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Makita 18 V reciprocating saw buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You searched for a Makita cordless reciprocating saw and landed on blue housings that name Makita battery codes but are not Makita tools. Ten listings in the [Makita cordless reciprocating saw comparison](/hub/power-saws/makita-cordless-reciprocating-saw) sit between about £31.90 and £62.99. Eight are body-only. Two are kits whose packs the listings bar from Makita drills and chargers. Decide in this order: the packs you already own, whether a stroke is stated, then what UK reviews say when a saw dies on the first cut. Peter F. compared the amazon.co.uk capture. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You searched for a Makita cordless reciprocating saw and landed on blue housings that name Makita battery codes but are not Makita tools.

Our top picks

Fledukten Fledukten two-battery kit

Best overall

Fledukten Fledukten two-battery kit
6.2/10about £62.99
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OHAISFELA OHAISFELA body only

Rank 2

OHAISFELA OHAISFELA body only
6.5/10about £59.99
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Builrand Builrand bare tool

Best value

Builrand Builrand bare tool
6.2/10about £48.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Start with the packs you already own
  2. 2.Read stroke and depth as claims
  3. 3.Let the review count qualify the stars
  4. 4.What to buy for which job

Start with the packs you already own

If BL1820 through BL1860 packs, including the B variants, are already on the shelf, buy a body only. Every bare tool here assumes you supply the cell, and none of the eight body-only rows includes a charger. If you own no Makita batteries, read the kit trap. Fledukten at £62.99 says the body can take Makita 18 V packs, while the two 21 V 4.0 Ah batteries in the box must not go on other brands' tools. blayram at £56.99 bars its batteries from original Makita tools and from a Makita fast charger. You get a saw this week, and you do not share one battery family with a Makita drill. The JOJOCY listing at £54.99 names LXT-style codes and excludes G-series packs. Gautesy advises 4.0 Ah or higher to avoid overload shutdowns.

Read stroke and depth as claims

UK shops answering a Makita 18 V reciprocating saw body only lead with DJR186Z: typically a 32 mm stroke, 0–2,800 spm, wood 255 mm and pipe 130 mm. ToolStore UK listed that body at £81.91 including VAT. D&M Tools showed £114.95 including VAT. Those are shop prices, not amazon prices for these copies. In this set, stated strokes sit around 19–22 mm or are blank. OHAISFELA says 20 mm. luolety claims 22 mm and 19 mm in the same block. ConBlom, Builrand, both JOJOCY bodies, Gautesy, Fledukten and blayram give no usable single stroke. Do not paste Makita's 255 mm wood or 130 mm pipe onto these ASINs. A luolety size row of 20 × 10 × 30 mm is not a saw. Shop bands and Makita UK's stroke are on versus a genuine Makita.
Fledukten Fledukten two-battery kit

Testsieger

Fledukten Fledukten two-battery kit
6.2/10about £62.99
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Let the review count qualify the stars

A 5.0 from two reviews is not more trustworthy than a 3.3 from seventy-five. luolety's four-blade body is that 5.0. The eight-blade luolety at £46.59 is 2.9 from twelve, including a break after two uses and vibration that was too much for branches. ConBlom at £39.99 is 3.3 from 75, with early deaths after one use, two uses or about four hours, plus a note on steel pipe where a grinder will not fit. JOJOCY at £49.99 is 3.4 from 22, with smoke within an hour and cut-out in wood, and other buyers describing branches and pipe. OHAISFELA at £59.99 is 4.4 from 16. A UK note says the label reads 3000 SPM while the listing says 3500. Builrand at £48.99 is 4.0 from 16, with only two short positive UK lines. The best pick in this set names the top pick and best value with those limits.

What to buy for which job

Occasional DIY on pallets, plastic pipe, supported branches and light metal can justify a third-party body on packs you own, if you accept a short stroke, no Makita warranty and no published vibration figure. Paid demolition does not. Makita UK publishes a magnitude for DJR187. None of these ten listings does. If you need cells today and will not share them with Makita tools, compare Fledukten and blayram. Awards in this folder sit on body-only rows. luolety's title says no battery while a components row says Battery. Fit the blade with the pack off. That sequence is on how to use a cordless reciprocating saw. For coarse wood, start around 6 TPI, and 14–24 TPI for metal, on charts such as CMT UK.

Common questions

Do I buy body-only or a kit if I am new to Makita?
Buy a kit only if you accept a second battery family. Fledukten and blayram include packs that must not go on Makita tools or Makita fast chargers. If you wanted one platform for drill and saw, start with genuine LXT packs and a body-only copy, or buy a genuine DJR body from a UK dealer instead of a kit trap.
Which listings state a stroke I can compare?
OHAISFELA lists 20 mm on the bullets. luolety listings give 22 mm and 19 mm together. Most others in this capture leave stroke blank or contradictory. None matches Makita's 32 mm on DJR186 or DJR187. Missing stroke is a buying problem, not a detail to skip.
Is ConBlom worth £39.99 because it has 75 reviews?
The 75 reviews are useful as a warning file. The average is 3.3, and UK texts describe repeated early failures alongside a few light-use successes. You buy it when you have read that record, not because the star line looks middling rather than awful.
Can I charge blayram batteries on my Makita charger?
No, according to the listing text captured for this set. Use the charger in the blayram box. The same listing says those batteries are not compatible with original Makita tools even though the saw body claims to accept Makita 18 V packs.
When is a genuine DJR186 or DJR187 the rational step up?
When you need Makita's stated 32 mm stroke, published noise and vibration figures, and a tool warranty from Makita UK rather than a marketplace seller. Shop body-only prices for DJR186Z often sit around the low £80s including VAT at some dealers in this check, with spread up to about £115. DJR187Z is a different, dearer tier. Compare on the versus page, not by merging them into one real Makita price.
Does compatible with Makita mean Makita made the saw?
No. Brands in this folder include OHAISFELA, JOJOCY, luolety, Builrand, Fledukten, ConBlom, blayram and Gautesy. They name Makita pack codes or print Makita-like colours. Makita's tool warranty does not cover them.

Related pages

Makita cordless reciprocating saw for pruning

Makita cordless reciprocating saw

Best reciprocating saw for Makita 18 V battery packs

How to use a cordless reciprocating saw: first cut

Makita DJR187 vs cheap third-party reciprocating saws

Sources

Public UK sources first, then the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Shop prices for a genuine DJR body are named UK shops, not an amazon.co.uk pound price.

  1. Makita UK DJR187 (retrieved October 2026)
  2. HSE: selecting equipment (retrieved October 2026)
  3. HSE: vibration calculator guide (retrieved October 2026)
  4. HSE L108: controlling noise at work (retrieved October 2026)
  5. CMT UK reciprocating saw blades (retrieved October 2026)
  6. DVS Power Tools DJR187Z (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Power Tool World DJR186Z (retrieved October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved October 2026)