- Four-steel rail sliding system and six linear ball bearings deliver adjustment-free dead-on cuts
- Exclusive 5-1/2-inch-tall dual sliding fence system features upper and lower fence adjustment
- Powerful 15-amp direct-drive motor requires less maintenance than belt-driven saws
- Independent micro fine laser with on/off switch indicates line of cut left or right of blade
- Cuts 8-inch crown molding (vertically nested), 6-1/2-inch baseboard (vertical), and 15-inch crosscuts at 90 degrees
Includes 12-in Slide Compound Miter Saw with Laser - LS1216L-R, 12-in 60T Carbide-Tipped Blade - A-93712, Vertical Vise - 122854-6, Dust Bag - 122852-0, Triangular Rule - 762001-3, Wrench #2.5 - 783208-8, Wrench #13 - 782232-8The Makita LS1216L 12" dual slide miter saw delivers the largest crosscutting and crown cutting capacity in its class. It has a patented 4-Steel Rail Sliding System that further increases rigidity to produce superior cuts, and an exclusive 6 linear ball bearing design for s
List Price: $ 1,174.00
Price: $ 599.00
10/20/2011
00:40
Professional wood shop comments,
We run a small custom wood shop. I really did a lot of research on saws and spent countless hours driving long distances to see them in person. It was a tough decision but I settled on The Makita 12″ sliding compound miter saw. I had to weigh lots of arguments from so called experts on such things as belt driven vs. non belt driven and how some feared that the Makita being direct drive might be inferior. I found such arguments to be false arguments.
I’ve used my Makita now for 3 months and really love it. The single best feature that distinguishes it from the others is the laser, which unlike other brands is built in and works really well, and can be switched on and off and operates throughout the cut (unlike others). I only wish it had duel lasers so that you don’t have to switch the laser back and forth. I only use the laser on certain cuts and to line up very long cuts quickly.
The only problem that I have had is that to tilt the saw on a steep miter cut I really have to secure the lever very hard or the miter angle will slip. Also when doing a steep miter angle I have to do dry runs in order to compensate for the slight tilt that the saw will make when being pulled down. But I find that is easy to live with. There are no saws out there that do not bend or deform when cutting steep miter cuts. I think the Makita is by far the best saw overall.
I’m really happy with this saw.
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|10/20/2011
00:54
Makita LS1216L,
My Sears radial arm saw was losing motor bearings after 42 years of hard labor. No parts available and what is out there (Delta and Sears) were too expensive or too cheap. Went looking for alternative.
I have a one year old Hitachi double bevel 12″chop saw and give it 5 stars. I used the radial for cross cutting only. Looked at several dual bevel slider saws and found they might come close to 15″ 90 degree distance I have enjoyed with old RAS. Came very close to getting DeWalt at about 14″ cut. When I saw the “dust collector” that came with it, I wondered what else was cheap inside the saw. I also wanted a laser guide (standard on Hitachi), but optional on DeWalt. Found reviews on Makita. Stated 15″ cut and most excellent 4 tube slider system and the laser for a lot less money. Bought it about a month ago via Amazon.com and received it in about a week.
My Hitachi had arrived with “out of the box” perfect alignment. The Makita was found unlocked from the top slider (trying to open the top of the box) and none of the sliders were locked in place either. When I finally got it out and on the bench, I was impressed with the over all quality of the tool.
I discovered the alignment was off in bevel and miter. This took an hour to reset, following the micro-sized manual. (Finally went on line and downloaded manual so my ancient eyes could see the technical drawings more clearly.)
After adjustments, every thing seemed cool and the 60T blade that came with the saw cut through some 5/4 pressure treated lumber like butter with a really nice smooth end grain cut.
I just finished building an access door for our fireplace wood storage and spent the extra efort to miter all the joints and make the door a good tight fit. The Makita delivered.
I give this saw a 4 1/2 star rating only because of the packing issues (as mentioned in other reviews) and the poor alignment.
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