Its amazing this saw made it to me in one piece. This has to be absolutely the worst packed and boxed item I have ever recieved from a manufacturer. The box is flimsy. The interior packing is light cardboard as well. The removable r sub fence piece was loose in the box when it arrived, leading me to believe the saw was damaged… not so.
Set up was fairly plain. The bevel arrow was off slightly, but the rest of the saw ran flat and squared nicely.
The instruction book leaves a bit to be becoming, but I am used to looking at an illustrated parts breakdown, so perhaps I am being too cracked.
I have not used the saw yet for work. But will in a day or so and will update this post. The blade guard feels very flimsey and will accepted be the first thing to ” adjust “.
I have used Dewalt, Makita, Hilti, Milwalkee, Etc. apparatus in the bygone. Makita equipment much have had a effete feel to them and bad ergonomics for me. This one seems an exception so far. The Dewalt compound miter I have used at work has a cistern like feel that this saw doesn ‘ t have. This saw also doesn ‘ t crack my operate when I lower the blade.
I was recommended this saw or the bosch 5412. I chose this one b / c the bosch reviews didn ‘ t have consistency, which led me to issue their quality control. Written reviews pegged this saw as the best skiver… so….
As I use the saw.. I ‘ ll restore the situation

I have used it quite a bit since receiving it this June. It is easy to use – and accurate – even for a novice or non – pro!

In my use – the laser came in much more handy than I inherent and is dammed accurate. Measuring to keep the right side of the cut – it ‘ s Threadbare – On! What is red – will draw out – and cut will be precisely to left of red.

Be aware that laser will be hard to see in direct sunlight – but that can ‘ t be helped.

I have used the fluorescent light more than I ever ingenerate to.

Be prepared to get some sort of band or stand – or – plan on birth it clamped down in one place. This thing is too big to be competent around much – and much alacrity by boost will require more ” re – where ” the miter and bevel.

I recently bought this saw from Amazon. It ‘ s a great saw. As I was shopping for the saw, I read a lot of reviews to try to figure out which one to buy – perhaps like you ‘ re doing. One reviewer would love a saw and another would think it was junk. I read one or two in which the reviewer complained that this saw or that one wouldn ‘ t cut a straight line. Don ‘ t listen to that stuff. Makita, Bosch, Dewalt, and perhaps a few others are great saws. I ‘ ll bet I can cut a straight line with any of them. And I ‘ ll bet I can warp the cut with any of them. Sliding compound miter saws aren ‘ t hard to use, but there is a little basic technique to use. Your manual will tell you about it. You may or may not like one feature or another, but used properly, they all do a great job. The Makita certainly does. If you know how to use one of these things, they ‘ ll work for you. I recommend the Makita. Everything works – even the laser. I took the time to set it up and it saves a lot of time for me. You have to use it a while to understand how to use it accurately. A guy I was working with the other day was using a different brand – I can ‘ t remember which. He was doing good work and he was faster than I was.
If you buy a saw – you ‘ ll need a stand. Here again, a number of them are good, but I ‘ ll chat about two. I bought a PortaMate PM7000. Once set up on the job, I love it ‘ s utility and versatility. For my work I cogitation that would be more urgent than moving. But I have to admit – done over again, I ‘ d get the Rigid stand ( AC9940 ) that folds up and has the wheels. Other folks I have worked with have that one and I ‘ ve decideded that movement trumps sustenance. But that will depend on how much you sense to have to stirring your saw. If my PortaMate had better moving, it would be everything I could fancy – and it would have monetary worth another $100. I ‘ m not going to transmit it back to Amazon. If I ever get too tired of lugging my current side around, I ‘ ll buy a Rigid too. Here again, you ‘ ll find folks that will trash any of them in a retrospect – and folks that will love them. And there ‘ s four or five really good ones out there.
So read the reviews. They can be supportive, but don ‘ t take everything they say too seriously – You ‘ ll be able to do good work with whatever you buy. With the general quality of the equipment being concerned today – it will largely depend on you.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

Much like the previous people that purchased this saw, mine arrived in a badly damaged box. In fact, the box was held together with 5 strips of packaging tape in one of the corners. Upon opening, I did not see any visible damage to the saw ( still in one piece!! ) and all parts seem accounted for. I wonder if I ‘ m receiving a saw that was previously returned by someone else? I brought it home, plugged it in and started cutting. No problems. The factory blade does cut very nicely. I have not checked if it is square.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

I have problems with large items over 50 lbs. shipped by Amazon. When they show up broken, it makes me crazy. It ‘ s a pain in the A!!, to pack it up again & get it back to UPS, and of corse, the paper work. When I receive a new high end tool like that, it makes me wonder why I just did ‘ nt go to the local hardware store & pay the $50. 00 more. I was at home when the saw got to my house. I was looking in the truck & watched the driver pull the saw from the 2nd platform up off the floor & do a controled drop to the floor of the truck. I said do you need some help, he replied yes, this thing is heavy. We carried it into my kitchen. I opened the box & looked for damage. I did not notice any on a quick look. I don ‘ t think the damage I found later was done when I watched the kid drop it. He dropped it on its base, the bottom of the box, but who knows how many times it was dropped before it got here. I mounted the saw on the new miter table that I also got from Amazon a few weeks before the saw. It ‘ s over 50 lbs. also, and the 1st one came thru busted up. the 2nd one had a large hole in the box, but no damage to the table. I plugged the the saw into a recept., pulled the switch & the saw ran fine. I released the switch & to my suprise the saw keep running. I pulled the plug out of the wall to shut it down & started to look for the problem. I saw the handle was broke. It had to happen somewhere in shipping. 5 hours later, after pulling the saw apart, glueing the handle and putting the saw together, it worked like it should have. NOW TO THE SAW. I would give the saw 5 stars if the crap above did not happen. I love the soft start on the motor. It eliminates that torque on start up that you get with the bigger saws. I ‘ m impressed with the Makita factory 12 ” saw blade. I never used one before, but I would buy another one. I also like the fluorescent light. It ‘ s not that brite to use as the only light, but it helps take the shadows away. The laser is alright to the left of the blade after adjustments for rough cuts. But when you are working finished molding cuts to a 32nd of an inch, I still do it the old way. line the side of the blade you are cutting with on the good old pencil mark. The dust bag is a joke. More saw dust ends up on your saw table & floor, insted of the bag. But that ‘ s part of working with wood. If you buy one that ‘ s not busted up from shipping, that you pull out of the box, mount it on your table, plug it in & it works the right way. You will be very happy with this produst. For me this is another plus. ASSEMBLED IN THE USA. Buford, GA, USA.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

This is an excellent saw. My one and only issue with it is the miter scale being on the side. Just not used to that. But I gotta tell ya, how this thing arrived undamaged is beyond me. It has to be, without a doubt, one of the poorest packaged items I ‘ ve ever received. Especially considering the nature and weight. I feel very fortunate that it arrived safely, for I guarantee there were many which didn ‘ t.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

Very good saw. Solidly built, easy to use, and received high ratings as best miter saw in this size. Only 2 issues: the saw was shipped with a defective handle and trigger switch ( quality control? ) and that was resolved to my satisfaction. Second is the saw is quite heavy and large so not easy to carry around.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

Hi, this is a PRO SAW and I am a retired all phase carpenter. I have used many of these Makita saws by various employers and have owned a few also.. The bang for the buck is here and this saw is very user friendly for the weekend warrior that has intense remodel or wood working projects. The balance is sweet and you can feel the precision as your work with it, 1 / 64 ” for finish or cabinet work is not hard to hit the mark if your eyes are that accurate…… This is the top of the line and there are more expensive machines out there but the don ‘ t hold a candle to this model of Makita. I bought mine Feb 2008 at a steal here at Amazon, don ‘ t know if it was a pricing error or what but I shopped hard using search engines for a month….. The reason I got one more new one, and the only one I own now is I figured it would last me the rest of my life and I also purchased a new home in the country and all of my older out buildings had no trim, fascia or corner caps and I used my Makita to trim out every outbuilding I own…. Such a sweet saw I did over 1, 000 linear feet in two days. To enhance this saw you may consider purchasing a chop saw bench, I found a transportable light weight wheeled collapsible one that weights 50 pounds with a single roller wheel and an open bridged support table of 119 ” for material support. I used a well known auction outlet for my portable saw table and scored that for 135 bux….. I have checked the stop locks on the degree of cut and doing that with a laser gauge and the factory quick locks for common cuts has repeatedly come in less that one half of a degree…Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

I was quite nervous spending this much on a saw. After installing crown, base, and chair rail in our whole 2, 500 sq ft house, I have no regrets what so ever. I was able to complete the whole project in 1 day, w / o this saw it would of been much longer. This saw is the best there is. It ‘ s made in the USA which is an added bonus, however helps me understand why the quality is so great. Would recommend to anyone in the market. Trust me, spend the extra to get a good quality saw such as this one.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light

After looking over all dual bevel compound sliding miter saws and their reviews this one seemed to be a better quality at a decent price. After receiving the saw and inspecting it I can say for sure that I believe it really is a higher quality saw than the ones I inspected at the big box stores. The laser is right on and can be changed to the right or left side in less than 2 seconds.Reviews of Makita LS1214FL 15 Amp 12-Inch Dual Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw with Laser and Fluorescent Light