What’s up with Makita?

Makita is hitting the market hard with a bunch of new products and ideas.  I have been seeing the news come in and was going to do a couple of write ups, but with the way they are releasing things, I would have a hard time keeping up, so I decided to do a general one.  Don’t worry, I still have a couple other Makita news items coming out shortly.

Yes, Makita has a 6 A/h battery.  While every manufacturer is going crazy over their 5 Ah battery, Makita said the heck with that, let’s just jump to a 6 A/h.  Besides being a 6 Ah battery, there are two cool things with this battery.  First, it has an LED light for the battery level indicator.  Not sure what took so long, but who cares, they have it now. Second this battery will be fully charged in 55 minutes.  So pretty much the same time as the competitors 4 ah battery charge time.

Are you a reciprocating fan and a guy who relies on this tool?  Like being cordless, but hate the run time?  Makita introduced their 18V X2 brushless saw which is model XRJ06M/Z.  So no need to change battery platforms.  You can use your same 18V Makita batteries, but now you get the run time of the 36V because it uses your two 18V batteries.  The saw has a 1-1/4″ stroke and will be available in summer of 2016

Don’t want to be tied to two batteries?  No worries, they also have an 18V brushless reciprocating saw that will be hitting the markets in spring 2016.  The XRJ05M/Z is pretty much the same as their 18V X2, except, this saw is powered by one battery.

If you are the guy who doesn’t care about reciprocating saws and you just want to know about impact wrenches, don’t worry, there is something for you also.  They are releasing 3 new 18V Brushless impact wrenches in Feb 2016.  They will be the following items: ¾” Square Drive (XWT07M/Z, with 780 ft.lbs. of torque), ½” Square Drive (XWT08M/Z, 740 ft.lbs. of torque) and 7/16” Hex Chuck (XWT09T/Z, 740 ft.lbs. of torque). They will feature a 3-speed power selection and an electric brake for added precision and convenience.

I know a lot of people were excited about the Dewalt cordless miter saw.  For those of you who love the Dewalt saw, but have the Makita line, now there is a saw for you.  The 18V X2 LXT Lithium-Ion (36V) Brushless 7-1/2” Dual Slide Compound Miter Saw (XSL02Z).  The saw has a Brushless motor and delivers 5,700 RPM’s.  This should be out sometime in Dec 2015.

Now that we are on saws and making messes, let’s talk about dust.  Get this, Makita has an 18V X2 LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless HEPA Vacuum (XCV04Z).  This is said to have a run time of 65 minutes, which is pretty amazing.  One thing I don’t like about this system, is we can’t get it until March 2016.

See I told you they had a lot of news.  So what’s up with their 12V line?

Don’t worry they are expanding on their 12V line. In January 2016 the CXT line expands with more 12V max tools including a ¼” hex driver-drill, 3/8” hammer driver-drill, reciprocating saw, 3-3/8” circular saw, and impact driver available in single-tool kits and combo kit configurations. The line-up features slide-style 12V max CXT Lithium-Ion batteries in 2.0Ah and 4.0Ah with on-board L.E.D. charge level indicators. You will start seeing these in January 2016.

Are you into woodworking?  Makita has a new 6” Random Orbit Sander (BO6050J).  The new 6” Random Orbit Sander with variable speed has a two-mode switch for random orbit action (finish sanding and buffing) and random orbit with forced rotation (aggressive sanding and polishing).  This model offers a variable speed control dial with ranges of random orbits (1,600-6,800 opm) and sanding strokes (3,200-13,600) allowing users to match the speed to the application. Unfortunately they won’t be available until April 2016.

Why stop there?  Makita is even adding new lasers to their line.  The new lasers include the Self-Leveling Combination Cross-Line/Point Laser (model SK103PZ), the Self-Leveling Horizontal/Vertical Cross Line Laser (SK104Z), as well as the Laser Distance Measure 164’ (LD050P) and Laser Distance Measure 262’ (LD080P).  When will these be available?  How about right now.

See, what did I tell you?  They have a boat load of new, cool tools coming to market.