Makita Cordless Track Saw

Mike Goetzke

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Jul 12, 2008
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My Makita track saw is what pulled me to the FOG from my former Eurekazone tools/forum. I know there are at least a few others with this saw and thought I'd share this. If you put a 1mm and 0.1mm spacers on the arbor you can fit a 5/8" arbor Freud blade on the 20mm arbor.

This does throw off the blade to anti-chip distance. I'm wondering if I could buy a spare arbor adapter from Makita and sand/file 1.1mm off.

Mike
 
I have hard time visualizing it, but sounds iffy. Perhaps turning adapter on a lathe? This would require great precision.
 
Svar said:
I have hard time visualizing it, but sounds iffy. Perhaps turning adapter on a lathe? This would require great precision.

This is what I like about posting things. I went to take pictures and then thought I wonder if the inner blade flange on my Makita XSH08 7-1/4" non-plunge circular saw will work? It does! It's the 1.1mm thinner where the blade contacts it. Perfect fit.

FYI the flange P/N is 224594-3.

Mike
 
Thanks! Another plus for Makita track saw. Switch the flange and use any 6-1/2" blade.
 
Thinking out loud often help. And now you help others by writing too  [big grin]
Good thinking!
 
Flipping the inner arbor washer turns mine into a 5/8" arbor tool. I think I heard here that it changes the plane of the blade, messing with the rail's splinter strip. I'll check again but last time I looked, it was too close for me to measure.

 
Imemiter said:
Flipping the inner arbor washer turns mine into a 5/8" arbor tool. I think I heard here that it changes the plane of the blade, messing with the rail's splinter strip. I'll check again but last time I looked, it was too close for me to measure.

Yeah - in a pinch just flip the washer. It's simpler fix than using washers. I measured this and it throws the blade away from the anti-chip by 1mm.

If you go to this place you can find the collar I reference for $1.98 plus $5.98 shipping (but I ordered 3, 2 for my saws and one for my son).
https://www.smallenginesprodealer.com/part-makita-224594-3/
 
Im assuming this works for the corded version too?  or is there something different on the corded unit?
 
afish said:
Im assuming this works for the corded version too?  or is there something different on the corded unit?

Pretty sure it would because years ago I used the shim trick above on a corded one.
 
Thanks for this post Mike!

This is a great option to grab a cheap blade to cut dirty material.
 
Oldwood said:
Thanks for this post Mike!

This is a great option to grab a cheap blade to cut dirty material.

[member=7143]Oldwood[/member] No problem. In the past when I had a corded Makita plunge/track saw I actually found the Freud 40-tooth thin kerf blade gave a cleaner cut than the stock blade and yes the bonus is they are less expensive. For reference I put a chart together of some of the 6-1/2" (and 160mm) blades that are available:

[attachimg=1]
 

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Thanks for the info Mike. I’ve got the cordless and corded Makita saw, but have been only using the cordless for quite awhile now. Cuts much easier with the thinner blade.

I ordered the adapter off eBay.  Will look into some blades.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
As long as we are talking Makita cordless plunge saws - couple years back I purchased this dust bag to cut all the leashes:

[attachimg=1]

Ouch - price has gone up since I bought it but it is very efficient. It does tend to fall of once in a while. Maybe someone has found a better solution?
 

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Mike Goetzke said:
Oldwood said:
Thanks for this post Mike!

This is a great option to grab a cheap blade to cut dirty material.

[member=7143]Oldwood[/member] No problem. In the past when I had a corded Makita plunge/track saw I actually found the Freud 40-tooth thin kerf blade gave a cleaner cut than the stock blade and yes the bonus is they are less expensive. For reference I put a chart together of some of the 6-1/2" (and 160mm) blades that are available:

[attachimg=1]

Nice chart! I have always liked Freud blades and cutters. This opens up a lot options for blades.

Thanks,
Gerry
 
I've had that dust bag bookmarked long enough!  [smile]

I tried another washer-flip blade swap today. I can see a hairs width of difference between plunges, but I have no way to measure it. The only time I've used that trick, tearout wasn't critically important. That'd be the real test, I think. Run a test cut on some nice ply'd and see if a flipped blade just a whisper wide of the tape left a splintered edge.

Fun thread, Mike. I love that saw.
 
I wanted to share a trick about the Makita Cordless too. The hose adapter from TS55/HK55 fits the Makita perfectly with a slight modificaiton. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to show, but once you get the adapter and open up the blade cover, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. You also don't need any special tools, since it's plastic.
 
Thanks for sharing this Mike, I took the flange off my Makita 36V first gen of the saw you used and it worked for me.  This sure opens up a larger world of blades in my area.
 
I have both the makita and the tsc. The makita spins faster and seems to have more power and battery life. Most of that is because of blade thickness. The makita blades designed for the saw are either 1.8mm or 2.0mm. I find the 1.8 too thin and flexible and the 2.0 just good enough. I find the makita safety button annoying and slop adjuster just plain sucks. For all precision work  or when I got time to make nice the festool is my preferred choice. I already lost the unattached cap to the overly priced Mafell  bag. If you remove the Riving knife(do not do this) the makita blades fit on the festool. gets you 2” on the rail. Makita for every day cuts or for the crew (although its perfectly capable). The festool tsc is just a pleasure to use. The flip out no tip at 45 is not much in real use and the scoring feature is nice but the depth adjuster is so good on the festool who cares.
 
slavi.yordanov said:
I wanted to share a trick about the Makita Cordless too. The hose adapter from TS55/HK55 fits the Makita perfectly with a slight modificaiton. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to show, but once you get the adapter and open up the blade cover, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. You also don't need any special tools, since it's plastic.

I took them apart to see what you meant here... Very nice hack! And less than half the price of a Mafell dust bag.
 
Imemiter said:
slavi.yordanov said:
I wanted to share a trick about the Makita Cordless too. The hose adapter from TS55/HK55 fits the Makita perfectly with a slight modificaiton. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to show, but once you get the adapter and open up the blade cover, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. You also don't need any special tools, since it's plastic.

I took them apart to see what you meant here... Very nice hack! And less than half the price of a Mafell dust bag.
Do you have the part number of this hose adapter?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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