Makita 5604R

[The Medway Handyman]

Anyone got any experience of this saw?

[ARWadsworth]

I bought one just over 12 months ago to replace a Ryobi that had failed. I only use the saw for cutting floorboards during rewires etc and have found it to be underpowered and easy to stall the motor. The guard for the blade bent very early in its life and sticks open. All in all I was very disappointed with the saw although I have used Makita everything else and been pleased with their other tools. I think the biggest problem is it is only 950W and I intend to replace it with the 5603R later in the year (1100W) or maybe an even more powerfull version.

Adam

[Lurch]

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:40:36 -0000, "The Medway Handyman" mused:

I've had the 5703R (7 1/2") for several years and it's about right for general use, never had any problems with it for most tasks. It's a reasonably well built saw. If I had to buy a new saw tomorrow I'd buy the same one again.

I wouldn't want a smaller one though for doing too much worktop cutting (the 5604 is only 54mm depth) and I wouldn't want a bigger one for doing mainly floorboard lifting (bit too cumbersome).

[John Rumm]

Not that particular one...

I have always been very impressed with the Hitachi circular saws though. Nice solid cast base plates and very smooth running.

[andyrdhall]

I have one of the Hitachi ones and have been pleased with it. I've tried the Makita one briefly and that seemed fine also.

One other contender to consider could be Bosch. The have a guide rail system that is slotted to take their circular saw (and I think jigsaw as well). This would be interesting if there is a requirement to do a fair bit of panel cutting on site. Festool and Mafell offer systems like this as well.

[Andy Dingley]

A 5604 is old stock, so ought to be at a good price. Current model is the 5704

It's a reasonable quality cheap lightweight saw, only with a high pricetag. The 5703 is rather more convincing in terms of the baseplate and probably a better deal.

I do timber framing with a couple of the 5903s and a 5604. All have lasted fairly well. The 5143 is terrifying and uncontrollable, owing to a huge blade with huge gyroscopic forces. Don't ever try moving one with the power on other than in a pure straight line!

One weakness to the Makita is that the ripping splitter is flimsy and easily bent. Although you can easily bend them straight again you have to take it off the saw before you can do this (otherwise you just bend a second kink into it). This requires dismantling half the saw and more tools than you have on top of a roof.

For big stuff, the big Makita is nice. For this size though I'd probably buy a Hitachi C7U (ugly pair of trainers though it is). Even better is the last of the old-production Skils, if you can find one (new stuff is B&Q garbage)