Makita on the Down Slide

[michael case]

My old American-made belt sander finally gave up the ghost. It didn’t owe me anything. But, rather than buy a Chinese or Mexican Porter cable I decided to buy a Japanese belt sander. I chose the Makita 9404 4×24” for its low center of gravity and my recollections of Makita quality. Now its been a while since I bought a Makita product, but the ones I have (yeah they still work) were well made with perfect fit and finish and top quality electronics. My first surprise was that I could not buy one over the counter anywhere. I live near a major city so this was a little weird. Turns out Home Depot now controls almost all their sales (look out!) and does not stock the belt sanders. The upshot was I could not actually see one in the flesh before I bought it. So I ordered one from Amazon. The next surprise was the junky thing that I received. I mean this thing looked like a poorly executed counterfeit. The aluminum casting that makes up half the main body was fissured and showed rough grinding marks and grossly uneven surfaces through goopy, bubbly paint. The rear rubber drum was of scored in the middle and thicker on one sided than the other. The front metal drum showed rough grinding marks where the two halves were joined and not was perfectly round, but actually somewhat oblong. The tracking screw would not stay put, continually vibrating out of position. The thing (I call it the thing) says “made in japan” on it, but I noticed that it does not exactly match the picture on the Amazon web site. The pictured Makita 9404 has a white label, is tapped for three attachment screws and shows the old Makita perfect finish. Has anyone else had any recent experiences with Makita? I’m going to return the “thing” and see if Amazon sends a real Makita belt sander as a replacement. I’ll keep you posted

[Brad Cambell]

Hmmmmmm, maybe that was why there were no models that you could look at?

[Matt Day]

Seems like a poorly labeled thread since you're assuming the entire company is failing based on a bad experience with a belt sander of all things.

[Mel Fulks]

I've found some Makita stuff to be a bit quirky, but I never had a quality problem . I've got an old jig saw that has a fast cut orbit position that I've never see equaled .Its almost cuts like a large reciprocating saw.

[Brad Cambell]

Matt, I'll agree that a belt sander is low tech and probably a low profit item. I will be interested to see how this is resolved before I condemn Makita's quality. This could be a defective product that got by QC.

20 some odd years ago Makita had the best electric drills out there. Now it seams that they have been left behind. I do not even consider them when purchasing a tool.

My most recent (and last) experience with Makita was with a multi tool cordless package that cost over 400 dollars and was very disappointed with it. The drill driver chuck was a very poor design that more often than not could not chuck up a drill one handed. Luckily, the drill burned itself up within a few months and I bought another Dewalt.

[Cary Falk]

I have that same sander. I did buy it about 4 years ago though. It was high quality. All of my sanders are Makita. I bought a 5" ROS for a friend of mine for this Christmas. I was going to go with Makita, but I didn't like the midprice range offerings. I ended up going with Bosch. He has a Makita 18V Drill/Driver combo that I like better than my Bosch. All that being said, I think you got a bad sander.

[Myk Rian]

Contact Amazon and get your money back. If it isn't the same as the picture and description, you have a case.

[John Schweikert]

Amazon is the easiest retailer for returning items, no questions asked.

I have the Makita 9903 belt sander and have been very pleased with it. Always a joy to use. Along with several other Makita tools I have, sheet sanders, a miter saw, grinder, I find they make very good products. There is always a chance for a dud, so exchanging or getting something else is pretty darn easy these days. To me, complaining is really only needed when a company doesn't fix errors when given the chance.

[Pat Barry]

I've recently bought the 18V drill / driver Makita package, the blue green one, not the white one and I love it.

[Michael Dunn]

I've been using Makita cordless tools for the last 4+ years. My 4 month old multi tool just burnt out due to normal use. On top of that the chucks on two of my drill BHP-454 and LXT something or other are sometimes a bit 'funky' not to mention the selectors switch between hammer, screw, and drill modes frequently locks up.

I have two drill, one impact driver, circular saw, and the multi-tool. I'm not saying I hate them, but I can say that I see what the OP may be referring to. Seems to be a growing trend with almost all companies these days.

[Jim Andrew]

My Makita belt sander is probably 8 or 9 years old, but works great. Ordered it from Amazon because the 4 x 24 is not stocked locally. No matter how good a job I did sanding, still wound up with turkey tracks where I changed directions, so I got a wide belt sander.

[David C. Roseman]

[snip]The next surprise was the junky thing that I received. I mean this thing looked like a poorly executed counterfeit. [snip]

Hmm. Wondering if it actually might have been. Not unheard of for Amazon purchases. Did it ship from Amazon, or a third-party vendor?

David

[Peter Quinn]

I have a makita SDS hammer drill, maybe 2 years old, I'd rate it very highly, its a pleasure to use. I'm also quite pleased with the makita 18V compact drill drivers and impact drivers. Great clutch, very good power to weight ratio, I tried them all and its my favorite excepting the festool, but I didn't have to sell a body part to get the makita. I love my 10" SCMS, the newer version, pleasure to use. So I'm not seeing a company wide descent from makita. I've never liked their routers, the portable planers are ok, but not the best, the old recipro saws were junk, the skill saws are fantastic for the basic units they are, light cheap and powerful, but not fancy. Somebody screwed up and ordered the makita cordless 18V hammer/impact/drill driver at work, the black and white compact version. It has a funky wobble in the chuck that the non hammer versions do not, I don't like it and attribute it to the hammer function. I've used an older 3" belt sander, it was a beast, very strong, haven't tried anything lately.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I haven't noticed a decrease in Makita's quality. I replaced one Makita cordless drill and driver with a new 18v set when both of the batteries went south after 6 years or so.

Makita has a 30 day replacement policy no questions asked......replacement tool or full refund.

BTW.......Ace Hardware carries the Makita brand tools.

[Sam Babbage]

At my workplace we mostly use Makita for basic tools like belt sanders, routers etc. over the last ten years they have definitely gotten a bit lighter, the new big plunge router and 4" belt sander are considerably lighter than the previous generation. That said they still stand up to pretty heavy commercial use. I've only killed one, a 18v circular saw that I pushed way too hard.

[Rick Fisher]

http://www.china-botai.com/?LguId=1&type=Infor&ClassId=28&Id=146

Not saying the 9404 was a copy but there are direct copies of pretty much all Makita tools available..

Here .. http://www.china-botai.com/?LguId=1&type=List&ClassId=28