Makita LS1019L 10” Miter Saw Review

In the power tools industry, Makita is counted among the brands that manufacture innovative yet professional-quality products. It holds a legacy, especially when it comes to miter saws.

The compact-designed Makita LS1019L set out to be one of its best miter saws for professionals, carpenters, and serious DIY hobbyists. Makita claims that their latest 10-inch Miter Saw (dual-bevel) is engineered to be powerful and precise. Makita promotes it for its unwavering accuracy.

With high sales and demand, it seems like Makita LS1019L is the solution to all the cutting applications.

But let’s look at the features in detail before we conclude this model is one of the best miter saws for the professionals.

Features of Makita LS1019L Miter Saw

The Makita LS1019L looks brilliant with the dual-steel side railing. You may wonder how it stacks against other miter saws and the pros and cons.

There are a bunch of mixed reviews about this saw. But before we dive into the review, let’s go through the specifications first.

Specifications

Body Structure:

Side-Rail Sliding

We observed the Makita LS1019L has a compact and portable size. The unique design of the 2-steel rail sliding system is quite similar to the Festool Kapex 120 Sliding Miter Saw.

According to its design, this dual-sliding rail is mounted to the frame and stays in its place. The use of linear ball bearings provides smooth sliding back and forth without much effort.

When this saw was flush to the fence or wall, it did not mislay the cross-cutting capability. It brings more cutting capacities with lesser working space.

Obviously, this is the main selling point of this saw.

We noticed about twenty percent (20%) larger rails are used in this compact system for ease in multiple compound chores, such as bevel cutting and work cutting accuracy.

Overall, the rail sliding is solid built. And we believe it’ll last for many years of moil and toil.

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Large Solid Base

The base for the product is made of aluminum for lightweight and stability. We’re satisfied with the large squared shape of its base and stationary fence.

However, it was not easy to balance and adjust its removable fence on the outer end of its base. This made it difficult to get precise cuts where the plane was referenced.

However, a little practice will perfect it in no time.

Direct Drive, Soft Start

Frankly, it did not disappoint as it provided a smooth start-up without a jerk. And it also delivers constant cutting speed in tougher materials.

The D-Handle is also comfortable to hold with a push-button safety switch. It’s well designed and operates easily with your right thumb.

Some miter saws came with a belt-drive, but this one has a direct drive. In our opinion, direct drive is preferred over belt drive as the belt normally stretches out and has to be replaced from time to time.

Electric Brake

Like most of the miter saws, it features an electric brake. It ensures to stop the blade in less than 3 seconds upon releasing the trigger switch. For increased safety, this is a must for all power tools with a rotating blade.

Hold Down Clamp

When we talk about the hold downs, we love it as it clamped and released fairly quickly, although it does not have a quick-release knob.

We hope it comes with two instead of one to secure both sides of the lumber to make a precise cut and to get the full capacity of its miter rotation.

Also, before starting it for the first time, the bevel of Makita LS1019L may require some adjustments. However, we would say this saw is fairly easy to set up and use.

Quality of Cutting

Its cutting depth is good for crown molding. Makita has put its DXT trademark over this saw, which stands for “Deep and Exact Cutting Tech”.

It features a good-quality stock blade. However, We must say, it somewhat disappointed us in terms of precision.

While working on cuts that need absolute precision, like trim work, we observed that the blade did not stay parallel to the guides, and it dragged a bit during longer cuts.

We believe the quality control at Makita factories may be at fault here. We researched and found out that a few other users faced similar issues.

Some fixed this problem on their own while others headed to Makita Service Centers for repair.

Miter and Bevel Angles

Makita makes high-quality power tools. The LS1019L is one of its lastest miter saw innovations that will surely catch the attention and interest of carpenters and professional contractors.

With all the necessary detents, you have a miter that goes 0 – 60° on both sides. And 0 – 48° of the bevel on both right and left.

With these capacities on both sides, the work was more accessible as you’ll only need to flip the material around on the unusual cuts.

Cutting Capacity

With a baseboard of capacity 5-1/4″ and nested crown at 6-5/8″, this model has the capacity and value closer to that of 12” saws.

It passed a 4×4 lumber in one go in a simple cut test on 4-3/4 baseboards.

This is the capacity required for woodwork, carpentry, and other constructional work. In our opinion, it is quite satisfactory.

It got very close to the 12″ miter saw capacity vertically with a 10″ blade that is not as vulnerable and is somewhat similar to its superior counterparts.

Therefore, we’d say that this saw provides excellent value for money.

Compared to many 10″ miter saws, Makita LS1019L is a winner. You’ll be convinced after reading the performance in 10″ vs 12″ miter saw comparison.

Laser Guide

Like other miter saws, it comes with a single line laser guide. For experienced woodworkers, it’s very common to make a minor laser adjustment to achieve a super-accurate cut.

It ensures the blade will only cut on the waste side.

When we compared Makita LS1019L to Festool Kapex 120 miter saw, the latter has a dual-line laser with spot on delivery. No adjustment is needed in this case.

Whether it’s a single or dual laser guide, it does not matter if you’re an experienced woodworker who only relies on skills to create a masterpiece.

Motor

A 15 AMP power is needed for this saw’s motor to spin at 3,200 RPM. Makita claims it leads to a smooth start-up, and we can testify to that.

There are no belts to exchange and no slips that are usually present in other compound miter saws.

The direct-drive motor demonstrated a stable cutting speed when used on tougher materials. We feel this would be a great benefit for professional carpenters.

Front Bevel Knob

What we like is the front knob bevel lock. It’s not a setting for bevel angle but rather a knob to tighten and release the bevel function.

It’s located on the front side of the saw, and no adjustment is needed at the back, so it’s quick and easy to do a bevel and compound cut.

Slide Lock

A simple slide lock is also located on the side of the rail mounting to prevent unnecessary sliding when making standard cuts. Makita made it simple and easy to access all the features with its front-side design.

But we must say the support rails are not for beginners and casual woodworking hobbyist. They are great for construction works.

Dust Collection

This is another selling point of the Makita LS1019L.

The necessary tools are provided with the dual dust collection ports (eg: flexible hose and connector piece). This saw is equipped with a hose diverter where it collects dust from the areas around the miter blade.

Two methods can be used to collect sawdust.

Option 1.

Option 2.

However, we did not like that the DC hook up is angled and directed downwards. This made it more challenging to hook up on a closed workbench.

But on the bright side, it did a fairly good job in dust collection, and it is on par with the Festool Kapex 120 with about 75% dust collected. Many miter saws are struggling to maintain such efficient dust extraction, but the Makita LS1019L shines in this area.

Service

In terms of the warranty, you can rely on Makita. If you face any issues with your purchase, you can get it serviced at any official Makita Service Center. There are plenty in the United States at the moment. You can visit their website for further information about the warranties they are offering.

The Pros and Cons