Makita 2704

It is a follow up to my previous post five months ago about my then new Makita 2704 table saw.

I have used it reasonably working mainly plywood and OSB but also soft (pine) and hard woods (ipe and peroba rosa).

• The aluminium table surface although maintain completely flat and stable, presents a lot of scratches. How different it is compared with my older cast iron table saw!
• The table size is very good for a contractor saw and the embedded extension works great. I can rip 25" width
• It came with a great blade. I have two Freud blades I never used (except for test) as I could not find any significant difference from the bundled one
• It is less noisy than my older saw and with a paraphernalia of security features (smooth start up, better on/off key, blade guard, splitter and anti kick back pawns)
• Dust collection works very well and I have used it extensively... but I never had previously a TS with that feature to compare
• Today I checked the set up that came from factory: blade align against the slots is completely parallel with less than 0.05 mm error with the extremes from the 10" blade. The fence is set with less than 0.1 mm error from all its extension measured from the slots. It came very well adjusted and maintained at that state
• When I received the saw I checked everything but all was great except the blade wasn't exactly 90 degrees and the plate was almost 1 mm too deep - I adjusted them and for my surprise they maintain the position

It is a contractor saw, not a fine woodworking one. It is light, it doesn't look sturdy and stable... I am really surprised with that saw for maintain so well adjusted!:) All I can say is that is a great tool. It is worth the money I paid for. I recommend it if you have a limited space like myself (104 sq foot workshop).

I have used several Makita tools over the years and have always had good performance and trouble-free service from them. I do remember back in the 1980's when Makita and Hitachi seemed to be going head to head on introducing new tools to the American market and that seemed to open the gates to allow new competition to traditional brands previously sold.

I've always liked Makita, partly because they're actually owned by.....Makita.