Makita 15 Amp Reciprocating Saw - Review

We've been meaning to write about this tool for a long time now, a few years actually. Back in 2009, we had two of them on a site and they were worked so hard and treated so abusively that everyone was stunned they somehow survived. Pictured is one of those two tools as it looks today; a little ragged and worn, but still a complete warhorse.

For the most part, we tend to stick to our 12 amp Milwaukee for our regular sawzallin' needs. It's pretty lightweight and manages to cut most of what we ask it to. But when things get intense, we go for the 15 amp Makita and man o man, does this thing like to cut. It's a total savage. It's pretty heavy and kinda bulky, but when we need cutting power, there's nowhere else we go. On one of the units we had on site had some trouble with blades randomly popping out of the chuck, but we figured that was because the blades were scared and trying to run away. We wouldn't want to be a blade attached to this thing. You're looking at a lifespan of about 15 minutes, at least when you're up against what we were throwing at the saw.

Another thing we love about this saw is that it comes with a nice boxy metal case with tons of room for blades (are you listening Milwaukee?). We hardly ever see metal cases anymore so we think that's a really nice touch. A tool this badass deserves a metal case. Why not?

At Amazon

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Posted by Doug Mahoney at April 11, 2012 5:01 AM

For eight years I ran a deconstruction program for Habitat for Humanity. We use reciprocating saws to cut houses into salvageable lumber. This saw is the only one that could survive the beatings that we gave them. At one point we brought one in to get repaired because that reciprocating shaft arm had broken. We assumed it would be a simple part replacement. When the repair man opened it up he called me and asked what the h*ll we had been doing to it. He said he had never seen a saw that looked so beat on the inside and that he couldn't put it back together. I told them I had been using it the day before and it worked fine. If that arm had never broken I think that thing would've kept working until it turned into dust. Most other brands would make it a few months before some type of Repair was needed and then a few more before they where done for. These seamed to go on forever.

Posted by: Joel Lubell at January 12, 2013 12:40 AM