I’ve been able to use the Makita XSL02Z 18 volt X2 LXT brushless cordless 7-1/2”dual slide compound miter saw for the last couple of months.

Let me just say this saw is a beast!!!  I’ve always been the type of guy who thought bigger is better and I’ve always bought big chop saws. I forgot how nice it was to use the old 8-1/4” hitachi chop saws of old.

This Makita reminds me of this old Hitachi, tons of power, seemingly indestructible and light as a feather.

There are so many big plusses to the Makita chop saw.

Weight:

#1  It’s light 28.8 pounds, as I’m getting older this is getting more and more important. I beat the crap out of my body trying to keep up with my old lead carpenter and having a chop saw that I can curl with one arm is a major plus.

Accuracy:#2 It’s accurate, with the smaller blade you have less chance of the blade walking out on you when taking a small amount off of hardwood.  It miters 47 degrees to the left and 57 to the right.  Even with the small blade it will cut through a 2X12 at 90 and a 2X8 at 45.Cordless:

#3 It’s cordless and brushless.  I know this isn’t important to everyone but for siders, framers, deck builders, replacement window installers, track house trim installers, hardwood flooring installers, etc…. You won’t be fighting for the only outlet that works in the house, you won’t have to rev up the generator to run the saw, you won’t be blowing breakers and it’s small enough to have on a scaffolding and not be in the way.

Power:

#4 The Makita XSL02Z has power to spare, I haven’t been able to bind up this saw once. As long as you’re using it properly you should never have a problem with it. I’ll post a vid of it going through 8/4X8 maple.

Battery:

#5 The batteries last forrrreeevvveeerrr!! Compared to the Dewalt flex volt or even the Makita 10” cordless chop saw this is a thin kerf blade that doesn’t need to use a ton of energy to get ramped up to speed.  I’ve made hundreds of cuts in a day and never had to switch out the batteries once.

Affordable Accessories:

#6 The blades are cheap, you can run just a normal circular blade if need be in it.

Overall: 

This saw will do 90%+ of all the work you need.  It’s not really versatile as a crown saw but I’d rather have my big saw to do that any way,

There aren’t many issues with this saw.

Cons:

#1 As a lefty, where I use my left hand to pull the trigger more often, the motor sometimes gets in the way of my right hand holding the material.  Usually with only 2X stock.

#2 The saw also only bevels to the left and not to the right, but I’m not really asking of this saw to ever bevel.  I’ll be using this saw for rougher work most of the time, deck building, framing, siding etc.

#3 It has a small base for the wood to sit on so you will either need a good stand for it or good support, especially when cutting wider wood on a miter.  The table shrinks even more on the miter.

#4 It needs to be screwed down to a work station, bench or have its own stand. Since it’s light it really wants move around on you when you change the miter angle. If it’s not screwed down it will go all over the place.

Even with the few issues I talked about the Makita XSL02Z will be my go to saw for just about everything that I do in the future.  It’s light, accurate, powerful and easy to use.  It also feels like it will be able to stand up to the abuse I put all of my tools through.  That’s one of the major factors with me buying Makita, I can beat on them and not have to worry.

Another Great Review By : Brad Gosselink

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