# Makita MLT 100 not much good about it



## meikou

Interesting review mate. I was seriously considering one and would have to order it from Canada as they don't sell it in the US (afaik). I guess I'll stuck with my dw744 for now.


----------



## anobium

Why give up the 744? From what I've heard it is built quite well and has a unique fence system. Never seen it though. Check back here some time. I'll add a link with pictures of my mlt 100 shortly.


----------



## meikou

I liked the idea of the sliding table mainly. The 744 fence is very good though.


----------



## AaronK

wow that does look pretty nasty. even my cheap craftsman has done better than this. sorry for your situation!


----------



## anobium

*Review Update:*









*Here you can see the rip fence mounting mechanism on the plastic base. The base lifts it of the rail and is so small that it hits all the highs and lows of the design slot you see in the next pictures and tends to tilt the fence.
*









*With the base taken of you have more wear and tear but the mounting lays flat on the rail.*










*Here is the setup with out the extruded aluminum fence. To many variables of too small size for a sturdy fence.
*









*Picture got cut off but you see all parts except the base.*










*Build a throat plate for this.*










*The original has too much clearance in any angle position its very thing (5mm).*










*So here is my zero clearance throat plate*




























*The straight edge overtop lets you see the heights difference between the sliding table and the main table.*










*The odd shaped slot in the main table with strange measurements

You'll find these pictures at photo bucket.com MLT 100 review*


----------



## StumpyNubs

Shame… Makita used to mean something!

-Jim; aka "Stumpy Nubs" 
(The best woodworking show since wood was invented is now online!)


----------



## Nighthawk

*Interesting…* I was looking at buying myself one of these but the guy at the hardware store said, after I told him what I wanted it for, he said it's not really designed for that and would be better of with XYZ saw (and that was slightly cheaper) however the cook said no at the time and I haven't upgraded yet and still happily (well making do) using a cheap DIY saw.

This saw is a portable site saw or contractors saw and not really a shop saw designed to do the fine woodworking and furniture making etc. Best described as….It is really a house framing saw…

It is designed to be on site for a contractor that needs to rip a plank or cross cut a rafter on a 30 degree angle. (though most would do that on the site mitre saw) The extra things it supposidly does are just to help the contractor a little. (most contractors probably never use them)

Though sayiung that the rip fence and mitre gauge looks completely different to the model I looked at and was Makita MLT 100… *interesting* Being an ex chippy it kinda goes like this…. If there is a bit of gap in the framing the gibb stoppers hide it … if there is a gap in the gibb/plaster, the painters hide it… Nothing is perfect.


----------



## reggiek

Job site saws are truly not made for accuracy…just for cutting in a semi straight line….considering that most rough framers eye ball the lengths and angles - you really can't say that such accuracy would be practical nor cost effective at how much more it would cost to accuratize the typical job site saw.

I have my Bosch 4000 for a job site saw…(actually pretty good for a such a smaller saw) and a Grizzly TS for the shop. This makes life much easier for splitting tasks - for rough cutting I use the Bosch….for fancy fine cutting - use the Grizzly - the nice fact is the job site can easily go outside so I can work on it without taking up precious room in the shop.

Of course all this makes sense if you can get the saws that you want at a reasonable price - where I am is certainly gifted in that regards….I do not know if I would be as happy doing woodworking if the tools and machines were not as available as they are here - here it is only the lack of local timber that makes this hobby difficult.


----------



## anobium

Took longer than expected and it is not painted yet but for less than 50$ (35€) I build a rip fence
that is accurate, adjustable and can be used on either side of the blade.










So this is how the fence looks.
10mm polyamid for the sides mounted with M6 screws that are flush with the surface.










Polyamid Runners work so much more better than the Makita runner, you wouldn't believe it.

The bottom is 12mm thick to lift of the mount a hair from the table to get rid of that wear an tear.










The holes in the top are for the allen wrench to adjust the fence

I am adding a piece on the back so that piece gets pulled onto the table and locks it.
parts are cut, just didn't have the time yet. Check back if you're interested


----------



## papwalkre

Something odd here. I inspected and bought an MLT100 today and found it to be fine. The height difference between the sliding table and main bench was .009". Whilst I could feel the casting marks when moving the rip fence it was only a thou or so. The fence was solid enough when locked and I got no tail out issues at all.
I do suspect the throat plate insert is a bit flimsy but I could not apply enough pressure when correctly sawing pieces to have a problem. Perhaps very small pieces could be a problem.

All in all I found the machine to be excellent for the money which means you got a lemon or I lucked into a good one or Makita changed the spec or improved the QC / consistency.


----------



## papwalkre

Update.
After reviewing the MLT-100 service drawings I can see that Makita has addressed many of the issues mentioned by Anobium. There have been several major design changes.


----------



## mgipson

It's good that Makita have addressed some of the issues with this saw. I have had one for a few years and would have to agree with the original review. Having said that I have used it to build quite a lot of stuff, it just takes a bit of careful setting up and remembering to lean on the saw the in the same way each time. The blade height adjustment on my saw was never very smooth despite repeated cleaning and oiling. Eventually the plastic worm gears exploded. My local tool repair shop had some replacement gears made at a machine shop and fitted those instead, it's better than new now and only cost me 900 baht, about $30 US.


----------



## papwalkre

$30 bucks for bespoke hobbing. No competing with that!

Next time you're going to spend money on a new table, get those same guys to make the whole bench for you.
That would be great fun, design and build your own.


----------



## mgipson

Being able to get stuff cheaply repaired is certainly one of the joys of living in Thailand, it's not a throw away society yet. I will be building a large workshop in a few years and having a saw made is one of the options I have to replace the Makita with, the other being a Chinese brand saw which are starting to look OK now. I bought the Makita because at the time the Chinese saws available looked like total junk. The local tool shop will weld together a frame, throw a 3hp motor in it and build a wooden or aluminum top, no cast iron available though.


----------



## Beginer

Hi there
I am considering buying one of those saws:
Bosch GTS10 or Makita MLT100.

Any opinion to any direction ?
GTS10 has 1800W , MLT100 has 1500W but with a better table (is it?)

Would the 1500W be enough to cut more than soft wood (Mahagoni, oak…) ?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## ALS

Hi Anobium, I searched online and found your posts on the MLT100x. I have the exact same saw and the fence is simply put "Crap".

I like what you have done on your fence, looks extremely rigid and true.

Would it be possible to post detailed info on how you went about constructing it. or better yet, COuld I send you mine and you build it for me.

Let me know Anobium, really interested in getting a fence that is worthy of a true cut.

Thanks,

Albert


----------



## AndrewJ

I made the mistake of purchasing an MLT100 a few months ago , terrible build qaulity, fence and rail are far to flimsy., thoat plate is a cheap , safety gaurd will cause u more harm then good . I would go with boschs offering for a little bit less or dewalts 744 or a little bit more.


----------



## ReynaldoDelSur

I would like to endorse the original negative review and add another fault - after struggling with the same issues around guides, fences, mitre guide and sliding table leading to binding when sawing, and attributing them to the 'play' in those accessories, I laid my square on the table and discovered that the blade was more than 1 degree out of square. As noted in the original review, Makita is economical in guidance about set-up, so I unbolted the saw from my sub table, removed the bottom covers to adjust the blade angle. Imagine my surprise to find that there is no provision for adjusting that angle; all of the attachments for motor and blade are located by set castings and other brackets and bolted firmly in place! Further on the throat plate, mine exploded while ripping a board with bits flying everywhere. I super-glued them back together (missing only one small bit) planning to in the future make up a stainless steel plate. But I have been saved from that for now as mine quit running at all after only two years of relatively light (sporadic non-weekly) use. After 35 years of buying Makita tools, I have to say I'm over it. I will never buy another Makita tool - it's clear they have just outsourced to China without sufficient design, testing or oversight review of what they are foisting onto their formerly loyal customers. And with only a 12 month warranty! DeWalt from now on…


----------



## lukerad

Too bad I got my MLT100 before this review. I would also like to endorse the original and all other negative reviews and add others faults. One major flaw you can see in the picture. Plus: my blade cover exploded in the first 10 minutes of using the saw. I think the cover is for 255mm blades, but the saw ships with a 260mm blade. I had problems with the motor rail but I was lucky and caught that problem in the warranty period. Anyway, after the repair, now it is extremely difficult to raise the saw. And, lastly, I will repeat what Anobium says: it is impossible to cut straight. I bought the crap in 2011 and I wasn't been able to cut 90 degrees with it ever. Like ReynaldoDelSur, I tried to adjust the blade angle without any luck.


----------



## abidin

I like Makita MLT 100


----------

