Makita LS1018 10-Inch Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter SawSerious Hobbyist

The LS1018 is a light, compact 10-inch dual-bevel slider that owners praise for smooth, precise action and strong dust collection. It's a good fit for a shop that wants furniture-quality cuts without a heavy 12-inch saw. The trade-offs are a modest fence height that limits tall stock and a 13-amp motor that's a touch less grunty than the 15-amp rivals.

• Owners get dead-on, furniture-quality cuts after minor fence and bevel-stop tuning
• The direct-drive motor with soft-start and electric brake gives a very smooth, precise slide-and-chop with no belts to slip
• At around 44 pounds it's light and compact for a 10-inch slider, easy to move and store
• Dust collection is strong, with owners capturing around 90 percent of chips on the 1-1/4-inch port

• It isn't perfect out of the box and needs minor fence and bevel-stop tuning to reach true square
• The bevel has positive stops only at 0 and 45, so intermediate bevels rely on the scale
• The fence height and rear blade clearance are modest, which limits tall baseboard and large crown vertical cuts
• The 13-amp motor is slightly less grunty than 15-amp rivals, and the 10-inch blade means smaller capacity than the 12-inch saws

It takes 10-inch, 5/8-inch arbor blades, and a fine-tooth crosscut blade is the usual upgrade. Makita's WST06 and WST07 stands fit, and the 1-1/4-inch port already collects well on a shop vac. The laser version is the LS1018L if you want a line.