any new kapex owners out there?

[peter halle]

Tinker,

Good to see you back!  [welcome]

Great stories.  Sound advice.

Peter

 

[legomandan]

Just got my Kapex and CT33E last week! My First Festools!! I am a professional finnish carpenter/foreman for a large commerical contractor. We do lots of banks, offices, restraunts, ect. and government jobs. I am currently trimming out a new library and am loving the Kapex and CT33 paring. Dust collection is awsome and very inportant, carpet tile on the floor, fabric covered accoustic wall pannels, not to mention brand-new HVAC equipment with construction filters to try to protect the electronic air filtration parts. Now about the saw, I'm only using the supplied 60 tooth blade but it leaves very smooth cuts that allow miters to blend together, as long as the drywallers do a half way decent job! If not, it takes a little longer. Love the angle guage, tool. Perfect base board corners. Forgot to mention all the wood is stain grade white birch and hard stuff. The right side laser was a little bit off out of the box but they're adjustable. Only thing that might be a small problem is the shank/bar of the hold down clamp seems to get burrs or notches in it so it catches when I pull it up all of the way to spin it around to move it the other side of the saw. I've used DeWalts, Makitas, Bosch, Ridgid, Delta, Skil, and other brands of compound miter saws. Spend the money! It was worth it for me just in this last week of use. Awsome tools, I want more!! First post, might have been a little long winded! [smile]

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Well, its day two with my new Kapex (Thanks Bob!) and I've learned how to split my mark line in half.  I'm happy. 

I'm making chairs and using the Kapex to fit the crest rail.  The angles have to be perfect up and down the rail and the distance has to be perfect too.  As the rail is so visible, you want to use very good wood and it breaks your heart when you have to throw a nice piece into the scrap pile.  The Kapex gets it spot on.

When I saw the price of the Kapex, I said to myself - No Way!  But every time I used my DeWalt I was disgusted by all the dust.  Kapex works very cleanly.  Now if only Festool would make a bandsaw....

 

[BlueMaxx]

Hi,
LIL...I am in no way trying to be contentious here...but have an honest question.
Getting ready to finally invest in Festool and am straddling the fence on the Kapex....I have used the Makita in a production shop and really liked it, does anyone have any input on this?
I caould save alot of cash going the Makita route, but since I am investing in a Festool driven shop I am torn between sticking with the Kapex for my mitre needs..
Mike
(again sorry for any hi-jacking  [unsure]

 

[danrush]

Blue, 

I own the Makita 12" , 10" and Kapex saws.  Love the Makita 1214, but it's darn heavy and awkward  for anywhere but the shop.  That's where it sits.
The kapex is my constant travel saw.  The weight, bevel, dust collection, and compact foot print make it the perfect jobsite saw for me.  I wouldn't worry too much about the "system" when considering a chop saw for the SHOP.  The chopsaw really is a stand alone piece of equipment. I would recommend saving some dough and investing in other tools or accessories.

Dan

 

[BlueMaxx]

Thanks,
That makes perfect sense, this unit would be stationary. I am not yet to the point of doing onsite jobs...thats a ways off. It is very easy to get excited about the Kapex though..

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

If I was going to buy a shop saw, I would invest in an Omga.

As of now, there is no way I would go back to any other miter saw, the Kapex is the bee's knee's for portability and accuracy.

 

[EcoFurniture]

Kapex, nothing else... It really hurts to pay the big bucks, but that saw is just amazing! Since I switched to Festool my shop is virtually dust free. My clients are always amazed when they come in!

On another note: I have owned many mitersaws in the past. The all work--well kind off. None of them was 100% accurate. Yes, you can adjust them--PITB! The Kapex came perfectly dialed in strait out of the box. Yes, it has a couple of details I don't like, but I can work around them. The main thing is the dust collection and the accuracy.

Go and get one, you wont regret it.

 

[BlueMaxx]

You guys are not making this easy on my pocket book!!

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

You guys are not making this easy on my pocket book!!

I was trying, if you think the Kapex is pricey, look up the price tag on an Omga.

See, I saved you a bunch of money!!

 

[jb883]

Been hemming and hawing for months over one.  Needed a replacement for my old DeWalt, so bit the bullet and picked it up last night.  Stayed in my basement till midnight playing with it and making big pieces of wood into smaller pieces.  What a great tool.  Smooth and accurate and a miter saw with real dust collection.  Can't beat it.  Only thing I had to tweak was the right side laser a hair.  I thought it was odd that you had to poke a hole in the label/cover to get to the adjustment screw, but no big deal.  I am very happy with it.  ;D

 

[MiterMaster]

....I thought it was odd that you had to poke a hole in the label/cover to get to the adjustment screw....

My thoughts as well, which is why I purchased a set of 4 replacement laser sticker covers - keeps the saw looking good!

Mike

 

[kattermaggie]

I have recently purchased a Kapex Miter Saw.  The 1st. plus, is the weight compared to the Milwaukee Compound Slider that I had, it?s a walk in the park to transport and set up.

I only had it a couple of weeks.  I?m retired and my shop is not yet insulated, that will happen this spring/summer.  I live in Minnesota, so the insulation thing is a must.

A neighbor up the street, asked if I would finish some trim in his Sons Home in the lower level.  I went over and installed the trim.  Some base and a little bit of Crown Molding.  The Crown Molding was pretty good sized.  No Problem at all.

It was a small job, and I really took my time.  I knew that everybody in the neighborhood would hear about what kind of a job I did. 

I set up the Miter Box in the finished lower level, carpet, furniture, the whole deal.  I used the CT-22 vac. system in conjunction with the Kapex.  When I got done, and we were packing up the tools and equipment.  I took a quick look around for the tell tale fine dust on the existing woodwork from my cutting with the Kapex.  Nothing to be found, I was impressed.  No chance I try that with my Milwaukee, I would have been cursed up and down from all of the dust that would have been generated from that Milwaukee.  I would have had to put the job off until spring, and do my cutting outside.

I had put down a drop cloth under the Miter Box Stand.  The only place that I had some fall out from the cutting, was some of the large saw dust that fell right on to the drop cloth.  Vacuumed that up and away I went.

My neighbor was trolley impressed.  Somebody else had done a majority of the trim work in the lower level.  My neighbor said it would be very easy for somebody to come in and tell the difference of the fine looking trim work that I did with a Kapex, compared to who ever did the majority of the trim.  He said that he wished he had hired me in the first place.  His wife came over and looked at it later.  She was also impressed with the work.

Having done trim work for 30+ years didn?t hurt, but you can?t do the really fine work, if your equipment is not up to the task.

When ever I see somebody using something that I?m interested in getting for myself.  I don?t ask them how they like it, I ask them, ? if knowing what they know now, would you buy another one?.  In the case of my Kapex, in a heart beat.

Poppawoody,

 

[Brice Burrell]

Poppawoody, welcome to the forum. [welcome] The Kapex is a nice tool for sure, thanks for sharing your story.

 

[johnbro]

Hi,
LIL...I am in no way trying to be contentious here...but have an honest question.
Getting ready to finally invest in Festool and am straddling the fence on the Kapex....I have used the Makita in a production shop and really liked it, does anyone have any input on this?
I caould save alot of cash going the Makita route, but since I am investing in a Festool driven shop I am torn between sticking with the Kapex for my mitre needs..
Mike
(again sorry for any hi-jacking  [unsure]

Full disclosure here: I'm not a pro, not even a particularly good amateur.

I had the Makita LS1013FL and my wife suggested I get the Kapex. who was I to argue? The Makita is a really nice saw, beautiful cut quality and very accurate. I think the cut quality is equal to the kapex with the stock blades.

Advantages of teh Kapex over the Makita:

- Easier to read miter settings since they aren't obscured by the work piece on the table
- Much easier to set and read bevel
- vernier scale makes 1/2 degree miter setting simple, even 1/4 degree if you're careful
- variable speed for special situations
- the dust collection is truly amazing with the large hose. the makita isn't bad (although it can't hold a candle to the kapex), but the rubber dust boot closes up with any reasonable degree of vacuum which causes the dust to just spew out the back of the saw, vac or no vac.
- the hold down clamp on the Kapex is so easy to use it's silly. the makita is pretty cumbersome to use
- You can't really adjust the laser on the makita to hit the cut line exactly (at least I coudn't). and you basically have to set it to left or right of the blade and leave it there.
- Kapex is lighter, although the Makita is pretty easy to move around.
-Kapex has nice tall fences on both sides
- Depth of cut setting on Kapex is easy to use, not so on the Makita.
- I think the Kapex is quieter, but I always use hearing protection so that's not such a big issue

The Makita has a few wins in its column:
- included supports let you put down slightly wider material and still ahve support than the kapex
- bigger table
- Light (although it's of limited use, frankly
- $800 cheaper  [eek]
- Now that the new 4-rail Makita 10" is in stores the older saws might be had for a real steep discount
-  think the slide lock on the makita is easier to use than the Kapex, since it's on the front handle
- Makita has built in bevel detents at 0 and both 45s, compared to the kapex that you have to set the knob to get the detents on the bevel.
- Makita tilts to full bevel without having to move the fence

I'm probably missing some stuff--maybe someone else will chime in if I did. Hope this helps.

 

[Demetrius]

Bought mine about a month ago.  Having owned possibly every 10 inch slider worth having, and being a trim carpenter/remodeler by trade, I can honestly say that this saw is by far the most satisfying machine I have ever used on a trim job.  From accuracy, to smoothness of cut and of course dust collection.  You won't go wrong with this saw.  I hesitated for about a year, because of the price.  Let's not kid ourselves, you can pick up three other 10 inch sliders for that price.  I took the plunge, and ended up selling three other sliders that I owned and only kept one for rough construction.
When I first bought the saw, and before using it, I saw some posts with concerns about the operation of mitering action which made me second guess my choice.  To my pleasant surprise, I had no such issues.  I also purchased the the extensions, which I enjoyed very much but my only issue is with transport.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to somehow "pack" them in some sort of case, without having to disassemble all the pieces, save for the legs of course?

 

[FEP]

After a long time working with cheap and nasty tools, I have decided to upgrade to festools.
Basically went overboard and bought the ctle33 dust extractor, ts55 saw, kapex120, domino, jig saw, cordless screw driver, rotex 150 and the hl 850 planer with most of the attachments to these tools. 
I'm very happy with all these tools. I did not need to adjust any settings to get stuff square and parallel AS WITH MOST OTHER TOOLS.
the only thing I find was the kapex 120- dust collection is not as what other people say it is. I'm using the 36dia hose, but still find I have to continuously clean around the kapex and my plastic guard also do not return after the power has been switched off. Which is a bit of a hassle. My machine is only about 6 months old. My problem is I'm sitting in Doha Qatar so I cannot send the tool back as there is no service agent here, and the courier services getting it to Doha was very expensive. I also had the unfortunate incident where a 5mm thk piece was picked up and chucked back thru the dust port which kicked the hose off and then this piece of timber was like a missile bouncing off everything. Luckily nobody got hurt. Is there any suggestions out there for me to remedy this. (the dust collection , and plastic guard around blade that does not return.

 

[tbellemare]

As Gary Katz pointed out in a recent post, don't pick up the blade until it has come to a complete stop to reduce or eliminate missiles.

You should get on the phone with a Festool service rep' about the blade guard. I don't know who you call from Qatar but Forrest or someone should chime in soon enough.

Tom

 

[Forrest Anderson]

the only thing I find was the kapex 120- dust collection is not as what other people say it is.

Sorry to hear that.

I'm using the 36dia hose...

Presumably the suction setting on the dust extractor is set to maximum, ie the rotary control is at the "hare" setting?  Is there a chance that there is a blockage in the hose, or the bag is full? Also make sure that the rubbery collection shroud is attached to the saw - it can be removed or fall off, which will affect collection. I know, you've no doubt checked, but I have to ask!

my plastic guard also do not return after the power has been switched off. Which is a bit of a hassle.

The guard isn't designed to return when the power is switched off - it's designed to cover the blade when the head of the saw is raised. If the head isn't raised, the blade isn't covered; and if the head isn't raised completely, then the blade isn't covered completely.

I also had the unfortunate incident where a 5mm thk piece was picked up and chucked back thru the dust port which kicked the hose off...

Perhaps there is another offcut that is jammed in the dustport or the hose, which affects dust extraction?

Is there any suggestions out there for me to remedy this. (the dust collection , and plastic guard around blade that does not return.

The subject of small pieces flying out the back of the saw was discussed only yesterday in kapex - the new weapon. Have a read of that thread to see if you can pick up any tips.

The reason for the guard not covering the blade when you are finished sawing has also been discussed several times.

In the thread Kapex base is not level we saw a video where the guard was not covering some of the blade. It turned out that the head of the saw was not returning to its uppermost position, and was being stopped from doing so by a piece of plastic at the back of the head. When the piece was repositioned, the saw head was able to raise fully, and the guard now covered the blade. Note the distance between the bottom of the blade should be about 150mm when the head is fully raised - what's the distance on your saw?

In the thread spring fell out from kapex, a member reported that a long spring with cone-shaped ends had fallen out of his Kapex. This is the spring that returns the guard to its closed position, and if it's missing, then the guard won't spring into the closed position.

I have personally seen a Kapex where an offcut was jammed between the blade guard and the body of the saw, near the lasers. This also stopped the saw head lifting completely, and therefore prevented the guard from completely covering the blade.

Have a look at the threads I've mentioned, and get back to us!

Forrest

 

[FEP]

Thanks Forrest Anderson yes I have gone thru everything you suggested below.
Also thought something was stuck somewhere, in a hose or the back of the mitre saw throat but I cannot find anything.
As Tom pointed out the missiles happens when the saw has not come to a complete stop and only when small pieces are being cut off.
So I have taken note of that, thanks
The plastic guard has now been sorted thanks.
I have connected the KAPEX to a 100 dia RECORD dust extractor and have tried that as well.
I cannot really say that it picks up any thing more than my Festool extractor.
thanks guys for the quick response