Thread: SCMS Dewalt DWS780-XE vs Makita LS1216 which one??

If you want accurate angles for boxes and architraves, get a Kapex. If you can't go that far, then I'd suggest the LS 1214. Beautiful saw. Accurate, reliable, good service.

Regards,

Rob

Looks like LS1214 is getting obsolete...
It is no longer on makita web site.. and not many shops are really selling it. Price wise from what I could see.. price is pretty much the same as LS1216...

Sorry, LS1214 is the Makita I have and it's great. The LS 1216 would, I believe be just as reliable. That said, I wouldn't be without my Kapex either.

Regards,

Rob

Hi Rob

I agree with you regarding Kapex... though I think it might belong to a bit "too good" for me range..
Kapex is more pro tooling (with the price tag to prove that)
Cost and availability of spare parts might be a bit of an challenge too.. thus me deciding on the dewalt and makita
Other than that.. it would be excellent machine to use...

Had a bosch under consideration but it didn't look too precise (the display model was a bit too iffy for my liking)
Alen

Hi Alen,
I get a bit enthusiastic about the Kapex, sorry!

Before I bought the Kapex, I used the Makita for all my mitres and heavy duty cross cutting. I was superb. I found thet having too many teeth on the blade had a detrimental effect on the resultant mitres. I settled on 60 a Tooth blade and got very serviceable results. This box and picture frame (which is about 450 x 600 mm) were made using the Makita to cut the mitres and I don't think there's much wrong with them.
The Kapex just gives an extra edge, in things like comfort, noise level, ease of blade removal and some other nifty bits and pieces. You could do a lot worse than the Makita and probably not a lot better!Regards,

Rob

Hey,

I own a LS1216 on the Makita 195083-4 Job Site stand (glad I'm not lugging it around it's a little weighty), I'm only new to wood working but this saw has been pretty handy for me, I enjoy using it, it's not insanely loud either.

I've only had 2 gripes with it so far, first one being the provided bolt for the depth adjustment is too short and if your trying to do shallow cuts in tall timber the head of the bolt bottoms out before you can get the right depth, no matter, this is fixed with replacing the bolt with a longer one.

Second one is lately when using it I've wished that the fence had the ability to slide forward, if you don't have the blade height within a cm or so of the base when you push it all the way back the sliding arm stops before finishing the clean cut (the bottom of the blade doesn't go through the middle of the fence), this is easy enough to work around by putting a piece of scrap wood behind it to bring your work piece closer to the front of the saw.

Laser is a fun gimmick once it's adjusted properly(can't really see it in the daylight), the safety features on the saw are good, I've had it kickback twice and the saw/stand absorbed this nicely.

Let me know if you want to know anything specific about the saw.

thanks ice

how is it with precision
especially 45 and 22.5 deg

I'd say pretty good, here's a couple of pics straight off the saw, these are just sitting next to each other no glue etc

I would agree with the others for accuracy the festool kapex. The 2 main stand out differences between the Makita & Dewalt is the warranty on the Dewalt is 3years as appose to the 1year of the Makita. Also the Dewalt is belt drive which makes it smoother & a lot less noisier than the direct drive Makita configuration. The Dewalt comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee also so if you don't like its performance it can be returned for a refund

Local bunnings has dropped dewalt price to $780 comparing to $990 what it used to cost...
Makita is still $1450...
Is Makita really worth such price difference???

I picked mine up for $1049 delivered from Sydney tools off their ebay store, so $1450 appears to be a premium.

Well just bought the Dewalt one...

Reason that local bunnings has discontinued was that it seems like they won't be getting them anymore so there was only demo and one more boxed left...
Discontinued to get rid of them.. Naturally got the boxed one...

Well weekend will be busy testing the new toy...
And to top it up ..... believe it or not but I've got SWMBO's approval!!!!
So no need to hide purchase..

Originally Posted by Prle77

Local bunnings has dropped dewalt price to $780 comparing to $990 what it used to cost...
Makita is still $1450...
Is Makita really worth such price difference???

Those are very high prices, the LS1216 is $949 at Hardware & General (Sydney), while its smaller brother the L1016 costs $729.

Chas.