I know they are hard to come by. I would appreciate any info on how to obtain one. Thank you.

Hello,
The best and most enjoyable way to get a 13" Makita is to take a trip to Japan and buy one. It would also be the only way. Makita USA and Makita Japan, as far as I know and hear, have actually had court battles over some Japanese companies importing Makita Japan tools into the US. Makita Japan was not trying to stop it and the poor Makita stores in the US were being hurt by us timber framers buying the 13" saw. With that said, I bought mine 2 years ago (and now realized should have bought 20) from Aqua Stone. When I called Aqua Stone last fall to buy 20 they told me they were no longer able to import Makita tools, Makita had stopped them.

But they can get Hitachi Japan tools and they also have a 13" saw, while more expensive I have heard that it is also a good saw.

I have called both Makita Japan and US and neither said they could help me. If you or anyone has a good contact in Japan we should all pool our money and buy a crate of them...best saw I have ever used.
Would have to dig around to get the number for Aqua Stone. Let me know if you want it.

Brice

The 13" is definitly the most useful saw from my perspective. Has anyone used/owned a 13" Hitachi? Brice - I would definitly like to have the Aqua Stone number. I will also keep thinking about a good contact in Japan. It is silly that the US doesn't import the saw. I wonder what the reasoning is.

I have a friend who owns a 13" Hitachi. I've used it many times and would definitely buy one if I could find a source. I'll keep my eyes on this thread!
Dan

Just curious, but why the 13" over the more readily available 16 inch?

Easier to handle, will do most of the joinery cuts, more power (15 amp motor driving a 13" blade rather than a 15 amp motor drivin a 16" blade).

Hello,
Sorry for the delay in posting agian. I wanted to call the lady at Aqua-Stone before I sent so many calls to her. She said that last month Hitachi found out what she was doing and told her she had to stop. Sorry.
So we are back to square one.
Brice

Trip to Japan might have to wait a bit. Can anyone provide a link to Makita and/or Hitachi tools that are available only in Japan?

Hello,
Makita is www.makita.co.jp
I got to Hitachi site by just going to hitachi.com
I do have the hard copy of the Makita Japan catalog. If anyone need pages out of it.
Brice

Try ebay. I've had good luck there with hard to find tools. If you can't find the Makita today, enter a search on the favorite search feature and you'll get e-mail when a saw shows up. I use Paypal with no problems.