Tools of the Trade: Makita recently turned 100—as in 100 years old, an age few large companies ever reach. To celebrate this milestone, Makita has been holding events in the countries where it operates. The U.S. event was held in Southern California and I was there with two other journalists and a few hundred guests whose companies distribute Makita tools.
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Happy Birthday, Makita! You’ve always been my favorite (except for that little Festool binge I had last year). But to the point, the 23-gauge pinner and 18-gauge brad nailer terrifies me, because the safety is hand-operated or non-existent, so someone could literally just fire this thing like an assault rifle if they felt so inclined. However, it is pretty cool to see a functional battery-operated nailer coming out soon. Their laser is pretty amazing, too it’s “a high-end combination model that can be used in place of a plumb bob and projects plumb lines, level lines, and dots for doing square layout. Features include a pendulum lock, adjustable magnetic base, and a pulse mode for use with a detector” . With so much functionality in one laser, this could genuinely be the one tool needed for load ins, minus the necessary fasteners, of course. Makita has really stepped up their game for their 100th birthday, and I cannot wait to be able to try out these cool new innovative tools.
Makita has clearly thrown their lot in with the batteries for this round. It seems like every tool in this set is run off a rechargeable battery. So what’s the problem with that? Isn’t it always better to have reliably powerful tools such as the ones Makita seems to claim are coming without the hassle of a cord to deal with. Well the problem for me is of course I don’t want to deal with them. In some applications like the laser and angle grinder I think a good battery powered tool could become indispensable. But work lights? I mean seriously. If I am going through the trouble of setting up work lights 95% of my applications are going to allow me thirty seconds to run an extension chord rather than recharging the batteries every day and possibly even mid call. I do believe this could eventually be practical if Makita were to ditch the standard packs for the spotlights in favor for larger more powerful batteries in combination with a cord on the lights to enable both use and charging during all the applications which allow for it while still giving the additional functionality of a battery powered light.
I was hoping to see a tool that fell more on the revolutionary side of the spectrum then on the improved side. None of these tools are really new to the market, they are just a newer better version of a tool they already create or are a copy of a different tool. I am surprised that they are making chain saws though. I do not know how long they have been doing that but there have been other power tool companies that have tried getting into the chainsaw/gas powered tool business and have failed miserably. I wonder how their chainsaw will do. I think it is a waste to buy the battery powered chainsaw. If you are going to buy a quick use chainsaw you might as well buy a cheap, one battery powered version because anything that you want to do with more than a 1 battery saw should really be done with a gas powered saw.
First off, happy birthday Makita. You have clearly broken milestones. Or most likely, actually broken stones. I can definitely say that Makita is my preferred tool; the Company has revolutionized the power tool. It was not until last year when North Reading High School received a big grant for new shop tools that I had appreciation for a good drill.
My favorite Makita tool has to be the compact impact driver. This tool could go through almost anything. I don’t have to worry about stripping a screw. I was very surprised to find that such a small 18v battery could last almost 1.5 hours of continuous use, and charging only took 20-30 minutes. While you might find yourself paying a little more for a Makita tool, they last a lifetime. At the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon the Makita logo is all over their “top of the line” shop.
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