Makita XSH04ZB 18V LXT® Lithium-Ion Sub-Compact Brushless Cordless 6-1/2” Circular Saw, Tool Only

The media could not be loaded. Great saw, plenty of power, but only designed for rough cutting; it will splinter every board it touches.I had to make my own zero clearance insert out of sheet metal; now there are no splinters at all.Of course the blade guard no longer works, but it makes great cuts. The blade stops in less than one second ( .85 sec).The depth lock lever is a bit cumbersome to use, it is squeezed in a narrow one finger wide area.Well built and ergonomically easy to hold and cut.

Typical Makita quality, Works to complete the tasks I use it for with the 40 tooth blade I use to rip-cut 1/4 inch maple veneered plywood. Try it you will be happy.

You need to know what you’re buying and keep with the mantra “the right tool for the job.” If you’re buying a garage saw for weekend use then this is about as good as it gets. If you’re a pro builder then look elsewhere. Now to the good stuff: It’s a great addition to any growing 18v makita set, which are all fabulous. I used the saw for a couple of hours today and it’s so lightweight that I wasn’t fatigued at all. It’s super nimble and stretching across sheets of plywood was a breeze. When I first got going I pulled a half used 3.0a battery from my sawzall and it ate through that pretty quickly with only moderate performance, but with a fresh battery it was a total animal. Keep in mind I was using a new diablo 32T blade but I had no trouble ripping through oak planks with nails in them. You do have to go a bit slower than using a corded but that is expected. I also found that it dragged even so slightly on uneven surfaces. The guard is also really cheap plastic. All things considered though it’s a great saw and I would totally buy it again.

This thing ripped 3/4 plywood like a hot knife through butter. Was considering the brushed version for about $50 less, but my brother’s in construction and said a guy on his crew has one and loves it. They call it “butters” because of the way it cuts through anything . Maybe I’ll call mine “Timmayyy”. Even with a 5ah battery it’s less than half the weight of the corded worm drive beast it replaced. I’ve read some reviews about these things failing after a few months but my bros friend has had his for a while…fingers crossed. I’m a diy guy, not pro, so this should be fine.

The only reason I bought this saw was I already had an 18 volt Makita drill set with the same battery. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I used it to test it out. It is lightweight and cuts nicely through KD 2x4's etc. It has a 2 1/4" depth cut. Batteries go a ways before charging and have a feature to let you know what's left in the battery. If it had come with even a canvas-like carrying bag, I would give it a 5 star rating. You'd probably do better to buy the kit, but I already had 2 batteries and the charger. All that aside, it's worth the money.

I don't often do reviews but this little saw deserves it. It is an amazing saw . Light powerful and well balanced. I do recommend the 6.o batteries.

This is a beautiful compact saw. It’s solid build allows for accurate cuts and it takes up less space than their ginormous plunge saw. I highly recommend the Makita guide rail adapter which turns this into an effective track-saw. It makes short work of straight long cuts. There were a few things that could be improved, but this is not to take away from the overall functionality of it. It takes some patience to set and adjust the blade angle. The pressure of the pin that sets the blade angle seems to push it out of alignment if you let the saw sit for even a day. The saw struggles to make 45 degree bevel cuts through thick material - 45mm depth is impossible. Dust extraction could be better. With the Makita VC860DZ hooked up I'd say it collects around 80% of the dust when connected. It would be great if Makita could lead the way in optimizing dust extraction between their own products and ideally between other manufacturers. There’s no excuse for not including proper adapters for their vacuums, sanders, and saws. Good luck finding the right ones. I ended up having to sand down pvc pipes to get hoses connected even between Makita’s products. The bench top above was sliced perfectly with this saw and a Makita track.

This is a great saw. I looked at red yellow and green carefully and decided on this one because I have other Malita tools. It is very well made, light powerful and smooth. Highly recommended this saw.