LS1219L 12" Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw with Laser

I am a full-time builder of 20 years and have owned and used a variety of miter saws over the years. I've personably always owned DeWalt miter saws and have used other contractors' Makita saws and always liked them, but wasn't sure how they would hold up for my particular work. I, like many others, was interested in this saw because I liked the small footprint in my garage workspace compared to my DeWalt, knowing also that I would be transporting the Makita to/from the job site at least half the month. My decision after extensive research came down to this saw or the Bosch axial glide. You should know I was extremely hesitant to purchase this saw -- from Amazon, for sure, based on some of the reviews and unboxing/shipping mishaps photos on here; but also, based on reviews elsewhere online, which indicated this saw might have a manufacturing problem with regards to zeroing it out and getting accurate cuts when the saw is fully extended (having to do with the slide bars not being coplanar to one another, it seemed). I decided to order the Makita anyway (the Bosch looks nice and is less expensive as of this writing, but I just felt the Makita might be the better bet over time based on my knowledge of Makita's heritage). Amazon's return policy helped make that decision. And I couldn't be happier that I ordered it. Maybe I was just lucky, but my saw arrived in an undamaged box with an undamaged saw within. The packaging was robust and they had styrofoam and padding where it should have been to protect it from rough shipping and handling. Maybe they changed this packaging system since those negative reviews? I don't know. I just know mine came totally intact. Putting the saw together took all of five minutes, and then checking/adjusting all the tolerances took another hour or so, with only minor adjustments needed to get it perfect. The saw fences were perfectly aligned and plumb out of the box, as was the the head's/blade's squareness to the fences -- all the way out to 15". That's amazing! The zero-degree bevel was a half degree off, but the adjustment for this was painless and quick (the instructions tell you exactly how to adjust this, and it requires the same Allen key that changing the blade requires -- handily stored in the tool itself). Once the zero-degree bevel was adjusted, each 45-degree bevel were perfect as well. The table was about perfectly flat as well, and I could only barely slide a sliver of very thin paper under my straightedge in a few spots on the right side of the table. Use feeler gauges if you're keen. I didn't bother. I'm a carpenter and woodworker, not a machinist, so for me, the paper method worked fine. I tested it outside of the usual squares and straightedges, too, using actual 2x and 4x material and checking the material after a cut. Perfect and accurate cuts once adjusted! What can I say other than I am thrilled with the saw and also with how it arrived. Per negative reviews: Yes, the tall fences cannot be slid out (only removed) for large bevel angles. That's not an issue for my work: I don't cut large crown. My work involves wide pieces of trim, wide fascia and wide pieces of hardwood, so the tall fences come off for large bevel angles and that still leaves plenty of fence for 2x material. Needing tall fences for 4x material in my line of work may indicate the need for me to have a more precise miter station and/or to joint and plane the material better. Your common material usage will determine if the fences are an issue or not. They are not for me. Also common in negative reviews was some play in the saw head when extended all the way out. Well, I figured there would be at least some play in this Makita (all my older DeWalt sliders had some small degree of play as well). But I have zero play in the blade and saw head when the saw extends. Zero. It's surprisingly stiff through its range of motion. Maybe this will loosen in time? I don't know. Couple these tolerances with good sawing techniques on my part, and proper transporting practices, and I expect this saw to deliver excellent cuts for years. And yes, as other have noted, the detent plate is a concern of mine (it's aluminium). I'll have to wait and see how this holds up. I think NOT being aggressive with adjusting the base's angle should help considerably. Time will tell. At least Makita will send a new one if it looses accuracy. And then it takes all of ten minutes to install the new one and square it up. No big deal for me, personally. And yes, this saw is heavy and will be a mild burden to move to/from the job. It's a 12" sliding compound-miter saw: they are ALL heavy. If weight And transport are concerns and hefting 65 pounds is a burdeos, I would say look for a smaller saw and don't knock a 12" slider saw for what it is. What else is there to say? Despite the several online criticisms of this saw and its packaging and shipping, I ended up with what I had hoped for and what Makita has built its name around: a quality tool that should last years before it needs any repairs. It's a great saw! Things I needed to see and use to really appreciate and which set this saw apart: I really love the detent override switch at the thumb, and the bevel adjustment knob is a fantastic solution to not having to reach behind the saw to make adjustments. And of course, the footprint is incredibly small in my garage. It easily fits on a 24" miter station. Angling the saw over to 60 degrees when not in use, and it doesn't protrude past the station at all. Nicely done, Makita! And Amazon, for the fulfilment and shipping!

Arrived true! Blade is dead on square. Dust system definitely works better than dewalt or others. Laser was off a smidgeon but took minutes to correct. Last miter I'll ever need

This miter saw is the best more saw I have ever used and I have used a bunch of other saws in the past. This is a pricey saw but well worth it. It's not going to be a portable saw because it's on the heavy side. Mine is setup to be permanent at a miter saw station I built. Just buy this saw you won't regret it.

Update 8/2022 So after having used the mitre saw for about 20 projects I’ve not had any issues with it. As for the angle indicator plate if you are gentle with it and actually hold the tab until it’s in the correct position and gently let the latch lock you’ll never have to worry about ruining the edge and causing off angled cuts. Aside from that one caveat the mitre saw is flawless. Also my model was a Chinese model, butthe quality of both the tool and packing were top notch and the laser is still working perfectly. I’ll follow up later after more usage. —— I’ve always used Makita products when I would help at a carpentry shop many years ago, but they were old and from the 80’s and 90’s so I was very nervous about purchasing this Makita mitre saw from an online source especially with all the reviews here about damage in shipping or quality issues. Thankfully, mine shipped from the next state over and was in great shape when it arrived minus the UPS driver placing it on its side for delivery. Unboxing was quite a chore, so perhaps the packaging has improved. My model had the chrome pistons and the billet aluminium supports on the sides. I don’t know if this was a pre China model though. It cuts perfectly, no issues so far with the power of the motor or adjusting the cut angles. The laser is very helpful to speed up with lining up the cuts and it cuts perfectly accurate cuts each time. The vacuum system seems to works very well and the dust bag works, but fills up quickly. I’ll have mine connected to a dust collection system though. I still need a table for it because it’s very heavy and I do have some trouble lifting over 150lbs unassisted, but once the material is level and lined it will give true cuts consistently. In terms of construction and function, it’s a great workhorse which I hope will last many years. Overall I’m really happy with the quality and have already used it several time for a few projects. I’ll update as I use it, but so far it’s perfect

This is a great saw. It is not cheap, but at the time I bought it was midway between something comparable like a Festool and whatever one could find at a local big box store. You had to spend at least $1500 to get a comparable saw, which I just could not justify, or settle for big box store saws that were all flimsy. I am restoring an old house we live in, so for me I knew the shear number and type of saw cuts I needed to make, and the cut capacity and accuracy made it worth the price. For everyday cuts for weekend projects, or something like building a deck this would be overkill. The cut accuracy is perfect. The saw cuts exactly where the laser line indicates, and having the laser adjustable for cutting to the right or left of a marked line is a big plus. I recently built a coffered ceiling that had lots of beveled and angled cuts, and it was nice just being able to put a pencil mark where it was easiest to mark it and then flip the saw over to the opposing bevel, change which side of the laser line it cut to rather than having to do mental gymnastics and think about which side of the line I was cutting to. Besides the ceiling (the first of many to be redone), I've installed thousands of board feet of cedar siding all cut with this saw. Still using the blade that came with the saw. The saw starts and stops smoothly - no jerk at start up like a lot of saws this size. It also stops spinning the blade pretty quickly. Everything is ergonomically pretty well laid out, all the adjustments that one would be using on a daily basis can be gotten to from the front of the saw. Cuts right out of the box were spot on square and angled cuts measured spot on. I have seen no flex in the track even over maximum depth cuts, no deflection in the middle of the cut as I have seen in other reviews. Fine tuning bevel cuts to the graduations is easy with large screws, about the only time you need to get to the back of the saw, and I don't see this as a negative since that isn't something likely to change once those are set. It's also surprisingly quiet for a 12 inch saw, especially as it runs at a higher rpm than most other saws. Dust collection pretty decent, will plug right into my Festool vacuum that I got with the Festool track saw. Two negatives - 1) It's heavy. I'm not sure any saw with this capacity is light, but it sure isn't something I would want to wrestle out of a truck and set up every day at a job site. There is a nice carrying handle built into the top of the saw, and it is well balanced. But the few times I have needed to move it out of my shop to work on something on the house I am restoring I have rested the saw on my tractor bucket and driven it to the house. I think this is a much better saw permanently housed in a shop than as a job site saw. 2) The semi-ring with the graduations and stops for cutting angles is made of aluminum, but the spring loaded pin that locks in those angles is hardened steel. You have to be very gentle about not just swinging the saw around and letting the lock pin snap in under spring pressure, as this will pretty quickly wear some slop in the aluminum ring. Whenever I change cutting angles, I always very carefully line up the marks and then slowly ease the pressure of the guide pin. In one sense, babying an $800 saw is not unreasonable. Conversely, this is a definite weak point that will eventually cause problems, and it costs time to have to be that gentle with it. I'm sure the thought was not to add even more weight to the saw by making that ring out of stainless steel, but this is an issue. Replacement rings can be ordered, but I think Makita should simply give those for free to registered purchasers as this is a design flaw. The easily worn out guide ring is why I knocked a star off. Otherwise I would consider it a 5 star saw.

I just love this saw. The soft start is really nice. You don’t realize this is a big powerful saw when using it. It glides smoothly on the rails. There is minimal deflection of the blade, unlike some saws. The laser is very accurate, and works well enough for most tasks. You can swap the laser to either side of the blade with minimal effort, really nice touch. You need to spend some time dialing in the miter and bevel stops. Get a digital level and an accurate square, and that will help. The rails on my saw were also out of alignment, which created curved cuts. You need to loosen one of the set screws on a rail and twist them into alignment… this adjustment isn’t in the manual, but it’s necessary for some of these saws. A dial indicator comes in handy for making this adjustment. There are a couple videos on YouTube on how to align the rails. Overall an amazing beast of a saw, highly recommend getting one and putting some time into calibrating it. It’s worth the effort, as it cuts smoothly and accurately once tuned up.

SEE VIDEO. Bought brand new back in January. It has sat boxed and unopened in a safe location until ~2 weeks ago, when I was finally ready to install in onto the miter station I'd been working on. I noticed right away, when pivoting the saw left along the circular axis, there is a clear grinding noise of metal on metal, and the saw will not pivot without a decent amount of force. I reached out to Makita for warranty, and they requested I take the saw to an approved service center, and then they provided a link to find a service center near me. I live in a a large urban area with ~1 million people, and the closest service center is 107 miles away from me. I responded in email that I will not be making a 214 mile round trip journey to fix a saw that shouldn't have passed QA, and asked if they had an alternative option to fix said saw. That email is now 8 days old with no response. I'm sure my defective saw is an outlier, however, now that I see how difficult it is make good on a warranty through Makita, it has guaranteed I will no longer buying any Makita products going forward.

Good, high-quality miter saw. I definitely recommend it.