Makita SP6000JI Plunge Saw

Jul 16, 2021 Last reply: 5 years ago 9 Replies

Just took delivery of the above and it seems to be an awesome piece of kit. The saw came complete with a systainer, 2 x 1.5M guide rails plus connector bars and a carry bag for the guide rails all for £405 inc VAT. The average price seems to be anywhere between £500 - £600 pounds for all that kit.



Just been playing around with it trimming the splinter guards on the rails to size and sawing some scrap melamine chipboard. Two things I noted the motor is a soft start type and sounds a bit rough as it gets up to speed but then produces a nice steady whine but you can just detect a slight roughness. The blade runs true without wobble so it does not suggest it is a faulty bearing so I thought it might be the brushes bedding in but again no sparking evident at the commutator end. Should I be worried?



Cutting the melamine chipboard was no problem. It has a facility to cut a scoring cut before cutting to full depth so a nice cut on the top face but on the underside where I would expect a circular saw to produce a clean cut there was some chipping, is this normal that the topside is the better edge?



I am just waiting for a 1M rail to join on to one of the 1.5M rails to cut some 18mm ply and hope to give it a bit of a workout beginning next week, so will see how it goes.



Richard


They are *very* good. I bought the similar 36V DSP600PT2 about a year ago - it's one of the the "nicest" tools I own and arguably better than a panel saw. I'm still using one guide and just moving it alone but am tempted to get another. OOI why do you want a 1m rail if you already have two 1.5m rails?

I need to cut some 1.8M lengths and slapping the two 1.5M lengths together is just a bit unwieldy I also envisage cutting a lot of shorter widths ie 600mm - 800mm in the future so a 1M would be more convenient to work with. I am hoping to convert an old woodwork bench into a MFT so again a shorter rail would be more convenient. The two 1.5M rails will still get plenty of use splitting full boards.

Richard

I take it you've watched plenty of Peter Millard vids?

You found me out. : )

Richard

The motor on my (old) LS1214 SCMS is like that - soft start (and electronic brake), and also sounds a bit noisy. I think its just its "normal" sound due to having a geared output. (bit like angle grinders always have a bit of a similar sound)

Yup please let us know.

My battery angle grinder grinder sounds really "gronky" as it comes to a halt, much more than previous mains ones, presumably due the braking?

Yes one'll be on my list at some point.

I have not used mine in anger yet but a couple of tips which probably apply to all guide rail types. First when trimming the splinter guard set the plunge to maximum. Second if you have two guide rails join them together start in the middle of one and finish in the middle of the other. Rejoin the opposite ends so that the untrimmed splinter guard on both is in the middle then run the saw down the length again.

The reason for this procedure is the Makita like most rail saws has two adjusting cams that make sure there is no wobble along the guide but if you start partially on the rail you will find it difficult to ensure that, as the rear cam may not be the slot.

Richard

That should read ????.may not be IN the slot.

Richard

Richard Apologies for replying to my own post but today I finally got to use it in anger. I had to do several rip cuts down some 1.8M lengths of 18mm ply and I have to say the the results were very pleasing and accurate so I am a very happy bunny.

The only niggle I have encountered is that the depth set on the plunge is based on the plate sitting directly on the material so when using the guide rails you have to compensate for them. In my case sawing 18mm thick material using the guide rail and to achieve the half tooth projection below the material the depth gauge had to be set to 23mm. A small niggle and not a major problem I believe the Festool plunge saws are calibrated that zero depth is level with the guide rail underside.

Richard

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