bought a used kapex - please help me get it ready for its new home!

[baldguy]

So I went into my local Rockler for a spokeshave... and walked out an hour later with that spokeshave and their demo unit Kapex 120 EB.  They had just put a sign on it - 40% off.  That makes this $1400 miter saw just a bit more than the one I was already considering upgrading to.  Only $840 plus tax!  I looked it over for quite some time before deciding to buy.  It's used, no doubt, as it was the demo saw that the employees chose to use most often when cutting boards to size for customers.  It's still in great shape, though.  the odd scratch here and there but as far as I can tell (with my limited festool knowledge) all the parts where present and functional.  The date says "12/07" which I assume means July 2012.  The blade is sharp, if a bit worn... long story short, I think I got a solid deal.  I *almost* bought the CT36 they had for 40% off too... and if it had been the newer t-loc style I may have.  I'm glad I didn't though - I'm pretty happy with my shop vac + dust deputy portable setup and the larger dust collection plumbing I already have.  Oh and they had an OF1010 router that looked brand new for 30% off... I might be going back for that one

This is my second festool product and will likely end up being my xmas gift to myself .  I intend to use this thing for many years.  Given that my SCMS is probably the one tool aside from my drill that I use the most in my little garage shop, I want it to be as reliable and long-lasting as possible.  I can handle the cleanup bit, but I'm hoping that some of you kapex owners out there can give me a few tips.  Is there any routine maintenance I should do, calibrations I should check, or alignments I should adjust?  I can and will definitely be checking through the manual and the FOG for maintenance info, but what sticks out as the most important?  What "gotchas" should I look out for?

Any and all help is very much appreciated. 

 

[Thistleman]

Download the supplemental manual

www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/kapex-ks120-supplemental-manual.pdf

It has everything in it

 

[Zacharytanner]

Add a zero clearance insert - make it or Betterly products makes one and add the zero clearance for your fences.

Frank

 

[Worm Drive]

What the others said, plus get an 80 tooth blade.

 

[baldguy]

thanks for the suggestions!  I grabbed the various manuals and I'll be doing whatever maintenance is listed in there within the next few days.  I'm finishing up a project right now so I can't take my current miter saw down just yet but hopefully the new kapex will be ready to go after thanksgiving.

The zero clearance thing is a good idea - I am used to having one for my fences but I've never thought about putting the same treatment on the "channel" at the bottom.  I get that it would help a lot with tearout, but would it hurt dust collection at all?  With that little mini-hood behind the blade it seems like you would want all the dust going towards that thing instead of getting caught under the zero-clearance insert.  I might just be overthinking it (I do that... a lot).

as for the 80-tooth blade: any recommendations?  I heard freud makes a blade to fit the kapex, and all my other saws cut with freud blades... anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks again!

 

[Worm Drive]

Im not sure how the zero clearance insert effects the dust collection, as I never used the Kapex with the factory insert. I made one insert for square cuts and one for bevel cuts. I have the Tenryu 80, its an excellent blade. Have heard the new Forrest blade is very good, as well. Festool recommends using a lightweight machine oil, for lubricating the slides and pivot points. I don't believe that the manual covers that.

 

[nclemmons]

Welcome to the FOG.  I see you are relatively new in posting a lot!

Nice deal on the saw.  The 1010 router is really great if you want to slide down the slope!  And to the best of my knowledge, the CT36 vac and 26 vac are not t-loc adapted like the Mini and Midi are.  It's a terrific vac if you want a great deal and the latest that Festool is offering in that model.

BTW, a Zero clearance insert won't help a lot with tear out on the bottom of the board you are cutting.  The saw cuts from the bottom up.  I tend to drop the saw and then push into the piece, which means the blade exits on the top of the piece.

Regardless, I've never seen much tear out on the Kapex except at the rear, which is a key reason why I made the fence extension.  Plus it keeps small pieces from flying.

Do you have an existing stand for the saw?

neil

 

[baldguy]

good point about the tearout underneath.  totally makes sense... not sure why I didn't think of that

I'm not sure I will go back for that router... I've been wanting one but I have a good Bosch that I've yet to find a weakness with.  It would really just be a "beacuse it's there and on sale" purchase.  Probably best I skip it for now.

My existing miter saw has a "home" in my garage.  I don't have a full shop, but I've converted about 2/3 of my 2-car garage to a woodshop.  Part of that conversion was building a 36" deep work surface along the east wall and half of the south wall (where the interior door is).  I lowered a section of that work surface for my miter saw, putting the deck level with the rest of the surface.  That lets me run boards out either end - about 15' to the left and 3' to the right.  So far it has worked great.  Of course I built it to the height of the deck on my old one, but I should be able to modify it for the kapex.  I also cut a hole in that surface behind the saw and installed a big gulp dust collection hood.  It never really caught all of the dust from my old saw, but it did a decent job and allowed me to sweep dust off of the rest of the bench and into that gaping maw of airflow .  That's plumbed to the main line, which also has blast gates and drops for other various tools along that wall.  For best results, I had to run the shop vac (with dust deputy) on the saw's main DC port *and* the primary dust collector with the hood open.  even then it made a mess.  I'm hoping this kapex will be a big improvement in that arena.

 

[epicxt]

Good find! In my experience the zero clearance insert in the base doesn't seem to hurt dust extraction as much as the zero clearance on the fence because when the blade is sliding forward the rubber boot deforms a bit as it's clearing the fence.
Oh, and welcome to the FOG!

 

[baldguy]

thanks for all the help, guys.  I finished the project I was working on so I found time to set up the new saw... I'm very impressed.  just the hold-down style, the dual lasers, and the dust extraction on this tool are enough to justify the purchase for me.  on my old saw I could never get the laser calibrated properly and the hold-down was a PITA to operate (compared to this one, at least).  Dust extraction on it was pretty pathetic.  So I'm very happy that this was the second festool added to my little shop!

One thing that I'm wondering about is how to improve the dust extraction even further.  I currently only have one festool hose - the long 27mm one that I bought for my TS55.  it's great for that tool since I need the extra length, but I'm thinking that going to a much shorter 36mm might help suck up the bits that still escape.  It's still miles better than what I had, but not quite as good as what I've seen in demo videos and such.  I'm using my shop vac (rated for about the same CFM as the festool vacs) and a dust deputy.  I know the dust deputy will reduce the CFM a bit... I'm wondering if getting a 150-175 CFM vac and the 36mm hose will help.  any thoughts?  Also... has anyone made their own shorter hose with the festool ends?  Spending $150ish for a 3.5m one then cutting it down to 2m seems like a waste to me.

thanks again!