Makita Lithium Ion Tools – Any good?
invictive
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with the Makita Lithium Ion tools? (1/2 Hammerdrill, Impact driver, 6 1/2″ skill saw, recipro saw)
I’ve been eyeing one of their package deals at the local store for a few days and would love to get some feedback from people who have used them.
Thanks,
-Kai
Replies
Simply the best!
I work the tools hard everyday and couldn't be more pleased with them. The only thing I need is one more battery...too many tools for the 2 bats provided in the kit.
Got to agree with Basswood. It is a pleasure to use these tools, meet or exceed my expectations.
Greg in Connecticut
Out-standing. Good power, great battery life, nice light batteries. Expensive though.
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
I love them--particularly the impact driver. It is so light and powerful. I use the hammer drill for setting Tapcons. Plenty of power and long battery life.
Elliott
I love the kit so much, I sprang for the drill/driver, which gave me another two batteries, charger, and a cool case that holds both the drill and impact driver and loads of bits.
Got mine at HD when they were selling off their floor models, at $472.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
After one of my guys got one, he threw his Dewalt away
Literally
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I'll be waiting for a long while to see how those batteries LAST, before I jump on that bandwagon. I love my Makita 12V stuff from a power, comfort and useability standpoint, but the battery life before failure is lousy. Two batteries lasted less than a year, but these were the first two and I'd already chucked the receipts so no warranty. And they're so expensive to replace!
There's a lot of them for sale on Ebay - new.
an older Dewalt?
I'm wondering out the new Makitas compare to the new Dewalt 36v
Maybe 2-3 years old
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The battery on the 36V DeWalt is the size of a shoe box.
was just at HD.. you're right about the bat size - it's pretty big. one thing about the combo. Dewalt comes with sawzall and the Makita gives you a hammer drill as well as an impact driver... seem a little redundant. I'd rather have the hammer drill come with teh recip saw. Also, The Dewalt saw takes a 7/14 blade - cool ! I wonder how it stacks up.
But your're right I definately like the size/weight of the Makita.
even the Milwaulkee 28v looks big.
You know, I was thinking about it, and truthfully I was mainly focusing on the drill and driver end of things, because for me, thats what I think of when talking about cordless tools. Other than drills and impact drivers all my other tools have a cord on them. If you were talking about reciprocating saws and circular saws, I don't know, the battery size seems like less of an issue. I think raw power output would be the most important thing.
I can say that I bought the Makita LXT 18 Volt impact driver and hammer drill after My Dewalt got stolen out of my car, and I think it's the perfect drill and impact driver set. Enough power for what you would want out of a cordless drill. Unbelievable battery life. Great balance, and light weight.
As far as redundancy, there is nothing that compares with sinking tapcons using that impact driver. You don't have to lean in it hoping the driver won't cam out, you just stand there and pull the trigger.
Edited 10/1/2006 2:12 am ET by xosder11
I got the drill-driver and impact driver in a package deal for under $400: both tools, a charger, and two batteries. Neither HD nor Lowes had it, but I got it in the mail from http://www.makita-direct.com. So far, lots of power, long run between recharge, holds a charge when it's sitting around M-F between my bouts of weekend warrior work. I second the remarks on driving tapcons and I find that the impact driver has a great light touch - lots of power but it does not ruin screws when you get to the end, even on ones that would be shredded by a lot of force. Obviously I have no idea how long the batteries will last. Here's hoping it's a while, they are pricey.
I got the 6-piece set and it is great,the circ.saw is amazing plenty of power so smooth.I also bought a recon. 1/2" hammer drill for the extra batts. and charger.Check out Tyler Tools on the web that's where Igot mine.One other good thing is the batteries don't die off if you haven't used them in 3 or 4 weeks. Red
I was eyeing this packadge in the sales hype from our makita rep in early 05' and bought it as soon as it was available, X-mas 05. This was a 5 piece kit with two batteries. I do remodel work in Alaska, and as you can imagine the temperature changes my batteries have been through should equal any lab tests they did. This kit consisted of the driver/ drill, impact driver, circular saw, flashlight & charger with two batteries. The recip saw came later as a mail in offer. (received in june 06)
This is the most well designed set of tools I have owned yet. The hand fit, balance and features are excellent. The l.e.d. lights are a perfect addition. The batteries don't lose power when stored. The power curve is great: strong to roughly 90%, a perceptable but slight drop & then rapid failure. I bought a third battery after the recip saw arrived. I have been unable to detect any difference between my old & newer batteries, other than scratches. The cold does seem to affect battery output while they are cold, if I let them warm up they seem fine.
My only gripe is the fabric case. It looks well made, but I need a hard, hopefully weather proof hard case. One that will keep the saw foot from getting tweeked or my laborers rough ways from breaking something.
I have since looked over the lithium-ion Offerings from Milwaukee, DeWalt & Bosch ( Bosch in brochure & web site only). I have no buyers remorse. And every one I work with want's one too.
Mine just arrived yesterday, so I can't give you much in the way of field testing.
What I can tell you is that after considering the Dewalt, Milwaukee and Bosch kits, I had a chance to pick them all up and the Makita was for me, the nicest of all. Lifting the Dewalt tools every day would have me ready for the Mr. Universe contest in no time. Makita's ergo-friendly approach was a deciding factor; they're lighter than the others and to me, well balanced. One thing I'd add is that the LED on the tools is a terrific feature. I thought it would be gimmicky, but I used the drill to finish building a desk yesterday and it was nice to have a some light on the spot you are working on.
I am hoping that they'll add a few more tools to the LXT lineup.
I bought the 6 piece kit from toolbarn.com, just under $700 with shipping. First time I had ordered from them and they were very nice to work with.
I love your name.... FatRoman.... I don't why, but it kills me.
BTW, I've got the 5 piece set.... saw, recip, drill/driver, impact, and flashlight. So what's the sixth tool? I'm feeling left out.View Image
there's gonna be 24 tools total for the makita ion set...
FatRoman is the name of my company. And it's one of those funny laws of unintended consequences that most people I meet remark how unusual it is. Admittedly it is kind of a funny name, but it's grown on me now.
Anyway, the 6th tool is the angle grinder. And if the above post is correct and the full line up is going to be 24 tools, I know what's going to be on the xmas wishlist.
It's not like you don't have a colourfuyl, loveable name
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It is kinda cuddly isn't it? ;)View Image
so much so that I'm sure your wife must use it for a pet name.We all lover our pets, no matter how un-cuddly they are, LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Tool guy at HD mentioned something about the Milwaukee V28 going away. Don't know if it is just at HD or in general. Supposedly Ridgid (the cheap electric tool Ridgid- parent company of which that now owns Milwaukee) is coming out with LiIon 18v batteries.... Probably just in time for the religious commercialized holiday rush....
I have the impact and the mail in for a free drill body (for some reason they sent the whole drill kit, thank you makita).
Its just like the 12volt model light and powerful but runs longer, a worthy replacement for a worn system.
My boss just got the 5 pc. set you describe. I still like my 14.4V Panasonic more than the Mak driver/drill. It's more compact, fits my hand better, and gets in to more tight spots. Pana reverse button is better placed as well. Power-wise, the Panasonic holds its own for our applications. That said, the hammer on the Mak drill is a nice feature and any impact driver is a pleasure to use. We've only used the saw once.
When my Panasonic dies, I'm hoping they make a similar Li kit that's only 14.4V - with 18V power. I just don't need the extra power/run time enough to justify the increase in size and weight. FH rated the 414.4V Pana the best cordless before the lithiums debuted; it beat out all the 18V's in the test.
I'm wondering about the life of the batteries.... I have a little Bosch pocket driver that I'm quite attached to, and it runs off of a 10.8 volt lithium. Recharges in about 15 minutes. Sounds too dinky, but I've used it for a full day before having to charge it.
I heard recently that some cell phones were recalled because the lithium-ion batteries were exploding...?
Not a pro and not had any real experience with it but HD had a display with a charged up ready-to-go one, a piece of 4x4 beam and some
3/8" x 3" lag bolts to give it a try. *Wow*! Fast: drove all the way in and no pilot hole. All I need now is a project to validate a purchase but its another tale.
If the tool is awesome, that's all the validation you need. If your house doesn't have a deck, it needs one now! :)
Tool Junkie
At this point I only have the Makita cordless impact driver (though I have some of their other tools) it's a great machine and I will be purchacing many more in their cordless range.