Buy a Kapex or not?

[festool_SWFL]

Well folks, I just finished a job that actually paid me, aka not a honeydo.  So I have some cash at hand and looking to replace my Dewalt 10" mitre saw with a kapex.  The Dewalt is non sliding and isinglel compound, about as base as you can get, but cost $199 or so. To be honest, the biggest issue as to replace or not is I bought the Dewalt stand with the extending arms.  The saw sucks but the stand work well.  So I have read some serious issues with the kapex, mainly, dealing with the mitre slide.  Net is should I get one or get the makita 10" for half the cost.  Don't get me wrong, I love Festool, but if I am going to have issues why pay the $$$$.

Thanks for the feedback,

William

 

[nickao]

The  Makita is a great saw! I just got the Milwaukee slider for 551.00 including shipping and no tax., I would consider that saw also:

Milwaukee

 

[GaryLaroff]

Nick,

I just bought a Kapex and am quite pleased with it.  My old miter saw is a 1980 vintage Makita chop saw in perfect condition with a fairly new Forrest blade. No bevels, no sliding. What it does it does well.  Unfortunately there are no detents for the miter angles so setting it to a true 45 degrees is an exercise in major frustration and getting it locked back on to a true 90 degrees is so painful that I tend to leave it there for five year periods.  What I really needed is a high quality sliding miter saw with superb miter accuracy, accurate and dependable detents and really good dust collection capability.

My default choice was the Makita, but it can't be locked between detents.  That's fine if all you do is 0, 22.5, 30, 45 degrees or whatever else they have.  I make 18th Century furniture reproductions and other stuff and a miter setting for any angle is required.  Some people hate the fact that the Makita scale is on the right and is obscured by the board being cut.

The Bosch and others with a cast scale for angle settings can't be depended on, but the detents are accurate.  I want to calibrate the saw once and then read the angle accurately and set it where I want.  Festool does this.  On the Bosch it is possible to set the miter angle anywhere, but you don't know what angle it is.  The adjustable handle does not get good reviews.

The Dewalt 718 slider isn't build sturdy enough and the blade doesn't track square to the board.

As I have never cut a bevel on a miter saw but have used just about every brand of CMS and slider at my friends' shops and at woodworking schools I can't talk about bevels but have evaluated most of the saws out there.

My requirements aren't that severe.  The saw must cut dead square to where it is set.  The miter angle must be settable to anywhere in its range with the scale accurate.  Only the Kapex can be read and set to one-quarter of a degree.  I want reasonable if not superb dust collection.  I would also like a functioning and useful laser system.  Only the Kapex met all of these needs and it can easily be lifted and carried.

You will only dislike the Kapex purchase when you are paying for it, but that pain will go away as you cut wood.

Gary

 

[nickao]

Gary the Milwaukee is accurate to .1 degrees, better than .25. When I receive the saw I will verify if it really is because if the digital display really works to .1 degrees I will be very happy. Maybe someone who already has the Milwaukee can comment.

I do not use a laser and never really liked them so to me I do not miss it nor require one.

Sounds like you really got a lot if use out of your old Makita! The new Makita is a top class saw and many consider it the best, but I went for the Milwaukee because of the accuracy and dust collection, not to mention I have 800.00 left over and there is no possible way the Kapex is worth 800.00 more than the Milwaukee or Makita in my eyes.

Alas I was a person that had 3 Kapex all returned mostly for the table grinding etc. And even if the kapex ran perfectly for me it cuts no better than my Ridgid saw with a Forrest blade. It might take me a little messing around to get the the correct angle other than the ones used 90% of the time, but I am hoping the Milwaukee with the .1 miter accuracy solves that problem.

Festool makes some nice tools and I have so many, but the kapex just was not for me.

 

[Toller]

I am happy with my Kapex; it does everything I want and I have had no problems.  Well, that's not quite right; the throat plate expanded and didn't fit, but they replaced it.

I got a $250 rebate, so I only paid $1,050.  Even at that price, and as satisfied as I am, I am not sure I would recommend it.  I mean, its an awful lot of money for a miter saw. (it didn't seem like as much money before the stock market fell 50%)

 

[erikfsn]

I've had my Kapex for a few months now. I've used it quite a bit, 2-3 days per week. I've also used my partner's Milwaukee 10" slider. In my opinion, The Kapex is a much better saw than the Milwaukee. The dust collection seems better to me and it's a lot quieter. I often don't put on hearing protection with the Kapex, a requirement with the Milwaukee. The cuts are so much better, the cut surface looks polished, not like it's a saw cut. The bevel adjustments are spot on in all directions as is the laser.

As far as being able to set it for 1/4 or 1/10th degree accuracy, it can be set anywhere, so it can be set to whatever accuracy YOU can set it for. If you had a good magnifying glass and a miniature ruler you could probably get 1/100th of a degree. In other words you can set it to cut what ever increment you desire.

I've had zero issues with mine and I recommend the saw highly.

 

[Frank-Jan]

...
My default choice was the Makita, but it can't be locked between detents.  That's fine if all you do is 0, 22.5, 30, 45 degrees or whatever else they have.  I make 18th Century furniture reproductions and other stuff and a miter setting for any angle is required.  Some people hate the fact that the Makita scale is on the right and is obscured by the board being cut ....

I have no problem locking my ls1013 in between detents, just hold the detent override lever, and turn the handle.

 

[Frank-Jan]

... To be honest, the biggest issue as to replace or not is I bought the Dewalt stand with the extending arms.  The saw sucks but the stand work well. ...

I have the Dewalt stand aswell, and use it with a makita, when I saw the dewalt stand on their website I had to wait almost 2 years for it to become available over here; and when I finally got it, I had to drill extra holes in the base of the saw to line up the fence of the saw with the brackets. Dewalt have since introduced longer brackets as an accesory, so you probably no longer need to modify another brand saw to fit those (if the saw doesn' t fit the standard brackets).

I haven't tried to fit the Kapex to the dewalt stand, because I got the set version with the wings and mft800.

 

[nickao]

I've had my Kapex for a few months now. I've used it quite a bit, 2-3 days per week. I've also used my partner's Milwaukee 10" slider. In my opinion, The Kapex is a much better saw than the Milwaukee. The dust collection seems better to me and it's a lot quieter. I often don't put on hearing protection with the Kapex, a requirement with the Milwaukee. The cuts are so much better, the cut surface looks polished, not like it's a saw cut. The bevel adjustments are spot on in all directions as is the laser.

Yes, but  the Milwaukee 10" is NOT the Milwaukee 12" with the new features(Milwaukee's patented "Constant Power Technology" for constant blade speed which results in smoother cutting) and better motor. The 10" is an older model and much cheaper so not a good comparison at all.

 

[honeydoman]

i just talked to another guy yesterday in newyork and he has gone through 2 kapexs and has returned both.

the 12" milwaukee new one is on sale at hd for $499 some have at that price and some don't get them to price match it.  however that saw is 65# which for us older and not as beefy as before that it heavy.

those of you with no issues you are amoung the 65% that are happy so far and that does not include those that have not really used it much yet.

but give it a shot, they back up their guarantee.

 

[mastercabman]

I was told that HD(my local HD)will no longer have the Milwaukee saw.That is probably the reason why it was on sale.
I was there yesterday,and the saw is gone.From stock and display.

 

[Eli]

I've been using the kapex for well over a year and still love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. YMMV.

 

[wnagle]

I just picked up my Kapex today and set it up.  I took my lawn mower in for yearly service...which left an open space in the garage... "Nature abhors a vacuum"...  So thats where I put the Kapex... Not sure what I'm gonna do when they call and tell me to come pick up my mower...  maybe an addition is in order...  ;D

The Kapex is dead on out of the box and has the new plate.  I adjusted the right laser a bit to my liking and I hooked it up to my Craftsman Vacuum with the Festool D36 hose.  The Vvacuum and Kapex are plugged into a remote auto start plug from woodcraft.  I didn't want to dedicate a CT.  The craftsman is louder but suction is excellent with the D36.  I didn't try it with th CT to compare; maybe later I will, but I like having a dedicated vac on the miter saw.  My shop is stationary.  Right now the Kapex is on a Ryobi portable stand temporarily.  Eventually I plan to add Sawhelper guide rail set up mounted on permanent supports, underneath will be sliding trays for the systainers and some storage drawers.  The Kapex is really sweet compared to my old saw, a low end Hitachi.

 

[Eli]

Congrats Wayne
on the new Kapex ;D ;D ;D

 

[daves1996]

My kapex is also on the Ryobi stand and I love both of these items.

Dave

 

[vicc]

Well I took the big plunge (in $$'s) and bought a Kapex a couple of months ago.  In AUD's it was about 55% more than the Makita LS1013, I figured with the lasers, dust extraction and better blade it was probably worth the extra.

So far I'm glad I got it; haven't used it that much, but it was fine straight out of the box, lasers aligned fine, no scraping yet. The dust extraction is fantastic and I wouldn't choose to go back to using a non-laser machine.  It will get a big workout over Christmas; so any issues should become obvious then.  It's a great machine; no complaints from me.

 

[nickao]

I'll never get the use of a laser on a miter saw. I just do not ever use it, accurate or not. Once accustomed to a saw I know where to put the material so the blade cuts just to the side of the cut line. So I never really saw a need for it.

Now on a drill press I love looking at laser that shows dead center with a cross hair. To me that is invaluable and much more beneficial than a laser on a miter saw. Its tough to judge center of a bit on all different stocks no matter how accustomed to the drill press I am. Just my opinion.

 

[erikfsn]

The laser saves me time with checking to see that the angle I've set the saw at matches the line I've drawn on the wood.
Without the laser, I have to run the blade along the cut line to see if they match which is more time-consuming.