Brand new Kapex 120 hold down clamp getting jammed

[australisblue]

I am looking for some advice from any Kapex 120 owners.

Brand new just out of the box, the hold down clamp on my Kapex 120 was jammed. I can move the lever no problems, but I was only able to slide the hold down up a few mm before it catches and won't go any further. Figured there was a burr or something preventing it sliding past the brake.

Of course, to get the clamp off you need to raise it up so it will clear the fence, you can slide the fence out but it still wouldn't clear the base bracket thingy this attaches to, so unbolted that and removed it. I was able to free it up by tapping on the hold down pad with a rubber mallet lightly. Slid it back and forth a few times to free it up, could still feel it binding a little on the spot but I figured it would do.

Put everything back together and grabbed a piece of wood to test the clamp. Held it fine, released the lever and again it is jammed in this new position, took some fiddling to get it to move again. I didn't push it down particularly hard before engaging the lever. Pretty much whatever height I clamp it, it catches/jams by varying amounts. If I take it off and slide it back and forth, it catches at every single point it's been clamped, it will slide past them but not smoothly.

So the question is, is this normal? I don't want to make a fuss and have it replaced if the replacement behaves the same.

I can see dents/burrs everywhere that brake engages on it, which I suspect is normal but whether the tolerances on the slot it slides through are too tight I am not sure. Every video I've seen of people using the Kapex 120 speaks highly of this clamp and it's the only one they've ended up using. I have a bunch of Irwin quick release clamps that work on the same principle, I can clamp these as hard as I can and they still slide smoothly once released but my Festool clamp that cost about 10 times as much does not.

There was also a minor issue with the Festool stand I bought for this as well, they're replacing this. I haven't actually got to make a single cut on the saw yet.

The clamp issue could be considered kind of minor I guess as it's not the saw itself, but I was actually looking forward to having one that worked properly as I will definitely use it a lot.

Thanks for any feedback - David

 

[kevinculle]

To remove it you simply raise the clamp all the way, rotate it 180 degrees so the clamp mechanism points to the rear and lift it out of the mount...no tools are required.  Of course, your other problem sounds like it is preventing you from raising the clamp...I would certainly arrange for an exchange from Festool as these usually work quite smoothly.

 

[DynaGlide]

You just need to work it a bit and it'll be free. Mine was the same out of the box.

 

[australisblue]

To remove it you simply raise the clamp all the way, rotate it 180 degrees so the clamp mechanism points to the rear and lift it out of the mount...no tools are required.  Of course, your other problem sounds like it is preventing you from raising the clamp...I would certainly arrange for an exchange from Festool as these usually work quite smoothly.

Thanks, I’m aware how to remove it, the issue was it was jammed down low which meant the fence and base piece it slides into prevented it rotating 180 degrees. That was fixed by removing the fence and unbolting the piece it attached to. I could more easily free it up once removed but it still keeps getting jammed after the lever is released. The question was actually whether it’s normal for these to hold down clamps to keep getting stuck.

 

[Rick Herrick]

I have a love/hate relationship with these clamps.  They are incredible to use, especially with long boards as I have one on each side.  But they do stick, a lot, and you have to futz with them to loosen them up. 

 

[australisblue]

You just need to work it a bit and it'll be free. Mine was the same out of the box.

Thanks, that’s good to know but not sure I’m that impressed if this is normal. At the moment after I’ve lifted the lever I have to fight it to get it to release and slide up after each clamping. If it improves over time then that will be good but my much cheaper normal clamps with a similar mechanism release and slide smoothly from brand new and don’t seem to leave dents in the post where the brake section has grabbed on like this one for the Kapex.

 

[australisblue]

I have a love/hate relationship with these clamps.  They are incredible to use, especially with long boards as I have one on each side.  But they do stick, a lot, and you have to futz with them to loosen them up.

Yeah, it does lock down great and is quick to use until releasing… I’m a bit surprised to hear they stick a lot as I’d only heard good things about them before having my own..

 

[Rick Herrick]

At the moment after I’ve lifted the lever I have to fight it to get it to release and slide up after each clamping. If it improves over time then that will be good but my much cheaper normal clamps with a similar mechanism release and slide smoothly from brand new and don’t seem to leave dents in the post where the brake section has grabbed on like this one for the Kapex.

I hope your situation is different but these problems are still here for me, over a year later.  At $90 USD, each, I hope they don't eventually become bigger problems. 

 

[MikeGE]

The clamp that came with my saw had the same problem, while the extra clamp I bought didn't.  I took the first clamp apart and filed the burr from the shaft that caused it to hang up, and haven't had any problems with it since.

 

[Rick Herrick]

Thanks Mike, appreciate it.