Makita LS1019L 10" Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw

Tradesmen and serious DIYers have plenty of full 10- and 12-inch size miter saw options to choose from. You even have several cordless options. It’s enough to make your head spin. Tossing another hat in the ring is the Makita LS1019L dual-bevel sliding miter saw. It looks to have some impressive features and performance that could make it a formidable choice.

Editor’s Note: Check out our best miter saw article for our top recommendations.

Design

One of the major reasons to step up to a Makita miter saw is the fact that they use a direct drive motor with soft start. Most other miter saws on the market go with a belt drive. While it’s a slow degradation, the belt does eventually stretch and have to be replaced.

The other benefit of the direct drive motor comes as a more stable cutting speed in tougher materials – a benefit that helps carpenters who need a fine finish cut in hardwood.

The rail system is another area to keep an eye on. The Makita LS1019L uses a 2-rail system oriented vertically, but it’s not your typical setup. The rails stay in place mounted to the frame while the head slides along them. This gives you the advantage of placing the saw flush to the wall without losing cross-cutting capacity.

What Makita Says

“Makita has a legacy of quality and innovation in the miter saw category, and with the LS1019L we’ve taken what we’ve learned and built a new solution. The LS1019L has improved dust extraction with dual dust collection ports, a new compact rail system with 20 percent larger rails offering higher precision when bevel cutting, a taller fence for lasting, dead-on accuracy, and capacity that will match many 12 inch miter saws. In fact, job site research indicates that the cutting capacity of the LS1019L will handle most of jobs that users bring to their 12-inch saws. For many contractors, this is a one-stop solution for all of their cutting applications.”
Andrew Camp, product manager, residential construction products, Makita U.S.A

Capacity

This Makita 10″ miter saw goes all out in terms of miter and bevel capacity. You have 0 – 60 degrees miter both left and right with all the common detents. You also have 0 – 48 degrees bevel to the left and right. With full capacity in both directions, you’ll need to flip your material around less frequently on those uncommon compound cuts.

Makita LS1019L 10" Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw

Vertical capacity is also a key with the Makita LS1019L Miter Saw. With baseboard capacity of 5-1/4″ and nested crown at 6-5/8″, this 10″ model is getting pretty close to the capacity of 12″ saws.

As far as cross cuts go, you can cut up to 2-13/16″ x 12″ at 90 degrees and 2-13/16″ x 8-1/2″ at 45.

Other Key Features

One of the reasons I love Makita saws is that their stock blades don’t suck. In fact, they’re some of the best you can buy and this Makita 10″ miter saw comes with a 60T carbide-tipped blade that should deliver quality cuts like we’re used to.

There’s a laser on this model that you can micro adjust for blade-left or blade-right cuts. I’m personally a bigger fan of a shadow style cut line indicator, but I haven’t had any issues with the laser accuracy of the Makita miter saw models I’ve used.

Makita says they’ve made some improvements to the dust collection system. That’s always welcome news, but we’ll have to use for ourselves to see just how good it is.

Until Later…

The Makita LS1019L 10″ Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw is yet another option in a sea of quality Pro picks. What makes it stand out is a solid feature set along with a direct drive motor that should offer a higher quality of cut than belt-drive systems.

Makita also balances size and capacity nicely. You get very near 12″ miter saw capacity vertically with a 10″ blade that won’t be as susceptible to wobble as its larger counterpart.

Price is always a consideration at this level. You can expect to pay $549 for the latest Makita 10″ Miter Saw offering without a stand. That’s a premium price point, but if the performance and accuracy are there like we’ve seen from other Makita miter saws, there will be some compelling reasons to pull the trigger.