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Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

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Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

#1

Maurice

I bought this thing over 27 years ago to build my workshop and it still has its original motor brushes and blade. The only modification is a 2mm rubber dust deflector screwed to the bottom of the dust extraction port. Does make a difference.
Of course it's limited on the maximum width of board it can dock but on the rare occasion I'm docking really wide stuff I do it on the trestles with a circular saw.
The newer versions of this venerable classic are the same price now. Amazing.
Yes I could have bought a RAS used for less but they are space hogging, finger ripping pigs. IMHO. 
Worked in many shops where the lads refused to use them and docked with a compound chop instead. Any cabinet shop guy will tell you there are good and bad when it comes to compound saws. I've never used a DeWalt I liked. Some styles of Makita tended to get gummed up turntables.
I'm surprised this one's still going actually but it's still accurate enough for some mitre work including glazing bead. 
Some guys are hard on these saws and commercial shop's usually have a mixture of them dotted around the place. Some are noisy and horrible, some are okay and if your lucky there is one that everyone fights over. 
A few years back when things were tight I returned to full time work in a joinery shop for a while. All their chop saws were clapped out so I brought in my own. Everyone started borrowing it. So I took it back home before it got killed.
I keep waiting for it to die and it's still going strong. 
Funny story. One place I worked at the De Walt was our only option for mitreing big mouldings. It was hopelessly inaccurate so we had to spend ages trimming with low angle block planes after the cut.
Much cussing.
" The boss won't  buy another one until this one's totally f'd " Said the foreman.
So one of the boys kicked it off the bench !
" Is that f'd enough ?" 
We blamed it on a hard knot and excessive blade wobble. 20240901-145236.jpg

Re: Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

#2

Ellis Walentine

Agreed on the LS1212. Mine worked flawlessly. Now my son has taken it to his shop in Alaska for a new life. For big moldings and timber stock, I was happy with my 15" Hitachi chop saw.

Ellis

Re: Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

#3

Maurice

Ellis Walentine wrote:

Agreed on the LS1212. Mine worked flawlessly. Now my son has taken it to his shop in Alaska for a new life. For big moldings and timber stock, I was happy with my 15" Hitachi chop saw.

Ellis

I've never used Hitachi but I've heard they are a good chop. I've been on the lookout
for a Hitachi resaw for year's.

Re: Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

#5

My LS 12-11 has been a workhorse in my shop for more than 20 years.  It's got the power to run a full-kerf 12" blade which improved the cut quality immensely.

Re: Docking saw. The classic Makita LS1212.

Edited #6

Maurice

That's great. Haven't used that one I think but I don't pay to much attention to model number's.
Negative rake teeth work well for some timbers. Blade quality makes a huge difference along with washing the gum off the teeth and resharpening. I've docked 3" Aussie hardwood with mine. It will take a bit more time to run through but that's okay.
I'm a big fan of sliding compound saws when they are well engineered. 
I have good extraction on mine and I keep it clean. Drop of oil on the turntable bolt and arm never goes amiss now and then.
Most pro shops they just get choked with dust and are flogged like a broken mule. 
Lol. The motor brake doesn't work as well as it used too. But then I never liked the noise it made to much. Peee yoooo!

Added later 1 d 8 h 08 min 04 s:

Jim DeLaney, Austintown, Ohio wrote:

Here in the U.S. Hitachi merged with/became Metabo a couple years ago.

Oh dear. Never had much luck with metabo.
People rave on about German quality but I've found Bosch, Festo vastly overrated.
I don't abuse my tools but they get worked hard. Festo sanders are GARBAGE. Tale one apart and you will see why they don't last.

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