Makita Addiction Thread

[bonneyman]

Just a small part of my collection

Just don't try hanging all that on your belt at one time!

Nice!

 

[bonneyman]

A new addition to the Makita 9.6 brood. A 1/2" impact wrench! Has the direction and speed switches on the back where I like them.
Took it apart, cleaned and lubed, and now all I need is some impact sockets to try 'er out. Since I've never had an impact wrench I have no frame of reference for comparison. Didn't spend much so if she doesn't see much use nothing lost.

 

[bdbecker]

Another Home Depot deal alert... I believe it was the set linked below in the clearance section for $160. Prices/stock don't show online, so you'll have to check your local store.

Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack (5.0Ah) BL1850BDC2 - The Home Depot

Offer a professional result for many range of application with the choice of this Makita LXT Lithium-Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack.

www.homedepot.com

I'll probably kick myself for not snagging the deal, but I honestly don't need another set of batteries right now.

 

[Snapped-off]

A new addition to the Makita 9.6 brood. A 1/2" impact wrench! Has the direction and speed switches on the back where I like them.
Took it apart, cleaned and lubed, and now all I need is some impact sockets to try 'er out. Since I've never had an impact wrench I have no frame of reference for comparison. Didn't spend much so if she doesn't see much use nothing lost.

Here's the spec sheet. Pretty cool albeit likely a novelty.

 

[mattstevens]

Another Home Depot deal alert... I believe it was the set linked below in the clearance section for $160. Prices/stock don't show online, so you'll have to check your local store.

Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack (5.0Ah) BL1850BDC2 - The Home Depot

Offer a professional result for many range of application with the choice of this Makita LXT Lithium-Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack.

www.homedepot.com

I'll probably kick myself for not snagging the deal, but I honestly don't need another set of batteries right now.

I noticed the same kit on sale at Safety Source this week, $135 and free shipping:

Makita BL1850BDC2 18V LXT® Lithium‑Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack (5.0Ah)

Makita BL1850BDC2 18V LXT® Lithium‑Ion Battery and Rapid Optimum Charger Starter Pack (5.0Ah) EFFICIENCY : 18V LXT® Lithium-Ion 5.0Ah battery reaches a full charge in 45 minutes or less CONVENIENCE : Integrated L.E.D. battery charge level indicator allows user to monitor battery charge...

safetysourcesupply.com

Looks like all their Makita stuff is on sale right now.

 

[bonneyman]

Here's the spec sheet. Pretty cool albeit likely a novelty.

Thanks for that spec sheet, mate! Much appreciated!

 

[bonneyman]

My latest Makita mod. A ML900 flashlight with added wire carrying handle - including an integral hanging loop for a belt clip. Next time I do yard work I'll hook it on my waist and do my chores with it hanging there. Give it a real life test run.

 

[CFC2]

Just some recent driver accessories.

 

[Qualitytools]

Just some recent driver accessories.

Thanks for showing and sharing, i ended up getting the 3 impact socket adapters

 

[WildBill]

 

[d42jeep]

I suffer from the same affliction as Bonneyman. I had sworn off getting any more 9.6v stuff but there was a moving sale a few blocks from home and of course there were two drills in boxes. I recently broke the trigger on my right angle drill and his looked pretty fresh. I inquired about the price of just the right angle drill and he quoted $2.00 on the condition that I take all of his Makita. What could I do?
Right angle set with working battery.
I charged the batteries on a few more sets.
I’ll stop here before I really embarrass myself.
-Don

 

[Qualitytools]

That's Cool, where did you get that, care to share?

 

[WildBill]

That's Cool, where did you get that, care to share?

There is a lady on Etsy that makes them, I think it was $8. This is her picture I had saved when I bought it, mine is packed up with Xmas stuff. I will try and find a link.

 

[rust in the eye]

They say never buy an appliance as a gift for your woman. Well, I bought this little vacuum, for myself, to pick up all the **** the dog and I are constantly traipsing into the house.
Turns out the wife LOVES it! You'd think it WAS a gift, she dances around with the darn thing and has even NAMED it!
Go figure
anyway:https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XLC02...ss-Vacuum/dp/B072HFQLBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Qualitytools]

They say never buy an appliance as a gift for your woman. Well, I bought this little vacuum, for myself, to pick up all the **** the dog and I are constantly traipsing into the house.
Turns out the wife LOVES it! You'd think it WAS a gift, she dances around with the darn thing and has even NAMED it!
Go figure
anyway

Good timing, I was searching for something handy to use that has some decent suction for quick pick up of small things in the car or in the house to replace the weak rechargeable black and decker that we have had for over 15 years.

Does it have good suction and will it work for at least 20 minutes or so before fizzling out? I would love to get additional information from you if you care to share please. You can also DM me so that it doesn't bother anyone here that may not interested.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Good timing, I was searching for something handy to use that has some decent suction for quick pick up of small things in the car or in the house to replace the weak rechargeable black and decker that we have had for over 15 years.

Does it have good suction and will it work for at least 20 minutes or so before fizzling out? I would love to get additional information from you if you care to share please. You can also DM me so that it doesn't bother anyone here that may not interested.

Post it up here if you do, I'd be curious to hear how well it does.

 

[bonneyman]

Great grab, Don. Absolutely awesome!

I've started making modifications to some of my Makita tools to "modernize" them and add features that newer cordless tools have. Adding carry handles and belt clips, and even a spare bit storage to the drills. Makes them much more user friendly.

 

[rust in the eye]

Good timing, I was searching for something handy to use that has some decent suction for quick pick up of small things in the car or in the house to replace the weak rechargeable black and decker that we have had for over 15 years.

Does it have good suction and will it work for at least 20 minutes or so before fizzling out? I would love to get additional information from you if you care to share please. You can also DM me so that it doesn't bother anyone here that may not interested.

With a not fully charged well used 4.0 battery I just grabbed when the machine arrived it lasted through days of quick pick ups and the wife's happy dances. I rotate with my other batteries and swapped it out before run down but feel safe in assuring you it would easily go 20minutes without breaking a sweat.
Yes, very good suction, superior to the Shark it has superceded.
My initial post included a link to HD but we bought from Sr. Bezos for $30 less. I've ammended my OP.

 

[Nessism]

I'm a big Makita fan. I remember back when the 9.6 jobbies came to market. They revolutionized the industry.

Sometime later, I bought a lovely 12V kit back in the day, and count that drill motor one of my all-time favorite tools. Fast-forward to modern times, and battery support is abysmal. In years past, I could buy a generic battery from Amazon, and it was decent. Now, aftermarket batteries seem to be, more times than not, pure junk. Case in point, I bought two different brand batteries for my Makita, and both were light as a feather. Where's the beef? These batteries couldn't hold a charge, so they went back to Amazon. Eventually, I found a battery seller that made specific reference to the weight of their batteries, so I bought one, and it's decent. Such an ordeal.

The other Makita product that I absolutely love, is my 4 cycle gas leaf blower. That thing is fantastic. A few pumps on the primer bulb, and it starts first or second pull. It's 8 years old now too. I put some stabil in the garage gas can, and use E10 fuel. Never a problem. I'm saddened that I missed out on the change to buy a similar weed wacker. I see leaf blowers still available in the marketplace, but the string trimmers seem gone. Sad days...

 

[Ton ton]

They say never buy an appliance as a gift for your woman. Well, I bought this little vacuum, for myself, to pick up all the **** the dog and I are constantly traipsing into the house.
Turns out the wife LOVES it! You'd think it WAS a gift, she dances around with the darn thing and has even NAMED it!
Go figure
anyway:https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XLC02...ss-Vacuum/dp/B072HFQLBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It’s actually reasonably priced. Not something I was expecting. Thank you very much!

 

[rust in the eye]

It’s actually reasonably priced. Not something I was expecting. Thank you very much!

I'm tellin' ya. But a bow on the friggin thing and give it to the wife.

 

[All]

For those who have hoarded a huge 9.6v stick battery collection of tools... what are the latest and greatest ideas for converting the battery packs to a chemistry that would make the tools perform on par with today's lithium-ion batteries, in terms of charge duration?

 

[bonneyman]

For those who have hoarded a huge 9.6v stick battery collection of tools... what are the latest and greatest ideas for converting the battery packs to a chemistry that would make the tools perform on par with today's lithium-ion batteries, in terms of charge duration?

There's several videos on you tube of guys converting their stick batteries to Li-ion or LiPo.

Me personally, I've rigged up a stick battery shell with wiring for an old 12 volt battery charger. Only puts out like 11 volts - with an amp gauge on the front! Will use it with my 9.6 v saws - save the true batteries for the drills. The DC motors will eat nails, but if they get hot with the over volt I'll let em rest awhile. And if they burn out, I have several buggared tools for spare parts.

 

[engineer2]

Great price on the mini vacuum. I paid $99 in 2017 for the same one with a 2.0 battery and a single charger.
Couple of tips:
Put a hose clamp on the blue canister nozzle. They tend to crack there and the hose clamp will support it better. Not too tight.
If you accidentally **** up water (spilled water, dim room), take it apart right away to dry out the circuit board. As me how I know.
It works much better and longer with a 5.0 battery.
It's not so good on carpet, but great for crumbs, sawdust, and pet hair on bare floors.

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

Great price on the mini vacuum. I paid $99 in 2017 for the same one with a 2.0 battery and a single charger.

KMS Tools in Canada has them for under $99 on sale quite often. Tool only.

 

[alinc100]

I have the stick vac. We are in and out of offices ,screwing aluminum and markerboards to drywall walls. Vac has been great cleaning up drywall dust/sawdust aluminum shards. I'd buy it again if mine broke or went missing.

 

[IndyGarage]

I have the stick vac. We are in and out of offices ,screwing aluminum and markerboards to drywall walls. Vac has been great cleaning up drywall dust/sawdust aluminum shards. I'd buy it again if mine broke or went missing.

I have one of those I use around the house. Great for quick clean up of all kinds of stuff.

After a few years of using it I recently bought the cyclonic attachment. The thing is stupid expensive for a few pieces of plastic - I paid $40 for it - but it does work like gangbusters. When you put it on the stick vac the dirt does not get into the bag compartment

 

[All]

I would have happily paid $40 for the cyclone attachment.

My wife wanted a lighter vacuum, so I sent her to the tool store to try her hand at Makita stick vacs, since I already have something like 18 or so 6 amp hour LXT batteries on hand.

Her verdict was that the Makita was too expensive for what she thought that it was.

So we ended up spending $560 for a stick vac from "Dyson", with only one battery, because that is what she read was the best.

If I challenged the economy of her decision... that might result in her presenting the same challenge to my choices in tools. So I paid the $560 for the Dyson stick vac without comment.

But I definitely wanted the "unlimited" power of a Makita stick vak... where "unlimited" is defined by the number of 6ah batteries I already have on hand. Even with the $40 cyclone, I'd have still spent less than half of a Dyson.

 

[Mandres]

My wife loves the Makita "dust buster" too. It lives in the House now, and she's claimed a couple of my batteries too. It really works quite well on hard floors.

 

[Qualitytools]

They say never buy an appliance as a gift for your woman. Well, I bought this little vacuum, for myself, to pick up all the **** the dog and I are constantly traipsing into the house.
Turns out the wife LOVES it! You'd think it WAS a gift, she dances around with the darn thing and has even NAMED it!
Go figure
anyway:https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XLC02...ss-Vacuum/dp/B072HFQLBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Thanks to your post, I just ordered one from Amazon, so far the only negative feedback from my wife is that you can’t lock the trigger. However, I will try the zip tie. Thanks for sharing a good product.

 

[mikey03]

I haven’t had Makita in years. I don’t think they’ve made them in Japan for a long time have they?

 

[rust in the eye]

Thanks to your post, I just ordered one from Amazon, so far the only negative feedback from my wife is that you can’t lock the trigger. However, I will try the zip tie. Thanks for sharing a good product.

The trigger is pretty light but if she wants to lock it maybe a velcro strap would do the job. Won't have to cut it off.

 

[Snapped-off]

I haven’t had Makita in years. I don’t think they’ve made them in Japan for a long time have they?

China, Japan, Romania I've seen so far.

I believe the main tools they sell in Japan are Japanese made.

 

[F-22]

China, Japan, Romania I've seen so far.

I believe the main tools they sell in Japan are Japanese made.

The UK plant is quite big. Straight from their website:

Makita is Britain’s number 1 professional power tool manufacturer with the Telford, Shropshire factory building around 1.1 million tools per year. 70% of these tools are exported with 60% going to Europe and 10% going to the rest of the world, the remaining 30% supports Makita UK in servicing its customer base here within the UK.
Telford is one of nine Makita manufacturing plants across the globe that all operate to the highest ISO and Makita’s own quality standards. Makita employs the Kaizen constant improvement quality philosophy, which is for every employee to consider how the individual process for which they are responsible can be improved each day. This exceptionally high quality regime has driven the Makita brand reputation ever forward with the recognition of the reliability and performance of the products.
The Makita Manufacturing Europe Ltd facility is located on a 12.5-acre site at Hortonwood, Telford where production started in May 1991. Since then production capacity growth has been both continuous and rapid. From that initial staff of 50 in the first year the facility has grown to cover 24,071 m2 with a staff of 440.

The tools processed at MME have up to 250 high precision components being manufactured to aerospace standards of quality and material.

Telford invests continually in production machinery to increase both production volumes and quality manufacture. Annually £1 million is invested in new machines whilst a further £1 million is spent on new tooling to make new models for the world market.
MME at Telford makes both cordless and mains powered tools including drill/drivers, angle grinders, jigsaws, plunge saws, belt sanders and circular saws. Clear evidence of the quality of workmanship is the recent introduction of the sophisticated DHR400, the award winning cordless SDS max rotary demolition hammer drill with the Makita patented AVT, anti vibration system, that will drill a 40mm hole in concrete yet has an ultra low tri-axial vibration rating of just 5.0m/s2 to minimise HAV risks for operators.

The LS1019 slide compound mitre saw is now also made to exacting tolerances at Telford. This globally recognised quality tool has set the standards for mitre saws for many years and is a further accolade for the Telford quality regime. These were previously manufactured in Japan for the European market but the continuous high quality output from Telford has won this expansion of production. Makita products made exclusively by the skilled team at Telford are the SP6000 and cordless DSP600 / DSP601 plunge saws which are particularly popular with flooring and carpentry specialists in Europe. It does not stop there – MME will be supporting the growth in the Makita range of outdoor power equipment for the horticultural market producing hedge trimmers and cordless chainsaws for the expanding garden machinery markets.

The Romanian factory is probably the biggest one in Europe, but a staff of over 400 means the UK plant is definitely not a small operation either... My DTW701 says made in UK.

The Romanian plant focuses on mass production. Here's something I found about the Romanian one:

On September 13, 2023, our Romania plant achieved a cumulative production volume of 50 million units. The model which marked the 50 millionth unit was Cordless Hammer Driver Drill（HP482Ｄ）.

Looks to me like the Romanian one is mainly focused into the "midrange" tools for the EU market and the most widely sold tools like power drills.
I assume the German plant is mainly focused into gardening tools and chainsaws, but I haven't found any specific quotes.

For the US, probably most manufacturing takes place in China. Any corded tools made in EU would be made to the 220/240V system anyway, so probably due to the shipping logistics most tools destined to the US just all come from China and very few from Europe (even if cordless could be the same...).

 

[All]

The UK plant is quite big. Straight from their website:

Any corded tools made in EU would be made to the 220/240V system anyway, so probably due to the shipping logistics most tools destined to the US just all come from China and very few from Europe (even if cordless could be the same...).

The Makita 9403 4"x24" belt sander that I bought in 2016 was made in England.

The sander is 110V-115V, and I purchased it in the United States, at local tool dealer.

All the same model Makita 9403 belt sanders identical to mine that I have seen (at other stores in the US) have also been Made in the UK... and all were 110V-115V.

 

[Etchase]

Posted some extraneous material, what I meant to say was I have fallen down the 12 volt rabbit hole. Please don’t let me start on 40..

 

[Snapped-off]

My first trip to Harbor Freight in over ten years, and my first ICON tools. I was impressed with the pliers and the snap ring set was $30. They are my back up to my redundant set. The transfer pump was $8. Good place to browse.

View attachment 2118506

I think we've got a HF thread around somewhere that may be a better fit for these.

 

[Etchase]

I think we've got a HF thread around somewhere that may be a better fit for these.

Opps.

 

[Tiny Jackson]

China, Japan, Romania I've seen so far.

I believe the main tools they sell in Japan are Japanese made.

Oh and do not forget the other country, also known as, Assembled in the U.S.A.

 

[engineer2]

Used my 1/3rd sheet Makita sander to refinish a tabletop. Several hours for battery life. With three speeds this thing rocks!