Makita 5008MGA 8-1/4" Magnesium Circular Saw, with Electric Brake

After spending a couple of weeks looking at circular saws by everyone from Craftsman to Festool, I selected this one.In the past I have tended to buy Milwaukee or Porter Cable, but their saws either didn't have the features I wanted, or the quality didn't make the "cut". I wanted a high quality, well finished, and well engineered saw that I could rely on for many years to come. I also wanted blade braking, and I thought an illuminated blade path would be nice for those times when the work might not be well lit. And finally, because I would sometimes be losing some cut depth to having the saw mounted on top of a cutting sled, I wanted an 8" saw. All of these factors led me to make the leap and buy my very first Makita product.Having made my choice, and being anxious to get started on some much needed home repairs on a weekend when I had some help available, I ordered the saw for next day delivery, and received it on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon it was hard at work. So how did it perform?First, the saw is pretty quiet, to the degree that any circular saw is ever quiet. Perhaps it would be better to say it wasn't as incredibly loud as some.Cutting with this saw was effortless. There was the sense that I was simply sliding the saw across the surface, and that the cutting that occurred was some sort of surprising, and wholly unrelated, coincidence. In other words, it was as effortless as one could ever hope for.I was using the saw with an undersized 71/4" Freud blade I already had on hand, so it is hard for me to speak to the accuracy of the depth scale, and I wasn't making any precision cuts anyway. But adding in the 1/2" fudge factor for the difference between an 8-1/4" blade and a 7-1/4" blade seemed to give the result I was shooting for. The blade brake seemed to work reasonably well, although I don't have any experience with other braked saws for comparison. The lighting was moderately helpful when I was working underneath a structure in reduced illumination.Now for the downside. First, unlike its smaller and nearly identical sibling, the 5007MGA, the 5008MGA does not ship with a case, and according to Makita customer service, none is available for purchase. (NOTE TO MAKITA: THIS IS SHORT SIGHTED AND STUPID. This isn't a cheap saw. Not providing a way to protect it during storage and transport is just poor. Please start offering a case and I promise I will buy it.)I was also VERY disappointed to discover that the saw was built in China. I have never had a tool built in China that had decent quality. I hope this one will be the lone exception.For those that are trying to decide between this saw and the 5007, the differences I found are as follows: the 5008 weighs half a pound more, and is about half an inch longer. 8.25" blades are a little less common, but not all that hard to find. (You can substitute the 7.25" blades if you need to, and they work just fine in the 5008.) And of course, as mentioned, no case for the 5008.So to sum things up, after two days of use I am favorably impressed with the fit, function, and finish of my first Makita product. I will be making follow up edits when I have done some precision cuts, and as I get more hours of operation on the saw. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a good case for this saw, please post a comment on it.

I use this saw for cutting mortise and tenon joinery in large beams for timber framing, where accuracy has to be within 1/32 of an inch. It cut dead square right out of the box. I even dropped it a few times from 2-3 feet (onto soil not hard floor) and it still cuts perfectly square. Holds up over time, too: I've been routinely burying it to full depth (3") going through tough white oak and it hasn't let me down in 3 years. Easy to make quick adjustments to depth/angle as needed. Overall a fantastic saw. Would buy it again in a heartbeat.

This saw was a big step up from my little Skil saw, and don't let anybody kid you, magnesium or no, it's substantially heavier than an entry-level homeowner's 7 1'4" circular saw. How it compares weightwise to a pro saw I can't tell you. It's manageable, though, and well balanced and ergonomically agreeable.I bought this saw to use with the Eurekazone track saw system. I needed the larger saw to achieve decent cutting depth with the track. It's got plenty of power for trouble-free cutting through hardwood plywood, a pleasant improvement over my old saw. Of course, the tracksaw keeps it dead straight, and I'm able to get cuts as smooth and true--or more so--than on my table saw.Features I like about the Makita saw are the light, which is a lot more useful than I expected, and the dust ejection, though with the track saw I usually end up standing right in its path. I don't have a dust port for it, so I generally chase it with the shop vac, and it catches a fair amount of the sawdust. Eventually I'll install a front-mounted dust port per the recommendation of the Eurekazone system. It's a good saw that I expect to last as long as I need it to.

The Makita 5008MGA has decent power and the electric brake is newer to me as my other saws never had them (spinning blades crawl to a stop from older designs). After having used a saw with e-brake I don't think I'll ever buy another saw without it. Safer and faster for continuous work.This thing is heavier than it looks but it isn't too difficult to use with one hand. Just put that into consideration for safety purposes. Thinner wood will require a finer touch or a finer blade for those cuts. My older saws were light in design but did not have the heft nor the power that the Makita brings. For most of my work the extra weight is handy for keeping the saw down, inline and not kicking up. The power? Well this isn't a laser but compared to my other saws it has cut through them without a hitch (3" posts? No problem).Large rubber adjustment handles are a great touch and easy to use. I also never thought the LED lights would be handy but they do assist in sight acquisition or as the sun sets. You'll appreciate the rubber handles for longer job days as it does help with less fatigue or vibrations.Powering on the unit you'll notice that the balance is pretty good. It'll kick just a bit on startup but holding the saw one handed and it isn't too hard to move around with it powered on. In other words it doesn't lean to either side from the weight differences or the spinning motor or blade.The only issues I have with the saw is that it kicks dust from the front so if you are sawing looking down you can get the sawdust blown at your face. This purchase did not come with a carry case which would have been nice to tuck an extra blade or tools into.Overall I'm happy with the Makita 5008. Good price, decent power and great tool.