Decided to sell my Bosch, got a Kapex

[Motown]

After much debate, 100% of it with myself, I decided to make the jump to a Kapex. I own the Bosch GCM12SD and have been pleased with its fit, finish and performance but at the 11th hour I ordered a Kapex late last night from Bob Marino. I am both anxious and excited about this because, for the most part, the Bosch has served me well and I am concerned about some of the Kapex issues mentioned on this forum. So, I really hope I made the right call. My deciding factors:

- The Kapex has a smaller footprint: I am in the middle of a shop re-org/build and space is at a premium
- The Kapex is significantly lighter in the event I take it out of the shop. The Bosch is a beast, really heavy but solid.
- Hoping for some improved dust collection. I have a 36mm hose and was never really thrilled with the Bosch's performance with DC
- Really excited about having an integrated laser and some of the additional features on the Kapex

Like most of us, I can always find a way to justify swapping a tool or upgrading when I really want to but I am just a bit nervous with this one because my existing tool was serving me well. I'll be sure to follow up with my thoughts on the saw once I've had a chance to test drive it. I'd like to thank Bob and Festool for this promotion as it closed the pricing gap between the two saws and factored into my decision process. If you do this with a Domino 700, I am in. ;-)

Oh btw, if anyone lives in the SF bay area,  I've got a 12 inch miter saw, gravity stand and a Chopmaster blade for sale. Please PM me if interested.

 

[tallgrass]

hope you like it. i have the glide and love it. i would not get rid of it. though i have heard they have taken the money out of it and the new ones are rubbish, which is a shame. however it is heavy and if you have to move it, it is a pain. i was one of the guys who got hammered by the early kapexs. they are great and you should love it.

 

[Green Mojo]

Yeah, I kind of ran that same calculus. Figure a new CMS slider would be around $700. Add laser for an additional $100. Then the angle finder for $150 or so and you are looking at not that great of a spread for the Kapex with the promotion. I replaced a Dewalt 12 in miter saw that served me well for a lot of years.  Got my rig from Bob before they hit back order so have been working it hard with a few projects over the past 2 weeks. No disappointments whatsoever. I am sure you will be happy with it.

 

[Motown]

Thanks guys. High class problems I guess. Mojo, interesting points about adding the laser, angle finder.....the most expensive add on for me with my Bosch has been a Forrest Chopmaster blade ($140 ish, from what I remember) which even gets me closer. I'll make sure I post back with some observations once I've had a chance to use the Kapex on a few different tasks/projects.

 

[Craftsman71]

I did the same thing about 2 weeks ago.  Except I have not had the heart to sell the Bosch so I decided to keep them both.  I am in the process of making a 10' Miter Station with sysports storage for the Kapex and keep my Bosch for my future house flipping business. I love the Kapex so far and am not upset that I purchased it but I do want to upgrade the dust collection on it.  I don't see it picking up 91% of the dust.  I have it hooked up to my CT 36 and tested both saws for the same results.   

 

[Motown]

Thanks for sharing Craftsman71. Your feedback brings up a few interesting questions: Have you noticed a big difference from going to a 12" saw to a 10" saw? The dust collection was one of the main reasons I purchased the Kapex...I am curious, which hose are you currently using?

I am thinking about building a miter station/storage cabinets as well, please post some photo's as I'd love to see what you come up with.

 

[alevan]

I am in the same boat.  Have a Bosch 4310 with a Chopmaster 90 tooth blade (best blade I ever had for trimwork) and I kept running into constant tiny inaccurate miter joints.  Checked accuracy and found that the detents were off by almost 1/2 degree on the left and 1/4 degree on the right.  Can't adjust detent.  On the bevel I could get the right to be 45 degree but never the left if I set-up the saw as per manual.  It got to a point where I was constantly checking angles with a Willey gauge or digital gauge for every cut.  Drove me crazy.  I finally ordered the Kapex on the last day of the sale after trying to justify the price.  Main consideration was the claimed Kapex accuracy, dust collection and size/weight. I know I have a lot of festool stuff but I have been patient and saved quite a bit by purchasing almost all either used or took advantage of the 40% refurb sale last fall.  Now I have to wait due to the back-orders!

 

[Craftsman71]

Thanks for sharing Craftsman71. Your feedback brings up a few interesting questions: Have you noticed a big difference from going to a 12" saw to a 10" saw? The dust collection was one of the main reasons I purchased the Kapex...I am curious, which hose are you currently using?

I am thinking about building a miter station/storage cabinets as well, please post some photo's as I'd love to see what you come up with.

The Kapex has the ability to saw almost as thick as the Bosch with the 12" blade.  So you will not see much in the way of loss going from the 12 to the 10.  As far as dust collection I used the CT 36 and a 36mm hose to connect both of the Miter Saws.  Both seem to have about the same collection when sawing sheet goods but for solid lumber the Kapex collected a lot more dust.  They are both accurate cuts and with a good blade in the Bosch they both cut smooth but the Kapex features are just so much better and so much quicker to set up that I feel it is better for serious woodworking where the Bosch is better for home repair/ remodeling jobs.  Don't get me wrong you can do great woodworking with the Bosch I just like the Kapex for it better.  I will show my miter station once I have it complete but it will be a little while due to the wife honey-do's she has me on.