I was wondering if anyone could tell me how there Kapex is holding up?
I am seriously considering buying the Kapex because I'm getting tired of the inconsistencies with my  hitachi 10” slider that I had for long time and Dewalt 12” slider which isn’t too bad but big and on the heavy side of about 52lb.

Everything I find about the Kepex talks about how perfect the cuts are and the great dust control which as far as I’m concerned should be a given at $1300.
I need to know how it will last in the real world and not in a nice controlled environment at someones home cutting crown or snuggled up on a shop bench.
How it is in the real world.
How does it handle with light framing, although most of our is done with a worm drive it is helpfully to have miter on site for the repetitive cuts and small blocking and so on.
How does it handle they day to day set up and breakdown from truck to job, job to truck along with the bumps and potholes in between.
Do you find yourself regularly adjusting and checking for accuracy?
Is it a high maintenance,  temperamental or fussy?
 
Let me explain further.
The saw would used primarily by me and not the crew.
My business consist of about 70% decks mostly roof top which we use more IPE then anything else, composite and cedar. I really need better dust control especially for the IPE. Our tools are left out side under a tarp overnight where it rains, hot humid and let's not forget the cold.  
Our business consists of:  
15% residential renovations which covers framing to finish work.  
15% light commercial which is similar to residential except not willing to leave tools on site over night due the high traffic and fear of walking off.

I would also buy the UG cart which looks perfect, wondering how much modifying it would need for another miter incase the Kapex is not for my scope of work.
BTW I do the wings are a little wimpie. I would like to be able to consolidate some of my efforts by using 1-miter saw that’s lighter, more compact to move through customers homes especially when your going up/down 3-4 flights of steps.

Again feel free give me your thoughts.

I have had mine for over 2 years.  It sees duty in the shop and the job site.  I have built several SA hardwood decks with it.

It rides in my trailer, my suburban, in the 4runner, back of the moped.....

Mine is dirty, I have spilled stain on it, paint and some blood.

I have yet to have to do any adjustments to it, besides play with the lasers a time or two.

I took it to festool after a year to have something I broke is a freak occurrence repaired.

When they brought it out to me the service tech said they always check them for accuracy and adjust if needed.  He said mine was still spot on.

 

Hello City Properties Inc ...

 

I'm not a commercial user and I treat my tools with respect - recently I've been using my Kapex + UG set for 200x100m framing, cutting down 4m+ lengths. Everything is solid as long as you're not throwing the timber at the saw. There is slight movement, but what's important does stay perfectly square.

I regard the KAPEX as robust compared to my Hitachi ... accuracy has been perfect out of the box and remains so.

I've got no idea how robust tolerances for things like the laser would be if it was continually bounced up and down several flights of stairs on a trolley - but personally I wouldn't do that. Even though bumps in a vehicle can seem severe - shock transfer on a trolley could be much greater without the vehicle's suspension softening the blows ... Anyone had experience in this space?

Mine is from 2007, only problem i have had is a broken circuit board at the end of it's fourth year. As mine is one of the oldest ones i don't exclude that this may be the illness of the kapex and that it may eventually happen to all models. Even though i replaced it myself it wasn't cheap around $100

I do get poor DC when coupled to my 2hp dust collector, the problem may be that the short piece of 36mm hose connecting it to my DC system is too small and takes away too much pressure.
Mine rarely leaves the shop and the accuracy is great and so are the features, i do have a friend who uses it on jobsites daily with the UG stand and he has problems with the saw frequently going out of square.

Thank you all very much for the time taken the time to reply. I greatly appreciate the feedback. It appears that Kapex could handle the vigorous day to day work and for the most part maintain accuracy. As far as the laser goes if it needs tweaking then it needs tweaking. Although I must give Dewalt compliment on the led light which never needs adjustment. It just lights up both sides of the blade and the shadow line becomes your cut line. It’s very nice feature.
I think for the portability, weight, accuracy, and dust collection it’s hands down on the Kapex.  Looks like I’ll be paying my local Kapex Dealer a visit.
 
Thanks again,
Yanni
City Properties Inc.
City Decks Inc.
Philadelphia, PA

That contrasts so thoroughly with all the other responses that I just have to ask…

Could there be something wrong with his particular saw? Or could it be getting severely abused?

Please note that I removed the poll attached to this thread.  The poll did not contain questions that could be answered.  The thread has more substance.

Peter

I looked at everything local (Sydney) ... I was initially looking to replace my dying little Hitachi with a bigger one ... I looked at all the brands and none seemed to have the precision and features of the KAPEX. The investment in the KAPEX (and generally Festool) for me is about accuracy and minimal mess. Specifically for me the KAPEX is a rapid setup and takedown in UG + extensions format.

"Twice as good" is an interesting benchmark ... I'd look at "worth the additional cost" - I may seem to be splitting hairs, but the fact that I can wheel mine out of the garage and be cutting accurately within 5 minutes ... then packed away and clean in another 5 minutes means that I use it in time constraints I would never have used it before!

If you you leave your mitre saw set up, you don't care about very high precision cutting and mess isn't a major concern - the KAPEX is probably overkill ...

Kev.

the milwaukee has the digital readout which is accurate to 0.1º and it still is spot on after 2 years of constant loading and unloading. milwaukee states that the saw has up to 75% dust collection. but i dont think its as much as that. possibly 60%.

The reason i would choose the Kapex over milwaukee next time is its superior light weight (its almost 10kg lighter) and the DC. i just wonder if it would stand up to the same heavy treatment.

If it will work, I definitely need them

Darcy, I often find myself using the philosophy/justification of "the alternatives are more expensive"!

Bob

Noooo

Good thing too. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I didn't even have to think first (as much as I'd like it).

I have no stiffness, lasers are perfect out of the box and I also don't have issues with the cart ... the last is probably a technique related problem, the the two priors don't sound very Festool like at all! Send it in - get it perfect.

I tried and returned the makita ls1016. I think some of its users do not know how a saw should feel. Because after 1 cut on 2 different 10" makitas i knew they were both junk.
I bought the highly regarded ls0714 by Makita. Its DC is as good if not better then the Kapex and its a buttload cheaper. Periodic adjustments are needed but I cut millions of cuts on it a year! Great saw.

Hey I think this is might be my wrap up.

I think it’s been almost a year since I bought the Kapex. Since then I have cut Aluminum tubing , Cedar, IPE 1x - 2x6, mahogany 5/4, walnut, 3” thick oak, 100 year old reclaimed floor joist, pressure treated and non, composite doug fir as as big 4x8, finish ply, crown various type of trim. Just change the blade for the cut and off you go.

We recently did 1500 sf or 3750 lf IPE deck on high rise. IPE comes in random lengths so we first had to pre cut on the loading docks were we used the plunge saw and track and Festie vac. We were cutting and loading for 14hrs. The maintenance man was making his rounds and giving us grief about dust and then did a double take and said hey man where’s the dust? A few more of the building techs came around and said what happened to the dust. I said it’s in the bag. I explained it cost money to clean up. Just do it once and be done with it.
Through the elevator and onto the terrace we go only to find out we get a change order. We had to re cut everything again but this time with the Kapex I could of really used another on this job because we had a very tight schedule and I mean tight.
After setting up a production line that consisted of Kapex, Domino, sand (edges), wax, glue and join. It took us almost 5hrs to pre cut about 90% of the deck. All I can say is what happened to the dust. If any of you have worked with IPE that stuff is nasty and gets everywhere. You should have long sleeves mask, glasses, gloves and Festie package.
We have a very large IPE job coming and will be purchasing 2-more with Vac’s.
After 3/days of cutting and dominoing we filled up about 28gallons of of IPE dust only and say only because the framing was steel.
imagine being 640 ft off the ground and having to chase dust all over with pan and broom. What was left wasn’t worth a conversation.

Our jobs consists of a lot steps small houses roof tops mostly with very limited access for large heavy tools. One of the primary reason for buying the Kapex was size, weight and dust collection. It allows you to preform 10% better on a residual bases over night. When was the last time you got 10% better over night. I know your thinking you can make better or same cut with my Dewalt or Makita and you just might.
But what do yo want to move around? 47lbs or 60lbs
Do you like banging up walls dinging railing in old historic homes?
Do you like bathing in saw dust and blanketing the job with it?
And now the cost This was quoted by me some time ago.

Your thinking cost. I know I kow...blah blah blah. This is what it cost and as far I’m concerned if your a small contractor with a full time or 2 employee’s it’s doable. Just get them use to it and keep the Makita for not so accurate and dirty jobs.
I estimate that dust collection alone will save me about 1 week/yr (min). What’s that worth to you? All of the above and bonus weeks of a pay. What’s that worth to you?
If you use this saw 20days a month 240/days year it’s comes out to be $5.62 per shift. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s less then sandwich or 2-3cups coffee a day.

We at City Decks Inc have had nothing but pleasant experiences with the Festool Systems time and time again.


Thank you all for the time.
Yannis N. Tsakiris
www.citydecksinc.com
www.citypropertiesinc.net