Please bear with me as this may be a bit lengthy. Page 56 of the 2011/2012 catalogue lists the Kapex as having "the cutting capacity of a 12" unit". That and the dust collection were the things that got me interested in the Kapex. After checking several 12" units specs. I believe that is an inaccurate statement. So I was disappointed and put off purchasing one.
As a finishing carpenter in new construction I need an accurate and reliable saw. With a sinus condition I also need to reduce the dust factor as much as possible. What bothered me most about the Kapex is the cutting capacity. On the vertical special depth it is still only 4 3/4 inches. A lot of the baseboard and header (pediment) material that I install is in excess of 5 inches. That means that any of that material would have to be cut on the bevel which with alot of mitre saws is not a fast or sometimes accurate process. In my search I found that the new Dewalt 780 double slider ( i have the old 718 slider and it's dust collection is non existent), had an advertised dust collection of 75% and a vertical capacity of 6 3/4 against the fence. I looked at other sliders as well and rejected them for various reasons. The Dewalt 780 exceeds the Kapex on vertical capacity by almost two inches and on the horizontal by the same amount. I therefore think that Festool is not advertising the product correctly.
I purchased the Dewalt on a 90 DAY MONEY BACK guarantee and put it to work last week. After four hours of cutting 4 1/2 inch baseboard and hooked up to my Midi this is what the saw looked like.
[attachimg=#]
Now remember this is MDF and not solid stock. Considering the material and past experiences I was impressed with the dust collection that the Dewalt had. The saw had the capacity and the dust collection was far greater then I expected. The saw however is large and heavy ( 56 lbs). So the saving grace for the Kapex was Festools 30 DAY MONEY BACK guarantee. Being on a mission I therefore went out and purchased the Kapex. I put it to work this week and after one hour of cutting pediment material this is what the saw looked like.
[attachimg=#]
You can see the material still on the saw that I was cutting returns out of. The debris and dust on the saw was similar to the Dewalt. The Kapex does not have the capacity and the cuts all had to be made on the bevel. The debris on the saw is not that much different from the debris on the dewalt, and the Kapex is more than twice the money. The debris on the floor was slightly different One saw is going back to the dealer!! Care to guess which one?
There is something that the pictures do not show. That was the one thing that made the decision for me. For both tests?? I was wearing a black t shirt. With one saw there was still dust that had collected on the front of my shirt and with the other saw there was almost nothing. The Dewalt went back to the store!! There was a noticeable difference in the airborne dust that came from the Dewalt. Some of the dust was visible in the rotation of the blade and came from the near side of the blade to dump on the mitre gauge. I could also see the dust missing the shroud and going into the air. With the Kapex there was no visible dust coming from the near side of the blade. I also notice that fine dust that was missing the Kapex shroud was also swirling back in the air and being sucked into the shroud. I found this interesting as the same midi and hose were hooked up to each saw for the comparison. Even though the pictures show the similar debris on the saws, there is a difference in the type of debris left behind. Because the Kapex does not have the vertical capacity the cuts had to be made on the bevel (which I found extremely easy with the Kapex), and the start of the cut (chop) motion causes the MDF to miss the shroud at the beginning of the cut. With the slide action that is some what reduced. I tried both saws on solid stock at home and found the results very comparable, although that test was very brief. The bottomline is the Kapex did out perform the Dewalt in the fine airborne dust. It does not however have the 12" capacity and Festool needs to change their advertising.
Edit to add.
The time usage on the dewalt was longer then on the Kapex before the pictures were taken. The thickness of the material cut on the Kapex however was greater. All of those variables make a difference. The big difference was in the airborn dust that migrated from the saw area. It was almost non existant with the Kapex and/or was confined mainly to the saw surface. Even though the pictures seem to indicate alot of dust with the Kapex, it was on the SAW and not on me or the air.
As a finishing carpenter in new construction I need an accurate and reliable saw. With a sinus condition I also need to reduce the dust factor as much as possible. What bothered me most about the Kapex is the cutting capacity. On the vertical special depth it is still only 4 3/4 inches. A lot of the baseboard and header (pediment) material that I install is in excess of 5 inches. That means that any of that material would have to be cut on the bevel which with alot of mitre saws is not a fast or sometimes accurate process. In my search I found that the new Dewalt 780 double slider ( i have the old 718 slider and it's dust collection is non existent), had an advertised dust collection of 75% and a vertical capacity of 6 3/4 against the fence. I looked at other sliders as well and rejected them for various reasons. The Dewalt 780 exceeds the Kapex on vertical capacity by almost two inches and on the horizontal by the same amount. I therefore think that Festool is not advertising the product correctly.
I purchased the Dewalt on a 90 DAY MONEY BACK guarantee and put it to work last week. After four hours of cutting 4 1/2 inch baseboard and hooked up to my Midi this is what the saw looked like.
[attachimg=#]
Now remember this is MDF and not solid stock. Considering the material and past experiences I was impressed with the dust collection that the Dewalt had. The saw had the capacity and the dust collection was far greater then I expected. The saw however is large and heavy ( 56 lbs). So the saving grace for the Kapex was Festools 30 DAY MONEY BACK guarantee. Being on a mission I therefore went out and purchased the Kapex. I put it to work this week and after one hour of cutting pediment material this is what the saw looked like.
[attachimg=#]
You can see the material still on the saw that I was cutting returns out of. The debris and dust on the saw was similar to the Dewalt. The Kapex does not have the capacity and the cuts all had to be made on the bevel. The debris on the saw is not that much different from the debris on the dewalt, and the Kapex is more than twice the money. The debris on the floor was slightly different One saw is going back to the dealer!! Care to guess which one?
There is something that the pictures do not show. That was the one thing that made the decision for me. For both tests?? I was wearing a black t shirt. With one saw there was still dust that had collected on the front of my shirt and with the other saw there was almost nothing. The Dewalt went back to the store!! There was a noticeable difference in the airborne dust that came from the Dewalt. Some of the dust was visible in the rotation of the blade and came from the near side of the blade to dump on the mitre gauge. I could also see the dust missing the shroud and going into the air. With the Kapex there was no visible dust coming from the near side of the blade. I also notice that fine dust that was missing the Kapex shroud was also swirling back in the air and being sucked into the shroud. I found this interesting as the same midi and hose were hooked up to each saw for the comparison. Even though the pictures show the similar debris on the saws, there is a difference in the type of debris left behind. Because the Kapex does not have the vertical capacity the cuts had to be made on the bevel (which I found extremely easy with the Kapex), and the start of the cut (chop) motion causes the MDF to miss the shroud at the beginning of the cut. With the slide action that is some what reduced. I tried both saws on solid stock at home and found the results very comparable, although that test was very brief. The bottomline is the Kapex did out perform the Dewalt in the fine airborne dust. It does not however have the 12" capacity and Festool needs to change their advertising.
Edit to add.
The time usage on the dewalt was longer then on the Kapex before the pictures were taken. The thickness of the material cut on the Kapex however was greater. All of those variables make a difference. The big difference was in the airborn dust that migrated from the saw area. It was almost non existant with the Kapex and/or was confined mainly to the saw surface. Even though the pictures seem to indicate alot of dust with the Kapex, it was on the SAW and not on me or the air.
