Thread: Makita Tablesaws

I am in the process of running down a benchtop saw ,had a look at the Makita mlt100 at the woodworking show, its a toss up between it and the Bosch gts10, like the fence and finish of the Bosch better than the mlt 100 but price $809 a bit exxy,as against $529 for the Makita.Plently of videos and reviews on the net about the mlt100 .Google is your friend..

I have a Makita 2704, which is a slightly higher end model. I got it because like you I don't have the room. It has a riving knife and it has standard size mitre slots. Had it for about a year now. The blade is not parallel to the mitre slot or to the other mitre slot or to the fence and there isn't any real way to adjust them. The fence has a very small amount of adjustability to get it parallel and it doesn't lock tightly to the table, there is a screw to adjust how tightly the fence locks but it you set it too much it won't detach from table at all. Don't know if the MLT100 would be that bad but I don't think it has standard size mitre slots and the fence is not secured at the back.

I am looking at getting Jet Pro Shop, it doesn't have a riving knife but other options are too heavy or large or expensive or worse than what I have. I wonder if the Jet can be unpacked by one person.

I bought an MLT 100 but wouldn't do it again. I would save just a little longer and go for a lower end carbatec or similar. I wanted something light and easy to move around my small workshop but the fence is dodgy and you need to hold it down with a clamp, had warranty issues with the electrics and lost it for 3weeks could have been longer but made a lot of noise and got it fixed. The mitre tracks are not standard. I wouldn't buy another. There is another thread already on this machine in here somewhere.

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I should keep looking. I know if I want to do accurate work I should aim to pay a lot more, but I'm sure there's something at the lower end (e.g. contractor style or small TS) that would suit.

I guess the big thing is checking it's all square (including the mirte slots - hadn't thought of that!) for a start.

The search continues....

Regards,
Darren

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

I bought an MLT 100 but wouldn't do it again. I would save just a little longer and go for a lower end carbatec or similar. I wanted something light and easy to move around my small workshop but the fence is dodgy and you need to hold it down with a clamp, had warranty issues with the electrics and lost it for 3weeks could have been longer but made a lot of noise and got it fixed. The mitre tracks are not standard. I wouldn't buy another. There is another thread already on this machine in here somewhere.

I am surprised to hear that about the Maks. Perhaps this will help?

How to Set Up a Tablesaw | The Wood Whisperer

I've got it set up and working ok but after warranty grief and a fair bit of fiddling and tuneing. I went against one of my basic principals, "you only get what you pay for" but being Makita it through me a bit. I will put up with this for a while and then go and spend what I should have the first time.
These are not your standard Makita quality.

I've been looking at getting one of these saws purely because of the portability. Hitachi also have a similar saw for the same price, although it doesn't have the cuting depth the Mak has, but it does come with a trolley as standard ($300 extra fo the makita). Hitachi Power Tools Australia

Makita make a similar table saw thats twice the price of the MLT100. I wonder if it's twice the quality?

I liked the Makita because it had a bigger table but Hitachi (which I have several power tools) would, I think be very gutsy although I also thought the Makita would be good quality. If I had my time over I would be looking at a nice big solid table and a good fence, ok and depth of cut and hp (so I should have spent more money) I'm going round in circles here. I also don't have much space and need to move it almost everytime I use it. Anyway I have the Mak working at an acceptable level now so I'm good. You guys are the ones with the dilema.

Ok tips to get the Mak working.
1. Take out the stop pin on the handle of the fence lock so it locks better.
2. Use a quick action clamp on the fence as well so it doesn't let go when you put pressure against it.
3. Make a ply or other material close fitting strong table insert around the blade.
4. Use a realy strong dust extractor system so the blade houseing doesn't fill up with sawdust. (and keep cleaning it out on a very regular basis)
5. Attach a stop lever over the start stop button so you don't have to bend down to find the stop button (taking your eyes of the job and moving your whole body while the saw is still going) - I now only have to bump it gently with my knee or any other body part to stop the saw.
6. Optional, make a sled rather than rely on the slopy fitting sliding mitre thingy.

This is along with all the usual things to make a table saw tuned like checking the blade and table for square etc.

I can post some photos later if you like?

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

I liked the Makita because it had a bigger table but Hitachi (which I have several power tools) would, I think be very gutsy although I also thought the Makita would be good quality. If I had my time over I would be looking at a nice big solid table and a good fence, ok and depth of cut and hp (so I should have spent more money) I'm going round in circles here. I also don't have much space and need to move it almost everytime I use it. Anyway I have the Mak working at an acceptable level now so I'm good. You guys are the ones with the dilema.

Ok tips to get the Mak working.
1. Take out the stop pin on the handle of the fence lock so it locks better.
2. Use a quick action clamp on the fence as well so it doesn't let go when you put pressure against it.
3. Make a ply or other material close fitting strong table insert around the blade.
4. Use a realy strong dust extractor system so the blade houseing doesn't fill up with sawdust. (and keep cleaning it out on a very regular basis)
5. Attach a stop lever over the start stop button so you don't have to bend down to find the stop button (taking your eyes of the job and moving your whole body while the saw is still going) - I now only have to bump it gently with my knee or any other body part to stop the saw.
6. Optional, make a sled rather than rely on the slopy fitting sliding mitre thingy.

This is along with all the usual things to make a table saw tuned like checking the blade and table for square etc.

I can post some photos later if you like?

My mlt 100 just switched its self of half way thru a job havnt had any problems with it up to this point matter of fact its been great but honestly . its probably done an hrs work and its rooted so it looks like im going to lose mine for a few weeks to . should have stayed with my first choice of the dewalt but like you i liked the bigger table. big price to pay just to cut some 1/2 in ply

Sounds like mine. Cut maybe an 15min run time, cut a piece, turned off, went to cut the next bit and it wouldn't turn back on. Makita didn't have any spares in Australia for them in Jan/Feb this year. It was only after 3 weeks and me hounding managers etc that Gasweld in Newcastle pulled the swithch out of their showroom unit that I got it back. If it was up to Makita I might still be waiting.s

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

Sounds like mine. Cut maybe an 15min run time, cut a piece, turned off, went to cut the next bit and it wouldn't turn back on. Makita didn't have any spares in Australia for them in Jan/Feb this year. It was only after 3 weeks and me hounding managers etc that Gasweld in Newcastle pulled the swithch out of their showroom unit that I got it back. If it was up to Makita I might still be waiting.s

well finally got my makita table saw back last friday and got straight to work on it
firstly i took a piece of aluminium and made a new table insert giving the blade just enough room to swing to its full tilt travel .
Then i thought right what can i do with this fence problem . So after much study i noticed that the slide T slot is only 1 to 1 1/2 mm thick and most of the flex in the fence was coming from there as the 2 locking screw positions are close together . What i did was drilled a hole thru the top of the handle and inserted a bolt into the T slot so as to create more distance between the fixings then used a plastic Tknob from a triton to lock it up then i took a piece of 75 x 75 x 5 mm aluminium angle machined it to suit bolted it onto the fence then made a new measurement sight .well guess what unbelievable it works . my friends 12 in industrial carbatec saw has more movement in the fence than this has . so there we have it a bit of thought sweat and brain matter and i turned #### into strawberry jam

Originally Posted by rob.t

well finally got my makita table saw back last friday and got straight to work on it
firstly i took a piece of aluminium and made a new table insert giving the blade just enough room to swing to its full tilt travel .
Then i thought right what can i do with this fence problem . So after much study i noticed that the slide T slot is only 1 to 1 1/2 mm thick and most of the flex in the fence was coming from there as the 2 locking screw positions are close together . What i did was drilled a hole thru the top of the handle and inserted a bolt into the T slot so as to create more distance between the fixings then used a plastic Tknob from a triton to lock it up then i took a piece of 75 x 75 x 5 mm aluminium angle machined it to suit bolted it onto the fence then made a new measurement sight .well guess what unbelievable it works . my friends 12 in industrial carbatec saw has more movement in the fence than this has . so there we have it a bit of thought sweat and brain matter and i turned #### into strawberry jam

Well done, but as people here are wont to say,.
<quote>####</quote>
Generally, one makes raspberry jam from them raspberries

Rob and I thought we bought Strawberries/Raspberries but we acctually bought ###t. But now we have Mullberries. Not quite what we bought but now we at least have berryies. few pictures of my mods, Robs fence fix sound better than mine but its doing the job at the moment.

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

Rob and I thought we bought Strawberries/Raspberries but we acctually bought ###t. But now we have Mullberries. Not quite what we bought but now we at least have berryies. few pictures of my mods, Robs fence fix sound better than mine but its doing the job at the moment.

Can you explain to me what that clamp is actually doing on your fence?
Is that throat plate, a zero-clearance?

Just got quoted $900 for the Bosch GTS10 shipped to Adelaide, which is over my budget, so was looking at dropping to the MLT100, but there are so many issues with that fence.
For $850 I could get a H&F SB-12 or Carby 10in, but they are huge. Such a dilema....