Best Kapex review I've seen

MarcV

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Nov 23, 2012
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54
I found a real world review of the Kapex on youtube. The guy has abused it for 7 years with zero problems.

Moderator note...... video removed due to safety features missing.
 
[member=17356]MarcV[/member]

Thank you for posting this video! 

Moderator note...... video removed due to safety features (blade guard) missing.
 
Where is the video?

EDIT:  Musta been something on my end. The video wasn’t available when I posted, but is now. I gotta say, I like the author’s candor and his no holds barred language.
 
His keeps goin and goin ,

but the reason I might not want one is that there are waaaaaay too many reports of saws that are younger and more cared for that blow smoke after year 2 & 3 & 4 that make risking $1500 too great for a gee wiz bevel system.

I have miter saws that I can get just as accurate cuts with widely available blades and they're 20+ years old.  And I can re set the compound miter knocked out by the yahoo just as fast because I use a dialed in piece for the test fit as a template.  It's unlikely that you need a 5.5 deg. bevel for the next cut anyway.  I will concede, mine won't get there a easy or stylishly as kapex will. 
 
You may say "I hear of wayyyy too many bad Kapex problems... but seriously, when was the last time any of us ever posted "Just checking in. My Kapex is just working fine today." My point is, we hear of all the problems and complaints, but hardly anybody posts when things are working fine.
 
If folks want a better idea of how many people on this forum own a Kapex and what their experiences are, then someone really should set up a poll with three options:

1. Own a Kapex 120; Love it.
2. Own a Kapex 120; Smoked it.
3. Don't own a Kapex 120 (list your CMS in the comments)

Thoughts?
 
Polls were disabled in the software years ago due to the fact that spammers were flocking to that feature and because so many polls were poorly developed.  Editing a poll after people started posting in the thread became difficult to do and could have been viewed as altering the voting.

Peter
 
Peter Halle said:
Polls were disabled in the software years ago due to the fact that spammers were flocking to that feature and because so many polls were poorly developed.  Editing a poll after people started posting in the thread became difficult to do and could have been viewed as altering the voting.

Peter

Peter, wasn't there a thread about a year or so ago in which people wrote in and explained how they used their Kapex and whether they had issues with it or not?

The reason I ask you, is because I thought you weighed in on it to keep the discussion in line.
 
Having been a moderator on a forum before and tracking all users, when they joined, when they quit, when the posted first, how many posts they made and last post and looking at the trends of there posts and I can tell you from my experience that 95 percent of the folks the own the Kapex probably don't visit this site if it is working properly.

If someone that moderates this site had access to the number of all individuals that own festool products and those that are actually register at this site, you would most likely see a lot missing in action.

We had 9000 register user on the group I helped moderated and polls would only attract about 20-30 even when we offered a give away.

Of the 9000 members that joined less than 400 ever posted and less than 50 were regular posters.  When we sent out a forced email to all the register user telling them we were verifying users that wanted to stay as members we got roughly 60 response if I remembered correctly. 

People joined before they purchased to asked questions or just browse for peoples experience or joined after they purchased to search for help and if they did find their answer they would post once or twice and would disappear. When an upgrade came along or they wanted to get into the more advance features of the product, they might return, ask a question and then disappeared again for years.

So unless Festool were to send out a questionnaire to all currently known owners of the Kapex, the poll would not tell you a whole lot. You would only be getting a small sampling of happy users and a larger sample of the unhappy users.

PS I have one and use it almost every other day and have no issues with mine. (other than the oil leak issue.)
 
RobWoodCutter said:
So unless Festool were to send out a questionnaire to all currently known owners of the Kapex, the poll would not tell you a whole lot.

Why all the trouble of (another unreliable) poll?

Festool has the data in its repair dept. as well as # of units produced, # of units sold, etc. Living in the digital age, Festool has captured all the vital statistics and it has its reasons why it would not want to share them.

The Kapex problem (real or imaginary) would not go away and people on the opposite side would continue to believe what they believe in the absence of any official hard data available to them.

Yes, the worries (real or imaginary) would affect sales/Festool's reputation and the confidence of some owners (me included; mine is... let me check...almost three years old now with three months left on the warranty). But it is not the end of the world. Of course, if mine became a junk, I would not replace it with another Kapex (small or large).

As for the review, the title (seven years) and the battered look of the saw gave me a sense of hope and to me, that's the most useful piece of info. to take away. (I, however, did not like seeing the guard removed even for the purposes of reviewing.)
 
I liked the review, just a regular working guy saying what he likes and what he doesn't like.  [thumbs up]  I also loved the adult language...refreshing for a change in this day and age.  [thumbs up] [thumbs up]
 
Cheese said:
I liked the review, just a regular working guy saying what he likes and what he doesn't like.  [thumbs up]  I also loved the adult language...refreshing for a change in this day and age.  [thumbs up] [thumbs up]
My thoughts exactly, and a candid language is nice.
Charlie
P.S I think we need to hear more of the "working fine" posts

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I liked the review too, even though I don't like the saw.

Not everyone registers their tools.  I've never registered my tools upon purchase in 20 something years. So it's not likely they know what I own. They'll have records of the ones Ive sent in for service but those are very few and I don't even own most those anymore. 

Not knowing the difference between a miter and a bevel makes me question the source a bit though.

That more people don't come round to say how great and wonderful their Festool _________ is , isn't surprising.  Where do think the term fanboy germinated from
?  I like that this isn't a mutual admiration society.
 
I came across this a few weeks ago. He has a new one on the TS55 that is good too.
 
Hmm, maybe this is a spoof thread, I don’t know.

I didn’t watch the video throughout, but to my mind picturing this machine in its damaged/modified/dangerous state is inappropriate and irresponsible.  If I lost the blade guard, I would get it repaired.

(I’m an early Kapex adopter and very happy with the machine).

Sorry

 
scholar said:
Hmm, maybe this is a spoof thread, I don’t know.

I didn’t watch the video throughout, but to my mind picturing this machine in its damaged/modified/dangerous state is inappropriate and irresponsible.  If I lost the blade guard, I would get it repaired.

(I’m an early Kapex adopter and very happy with the machine).

Sorry

I recall seeing a discussion (forgot where...here?) in which someone was showing a photo of how he used his mtire saw (a Dewalt, I think) on the job site -- with the guard held up at all times with a bungee cord. His argument was that he could see things clearly and could make hundred of cuts much much quicker.

His photo showing the unsafe way of doing things was removed by a moderator subsequently.

In my province, we still have some people driving (in the farming area) not wearing their seatbelts out of poor habits.
 
At 7:23ish, he said he normally wouldn't have put the guard on, but..."they made me."

So I suppose the guard is on when he uses this Kapex on the job (as a contractor or an employee).
 
Had to remove the video. I am sure people can find it if they want to. 

Seth
 
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