesn't make sense unless it is something that doesn't come with charger/batteries. If you buy kits, be careful you don't get the 1.5ah battery tools - they are white and come with half size batteries.