Love my new Makita toys

On the weekend I bought myself a Makita SCMS (the 255mm LS1018L one, not the big monster) and a Makita jigsaw (the good one), both with the approval of SWMBO. Our part time handyman has finally left us and with him went his drop saw, and our borrowed jigsaw went back to our workshop. The new SCMS is just superb. Even with the supplied (avg quality) blade, it makes beautifully smooth cuts. And the jigsaw has changed my outlook on them as a tool. I've also been thinking about a Li-Ion kit of Makita tools, but I thought about this over the weekend. Apart from a drill and driver combo, I think I might be better off with tailed tools. I will use them 95% of the time in my workshop, so why go cordless? The corded versions seem to be more highly powered and more robust, so for me they might be better options. I love the thought of having the Li-Ion versions, but am I better off with the corded versions? Opinions?

Makita are leaders in Li-Ion tools. Huge range & in some cases best in class performance. But not without problems too. Early LXT batteries can be unreliable and tend to have short lives. I believe things are better now with newer 5.0ah batteries proving more reliable.

In my experience Makita's cordless grinder & combi rattler/hammer drill are flawed to the extent of near uselessness, and their circular saws, in common with all others I've ever tried are frustratingly gutless. Their 3 speed drills have frequently suffered from gearbox failure.

There is however a new range of 36v saws & SDS hammers that use two LXT batteries in tandem to provide more useful capacities & power.

Their drills and rattlers nevertheless offer the type of reliability & performance & demanded by millions of tradies the world over.

Provided you can cherry pick the best performing tools from their range you should be more than satisfied.

I have a Two Makita LXT drills and an impact driver. One of the drills lives at home the other drill and driver live in the car.
Over the years I have acquired five 1.5ah batteries and a couple of 3ah so always have a fresh one to put in. More recently I have bought a couple of Makita LXT garden tools so I do not need to pull out a 25m lead and be careful of the lead while using the garden tools.
Yes the cordless tools do not have the same power as the mains, but it is more convenient to do the same job.
The cost of the skins is reasonable if you do not need the additional battery and charger.
I also bought a multifunction tool, as I had a job requiring it but no access to mains power.

I would buy the cordless tools on an as needed basis. Judge on the amount of likely use and if mains power is available.

At my work I obtained a cordless grinder to do a quick job where there was no mains available, we have since obtained a portable generator which if we had before would not have bought the cordless grinder.

In a small workshop environment I much prefer tailed tools, except when I'm working in a confined space (eg. fitting out inside a cabinet) where the lack of a cord is an asset.

On-site, it's the other way around... although I still prefer tailed tools for jobs involving prolonged and/or heavy use. Such as cutting rebar, or doing a lot of rips with a circ. (I agree with Ratbag's sentiments on this; batt circs & grinders tend to be rather wimpy!)

In practice it's nice to have both available to hand. In your place I'd buy the corded tools first and then follow up with batt. tools as and when the budget allows.

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Originally Posted by Poppa

I love the thought of having the Li-Ion versions, but am I better off with the corded versions? Opinions?

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I prefer corded tools. I want my tools to outlast me :) Given that all my work is done in the shop, I can get away with that and my only cordless tools are drills/drivers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poppa

On the weekend I bought myself a Makita SCMS (the 255mm LS1018L one, not the big monster)

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I've been considering this for a while, but when I checked it out in store the one on display had some lateral play at full extension. Have you used it on wider boards? What is the accuracy like?

the cordless tools from makita are great. the new gear is pretty good, all of it runs really well off the batteries and i can say there isnt any of the current gear that runs whimpy off the 4.0ah battery.

the grinder works as good as the corded version. I use it onsite to chase concrete and tile and its great. The rotary hammer is brilliant, and the circular saw used to get used a fair bit before the track saw came along.

The best is probably the 80mm planer, it works just like the corded version, ifnot better. The biscuit joiner works well too, you just cant bury it like you can with the corded version

BUT,

the old 3.0ah batteries SUCK BIG TIME if you can get in your head that they are a consumable, which they are, you will be ok with it when they die after 2-3 years of use.

I have a fairly full arsenal iv 18v Makita including the scms. Yes some lacks grunt but I love it.

The rotary hammer kills my Ramset corded for performance.

Impact driver, woe that had been handy changing a few wheels as well as general nut and bolt stuff. I have three impact drivers.

Yes I had some crap batteries but the tools are great and looking at 4.0ah battery.

The little blower is a must and I have three lanterns. Grinder works fab and Id use the 165mm circular saw over a corded for most work except long ripping in thicker timbers.

Like the drills and the battery sander has been good too. For short bursts they are all great. For heavy work where you will get the tools bogged down a corded will be better but I rarely go for a corded over my cordless


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Would concur. I have a fairly full set of lxt cordless and some makita corded tools. In a workshop environment very happy with the lxt for most jobs. I do have a few batteries though. For heavy duty prolonged work the reciprocating saw and circular saw are unimpressive but good for most jobs.


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I'm not on the tools anymore, nowadays its just a part-time thing yet I still have a small selection of purchased-as-needed cordless tools, Makitas. I still have the occasionally needed corded tools. Wait till you're up on a roof needing to saw, drill & drive, dragging power cords around which become unplugged, get caught, potential hazard in the wet. Those times were a signal to go cordless; so I did. I deliberated more than most & faffed & farted & looked & waited. My need was not urgent as I was not going to use them daily so I had time to shop. I found when I picked up different tools of various brands some simply didn't fit my hand. And I looked only at those which had a belt hook, everything else is not a serious tool. To those who are looking today, my advice is do that first; pick the thing up and decide how it feels for YOU. Every time I use my Makitas today I reinforce my decision, they have what I want, all are fit for my purpose.

However, each tool has its limits, and I don't see myself buying the cordless grinder or the larger cordless reciprocating saw. The former because of useful battery endurance and the latter because of its cumbersome-ness. At the other end of the scale, I bought an older used Makita cordless Ni M Ha powered SCMS, knowing full well where its limitations were. For convenience, this thing is underestimated, no power cords to worry about, light to carry, quick to set up and I have two functioning batteries plus an adaptor for Lion batteries. It was purchased for trimming of course but will even cut veranda posts, I did that just to see if it would.