Although I already owned Festool tools, and was/am extremely pleased with their precision, performance and accuracy. I was very much against the idea of buying a Kapex. Even so, I had a secret admiration for the saw.
I had colleagues that owned them, and often watched other trades using the Kapex, and my opinions of the saw in use were always respectful, as it’s definitely different from other saws in class.
I was, and still am very happy with my Makita mitre saws, which still get used on a regular basis. So I adopted the train of thought, that I won’t buy a Kapex simply because we didn’t need another mitre saw.
Last year, one of our Makita mitre saws met an untimely end, this was caused 100% by the lack of thought, and stupidity of the person using the saw. That person no longer works for us. [doh]
The saw was so badly damaged, I decided to strip it for parts.
So, we were definitely now in need of another mitre saw. I nearly took the easy option of another Makita but, I’d heard a new Kapex was due for release which included all new electronics etc, and the cause of failure in previous EB models had been removed.
You see the single thing that kept me from buying a Kapex years ago, were the failures that were reported.
I had spoken to many people first hand regarding their personal experiences of failures.
The stories were varied to say the least, one particular one that stands out was a chap from a flooring company, I met on a large commercial site.
He had two 110v EB’s on site, at tea break I asked him his thoughts on the saw, he was basically in love with them.
As he told me more, I became puzzled at his affection for the saw.
The company bought two saws together, after about a year, they were so impressed that they bought another pair.
So, this company owns four Kapex EB’s, and they cut nothing thicker than 20mm, often hardwood but all sorts of hard and soft wood, from 20mm flooring, down to little mouldings and finishing trims and beads.
One morning one of the saws started smoking and would no longer run [sad]
It got repaired under warranty but, a little while later, one of the other saws did the exact same thing. Again repaired under warranty.
To cut a long story short, they had two more failures, I can’t remember which saws failed, or if it was the same two but, the chap told me that two of the saws had failed three time apiece! [eek]
He did have one or two failures that happened out of warranty, although Festool were kind to him on the cost, he still had to foot the bills.
I asked him, after he’d explained if he would ever buy another Kapex, yes he said I love them to bits. I must admit I was a bit puzzled by this. He explained though, that the saws had all more than earned their keep, and even paying the out of warranty repairs, he was still very much quids in. (Quid=£1)
This chap and his staff are all experienced and certainly didn’t mistreat any of the saws that failed.
I have a good few similar stories involving EB’s in both 110v and 240v from seasoned tradesman, where their saw has randomly died, and read and heard other failure experiences.
The fist hand stories really did put me off buying the Kapex completely. I was even told that EB’s from October 2017 were fitted with new parts that removed any risk of a failure.
At the time, I took it with a pinch of salt but, recently found that this seems to be true. Quite possibly Festool’s way of guinea pig testing before releasing a new saw the REB?
So, my fear had now been cushioned a fair bit by the news of new parts fitted etc, and my secret curiosity was still there.
As luck would have it, the REB was announced, and just after it’s launch, I bought one with the UG base/cart and extension wings.
It’s had regular use now, cutting all sorts, from small profile trims, up to 12” x 2” sawn timber.
In my opinion, it really is a great saw, and I now understand why, even with the potential risk of the earlier saws taking a dive, why people still took a chance and bought them.
They are compact, light compared to other brands in class, are capable of cuts up to 120mm deep, and the accuracy and dust collection is unrivalled, it has also served me a lot of humble pie! [doh]
If one of our other saws needed replacing, I would buy another Kapex without a second thought.
Festool could have handled the failures much better (in my opinion) blaming user error, abuse etc, was rubbing lots of salt into costly wounds. They now admit they knew, or know about the cause of failures in a certain batch of saws.
Apparently, it is a batch (number unknown or stated) of saws that have the potential to start smoking.
Although a lot of reports, the actual number of failures to the number of saws sold, percentage wise is very low. Also, owners of older saws may well never have to suffer a failure (fingers crossed)
So, I would say, to anybody thinking of buying the earlier EB model, to be on the safe side, buy a 2018 model, and if it fails, question Festool on their claim regarding October 2017 models having the new components fitted.
Or buy the new REB model which also has the upgraded components, and just crack on.
Obviously the REB is way too new, to tell what the durability might be but, I like to think that Festool have now learned a lesson in treating customers like mushrooms. If there were a failure of a REB developing a smoking habit, I would expect honesty and transparency from Festool.
Luckily, there hasn’t been the number of failures reported on here, that there once was. That’s good news for the owners, and good news for the members here, that are almost certainly fed up with reading them. [wink]
