DeWalt's Sliding Compound Miter Saw versus Festool's

[Hipplewm]

I have the DW780 and I use the shop nation dust collection upgrade - NIGHT and DAY difference - can't compare to the festool because I do not own one, nor have I used it, but the DW out of the box dust colelction is terrible, but there are solutions that make it not only palatable, but down right nice.

 

[ReneS]

That is almost physically impossible - it is a shadow of the blade - on mine if the lens gets dust on it one side may be brighter than the other giving the illusion of it being off, but it isn't - it is literally the shadow of the

I was going to disagree, but instead I ran a few tests.

For the first time in several years it is dead on. I'm guessing that when I recently adjusted the plumbness of the blade I fixed the issue. The blade was out of plumb by a little prior to me dialing it in.

 

[Cheese]

1. The Kapex 120's bevel dial control is the best in class, the bevel function is essential to cut long miters
2. The KS 60 doesn't have the quick-release hold-down clamp, which, again, is the best in class. The quick-release hold-down is so good that I got a second one for the other side of the fence.
3. Lastly, for precision work, neither the shadow lines nor the dual laser lines would satisfy me.

1. I certainly can't argue with any of these points.
2. The KS 60 could be a really useful, compact, handy, lightweight saw that I would consider for using in the garage, but it needs to be upgraded to the competency level of the KS 120. The small details in life do make a difference and there is room for substantial improvement here.
3. For precision cutting, I lower the blade on the Kapex and advance the stock until it touches the Kapex blade. I then put some additional pressure on the stock and it in-turn puts additional pressure on the saw blade. I then clamp down the piece of stock I'm cutting in the Kapex, lift the blade and make the cut. The cut width will usually be within .001"-.003" depending upon the amount of side pressure I apply. After some use, you can get a feel as to how much material will be removed from the board.

 

[ChuckS]

@Cheese

You described the precision technique -- the one I also use at times -- so well!

 

[Ace8]

Definitely not.

A) The Kapex 120's bevel dial control is the best in class (the bevel function is essential to cut long miters), B) The KS 60 doesn't have the quick-release hold-down clamp, which, again, is the best in class. The quick-release hold-down is so good that I got a second one for the other side of the fence.

Some say the dust collection in the Kapex 120 is better; I have never used the Kapex 60 and can't confirm if that's the case.

Lastly, for precision work, neither the shadow lines nor the dual laser lines would satisfy me.

I agree that the dust collection on the 120 is better then the 60 after having used them both. About the clamp, yes the 120 is very good, but a FS-HZ 160 works very well on the 60 too.

 

[ReneS]

Just to clarify, I had squared the blade to the base (plumbed it) multiple times over several years with a very accurate square, so I assumed it was dead on.

It was only recently when I was having trouble with 45s for a cabinet base that I plumbed it by looking at the actual cut. That is when I noticed that it wasn't perfectly plumb.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

For me, the brand of the saw is not as important as that 12" blade. A blade of that diameter, with such minimal thickness, is just not stable. DeWalt is ok, I had a DW717 for many years, only recently replacing it because of space constraints. Even being a 10" saw, the rails sticking out the back take a lot of space (depth)
As mentioned, the dust collection is not good, but adequate if contained in an enclosure. For whatever reason, it was discontinued several years ago.
I traded it for the Dewalt jobsite table saw in my home shop.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Just to clarify, I had squared the blade to the base (plumbed it) multiple times over several years with a very accurate square, so I assumed it was dead on.

It was only recently when I was having trouble with 45s for a cabinet base that I plumbed it by looking at the actual cut. That is when I noticed that it wasn't perfectly plumb.

That’s the key.

 

[MikeGE]

While I love my 60 and its shadow line, the bevel adjustment mechanism on the 120 is much much better. So if you do a lot of (fine) bevel work that could be a big consideration.

I take your point, but I have never used the bevel adjustment other than checking the settings, and it is great. However, I would use the shadow line for every cut that didn't use the stop block in my miter saw workstation.

 

[cpw]

I picked the Dewalt slider because it would cut 5 1/2" baseboard vertically. In retrospect that may have been a bad decision, because the Kapex could do it flat and has really good bevel adjustment compared to other saws.

If you like the Festool hold down, you can get it to work on one side of the blade w/ the Dewalt. I also upgraded mine with a shop nation dust boot.

The biggest thing I don't like about the Dewalt saw is that is very heavy getting it into and out of my truck bed when I'm working away from home.

 

[ChuckS]

I picked the Dewalt slider because it would cut 5 1/2" baseboard vertically. In retrospect that may have been a bad decision, because the Kapex could do it flat and has really good bevel adjustment compared to other saws.

I called it a long miter in my previous post as in a box construction, they are the miters rather than bevels. In fact, the bevel control is so good that even for some miter cuts (on thinner boards), I lay the boards flat down on the bed instead of up veritically against the fence as it can be easier to clamp that way with the hold-down.

To check the bevel accuracy of the Kapex, use an inclinometer.

 

[whooped]

I have a DeWalt DWS780 sliding compound miter saw. When I bought it, I think it was their top offering.

I have generally been happy with it, especially since I dialed it in a little further recently and started clamping the pieces that I am mitering. But it sometimes feels like it is a tiny bit off. Not much at all, just a tiny bit that sometimes causes the tiniest of hairline cracks or deviations in part of a joint, like where a rail joins a stile or in the 45 angles on a base for a freestanding cabinet. I have a very good blade on the saw and treat it with care and respect. I also have the EZ Wings extensions that I have dialed in very nicely, giving me around 6 feet of level support to the left of the blade and 2 feet to the right of the blade. All of this sits on very stable base cabinets.

I know it could be user error, changes in temperature in my poorly insulated shop (that I only heat when I am working out there or have glue ups setting up), or something similar. But maybe not.

So I was hoping that a few of you have experience with both the DeWalt DWS780 and the Kapex 120 and might be able to tell me whether the Kapex 120 is more accurate and reliable than the DeWalt.

Full disclosure, part of me is hoping the answer is yes so I can set my sights on getting a Kapex, and part of me is hoping the answer is no. I pretty much have everything I need and have few excuses for buying more tools, and if a can of soup ends up costing $50 USD in the not-too-distant future, well I'd be better off saving the money.

My experience owning both is that the Dewalt has some blade deflection when requiring highly accurate cuts for joints, especially mitered joints. I use the Dewalt for breaking down materials and other less demanding cuts, but the Kapex is my go-to for any work that requires accuracy and repeatability. I've gone down the rabbit hole of replacing many of my tools with festool; as with the Kapex... better accuracy, repeatability, and productivity. My friends tell me I need to find a Festool twelve-step program to manage my tool purchases.