We are happy to do another Makita review. A while back we did a lot of Makita reviews, but lately we have let the Makita reviews slide. It’s a shame because we know a lot of you have emailed us about Makita and we dropped the ball. Anyway, we always like testing any Makita tools as we know they are truly professional power tools. One thing we have noticed, while a lot of manufacturers have been focusing on their 10.8 line, Makita has been jamming away with creating their 18V Lithium-ion line a complete line. As you know balance with any tool is one of the most important factors. Another important factor to consider is how many different tools can be supported by the same battery. Which brings us to another plus of Makita. Currently they have over 35 power tools that run off the 18V Lithium-ion Makita battery line. We like this because obviously this cuts your cost down as you can buy bare tools.
Power Tool Review – Makita
Power Tool Model – Metal Saw BCS550
Makita Metal Saw BCS550 Specifications
- 5-3/8” blade diameter
- Arbor – 5/8”
- No load Speed – 3,600 RPM
- Max Cutting Depth – 2”
- Weight 13-3/4”
- Built in LED work light
There are a lot of times when you need to cut an object that is made of metal. Maybe a pipe, maybe a stud, a bolt and the list goes on. There are several ways to cut metal such as a metal stud you can use tin snips or for a pipe you can use a chain cutter. Yes you can use a hacksaw also, but the point is all these ways are manual ways. Not that they are bad, but just take time and muscle. The other alternative is using a chop saw. This is a lot quicker and easier, but you lose the mobility. Another way is a reciprocating saw. This provides portability and makes the job easier, but sometimes you just cannot fit into certain spots with the reciprocating saw because of the blade. You also have to go at slower speeds and most of the time you leave burrs behind. Which brings us to the review of the Makita BCS550 Metal Cutting Saw (Bare tool model BCS550Z). Basically it’s a circular saw that utilizes the Makita 18V Lithium-ion battery. Makita has two blades available for this bad boy:
- 30 tooth 5-3/8” blade – Part # A-94518
- 50 tooth 5-3/8” blade – Part # A-94524
Nuts & Bolts of the Makita Metal Saw
Specifications
What’s nice about this saw is the variety of applications it can be used for. The metal saw delivers 3,600 RPM which makes a quick job out of most metal materials including Uni-strut all thread, sheet metal, steel, channel, pipe, conduit, square tubing, aluminum studs and more. To help the user see their work, Makita incorporated a built in LED light in the front of the saw to make sure you stay on track with your cuts. Overall the tool is light weighing at 5.7 lbs with the battery. The handle has a soft grip for a better feel and more control of the saw.
Review
As we stated above the balance of the tool is great. Very light and easy to work with. The trigger is very easy to control and the LED light provides enough light to see even the faintest of markings on your metal object. We created a video below to show you the Makita in action and doing what it states it should be doing and that is providing a superior cut, that is cool to the touch and leaves no burrs. To show this we cut up a little pipe, conduit and aluminum studs. As you can see it cuts through everything with ease as we would expect. No burrs and cool to the touch. Now we were not sure if it would be too hard to see that there were none or very little burring, so we decided on cutting a bolt with the saw and then popping on a nut. If there were burrs, we would either have to fight the nut to go on or it wouldn’t go on unless we filed part of the nut. Again as you can see the nut went on without any problems. We had a lot of fun testing this tool. Why wouldn’t you have fun. We get to cut up some metal, make some noise and work with a Makita.
Conclusion
The saw has some serious power. The balance is great and the overall feel is nice. We like the fact that when you’re buying this saw, you are not just getting a saw, but a potential for a huge line of professional power tools where you only need to own a couple of batteries to get the job done. The batteries are BL1830, which is their 3.0 Ah battery and a little more beefy to get the job done. Now we know not everyone is going to need this tool in their lineup, but those of you who cut metal should definitely take a look at the Makita BCS550.
* One note is that Makita also makes a 7-1/4” Corded Metal Saw model number 4131 and a 12” Chop Saw model number LC1230
