Makita 2704 Tablesaw

[Austin_Turner]

I think this saw is probably about to be/ has been replaced with the 2705? However I thought I would do a review anyway for those in the second hand market.

I got my saw for NZD1000 from Mitre 10 in Auckland, it was the floor stock they had left and looked like it had been out for about as long as they had stocked that model. I had to bend the riving knife straight again, but apart from that it was in good condition (they offered to get me a replacement knife, but I didn't take them up on it).

I built a basic workbench, trimmed some small plywood pieces and most of the work I have done since is cross cutting bulding a bit of furniture.

For cutting 100x50 and knocking up a bench, the saw worked well. I could fault it for not cross cutting well with 1m+ timber, but really that is the job of an SCMS which I didn't have.

The positives:
The riving knife is a plus, I wouldn't like to use a saw with just a splitter now.
The saw has plenty of power and certainly went through the few bits of 100x100 H3 that I've cut no worries.
The stand on wheels is good, its easy to move around over bumps and humps.
The switch is big and easy to use and feels solid.

The negatives:
Dust Collection
The mitre gauge
The rip fence

*I'll temper this dust collection complaint with the fact I'm using a wet/dry vacum to collect dust, one with a fine filter and positioned down vent, but without the airflow of a big DC*. Dust collection on this saw might have been an afterthought, but I suspect it wasn't really thought about (maybe tradesmen need to give a bit more consideration to the hazards of breathing saw dust all day? Particularly with the use of boron and cca treated timber). There is a big slot in the base of the blade guard presumably to allow thin slices of timber that fall through the wide insert plate to fall to the floor...so I covered this with duct tape to improve dust collection. To the right of the blade there is just a large gap and area for dust to collect on a plastic insert, this is all done to allow the blade to bevel, I don't use the bevel much so I blocked this up with a piece of 7mm ply that fits snuggly, this helped. After these bits and a few more pieces of duct tape, I can now get what I rate as reasonable enough dust collection with the blade guard fitted to use the saw without a mask on untreated timber. I don't expect a saw of this style to have a dust port on the blade guard.

The mitre gauge is not good enough quality, the gauge is really short so holding long/heavy timber flat and square against it is challenging, the guide wobbles in either mitre slot and the two mitre slots aren't quite parallel (you need to slightly adjust the mitre gauge when swapping mitre slots). with the side table extended it did a reasonable job cross cutting any stock shorter than about 1m. I built a cross cut sled the size of the table and now I'm comfortably cutting 1.6m stock provided it isn't too heavy (docking some 300x50 totara glue ups this evening made cuts a little inaccurate, again a job better suited to an SCMS).

The rip fence is a poor design, adjusting it sort of works, but you can easily lock it in a position that isn't parallel if you aren't taking great care (such as when focusing more on measuring position rather than getting it parallel), I'm not sure what is stopping this having a single ended perpendicular type locking handle.

If you're looking for a contractor type saw to use where portability rules over accuracy this saw will probably serve you well. It certainly looked a lot better than the MLT100 I looked at and it is preferable to the old triton I had used a few years ago. For my current rented house with carport workshop I would probably buy it again, though I would have a better idea of what to look for in the future from the likes of Festool CS-50 and bosch GTS that I've never seen and the dewalt that I have seen. A moot point as when it gets replaced it will be with a cabinet saw.

I hope this might help someone, if not at least it was interesting to try writing my first review...sorry about some of the spelllling

[simops]

Thanks for the review....

I find that unless you buy an expensive branded machine, one where the manufacturer has a reputation to uphold, you will end up having to do some sort of surgery or tweaking to get it to an acceptable level.

I had that experience with my generic branded Tiawanese import earlier this year. Ended up paying an additional $400 to get it right!!!

[Austin_Turner]

Agree mate, I think one of the things it demonstrated for me was the difference in tolerances and details when talking about construction compared to furniture. I guess maybe Makita can make more money with less effort in the construction market.

[peterharvey]

Thanks OP for your post.

I am looking at a Bosch GTS 10 1800W, and GTS 10 XC 2000W as well.

All three of these table saws are rated at 15 amp.
Does it plug into your normal domestic power supply?

[jim47]

Thanks OP for your post.

I am looking at a Bosch GTS 10 1800W, and GTS 10 XC 2000W as well.

All three of these table saws are rated at 15 amp.
Does it plug into your normal domestic power supply?

Hello Peter.
The 15amp saws are fitted with a 15amp plug.
The middle pin on a 15amp plug is larger than that on a 10amp plug, this is so that it can not be plugged into a normal 10amp socket.
10 amp is known as single phase, 15 amp is 3 phase.
You will not be able to use it unless you have a 3 phase circuit.
On one post on the forum, an electrcian warned that running 3 phase equipment on a single phase circuit may lead to an electrical fire.

If you want to read it for yourself, I may be able to locate the post. Let me know.

Jim

[Austin_Turner]

Thanks Peter,

My guess is that you may be looking at North American specifications? The reason I say that is that these types of equipment are generally <10 Amps at 230V, but can be up to 15 Amps at 110V. My saw is certainly 10 Amp, the only 230V 15 Amp machine I have is a thicknesser.

Power is measured in Watts (1 Joule/Second) and is derived by Volts x Amps. An example of this is that a motor rated at 1650 Watts needs to draw 15 Amps at 110V, but only draws 7.2 Amps at 230V.

Jim,

230 Volts (220-240V) is single phase and is provided with either 10 Amp or 15 Amp plugs (the 15A having the larger earth terminal).

3 phase supply is 415 Volts.