Makita's SP6000 offers a lot of good features for a first run of saws, but its lack of a riving knife makes it hard to recommend.

Makita loads their $385 saw with some nice features. It’s the only model with preset 22.5°, 45°, 48° and -1° bevel presets. It has a clip on the base to keep it from tipping off the rail when bevel-cutting. But the showstopper feature was a little knob that locks the cutting depth at 2 to 3mm for making scoring cuts. Without it, the SP6000 cut pretty well, but with it, the results rivaled Festool’s quality on both sides of the blade. For those critical “money” cuts, be sure to score first, then repeat for the through cut.

The score cutting, set by a knob between 2 to 3mm, is extremely impressive, making clean, small cuts.

This plunge-cutter pivoted smoothly down, and the 12-amp powerplant was both quiet and appropriately up to task. The saw will cut through material up to 2-3⁄16" thick at 90° or 1-9⁄16" at a 45° tilt. Controls are good and solid.

I think Makita has a real contender here. The saw seems a quality offering for an enticing price. But, without a riving knife — which makes every cut safer, not just rips — the SP6000 drops behind the competition in this test.