TimmyI recently brought my Hitachi 10? SCMS out of mothballs. I was trying to cleanse my feeble and unresisting mind from all thoughts of even investigating a Kapex. There was a clearcut reasoning to my animosity. $$$$$.
I do not find any reason to use my Hitachi other than convenience for cutting down rough lumber to size so I can then work with more convenient sized lumber of my MFT. (Which I have not actually practiced for several years) I can, after considerable trial and error, make reasonably accurate final compound cuts with the MFT and ATF 55, but there is always a lot of trial and error involved. I run into the same problem with the Hitachi with less time involved in the trial & error department. I can eventually make accurate cuts with both methods. Since time is not a money lost factor for me, I see no reason to consider thinking about the reports on the high accuracy of Kapex. Who needs to think about spending all that cash for a Kapex.
I get a very smooth and splinter free cut at any angle with my MFT/AFT combo. I think I have found my Hitachi to be even smoother cut at all angles. That may be that my Festool blade is in some need of attention and the Hitachi blade has been recently sharpened. Still no need to even consider a Kapex.
Noise? I wear ear muffs so no problems there.
Now we are getting somewhere. Who needs to even think about the Kapex? Not me.
I lifted the Hitachi out of its resting place. I realized my back was NOT in the best of shape that day. I think the SCMS is slightly heavier than the Kapex, but lifting is still do-able for these tired old bones. I can live with it for a few more years (Hey, I?m only 39, remember?) I can live with the Hitachi. I don?t even need to think about a Kapex.
Once set in place on my MFT, I found I had to move the MFT out into shop space. Floor space is definitely not in abundance in my shop. I had to remove the SCMS to another flat space (requiring the moving of piles of tools and small pieces of wood that collect on every horizontal surface. THEN I was able to move the SCMS so I could move my MFT support so the whole thing became workable. THEN, I moved the Hitachi back onto the MFT. By now, I was ready to visit my chiropractor. Hey, I will force myself to NOT even think about a Kapex. The $$$$$ just make my back hurt even more. NO WAY.
I finally found a scrap of wood to make an actual cut. Wow! It was so easy. The cut was perfectly square! The saw had hardly been used since I had discovered Festool so many years ago. And the cut was perfect. AND>>> no tear out. Smooth. I see no reason for even thinking about a Kapex (except for my aching back)
A few compound miter cuts and I found I needed to make several adjustments for perfection. Certainly the cuts were doable after several adjustments/trial and error. I then went back to trying a perfectly square cut. More adjustments. Well, I run into the same problem with my old ATF 55, except, when I go back to square cut, it is always dead on. Well. Maybe, if I happen to be in the area of Woodcraft or some other place where the saw is set up, I might take a quick look. How can that hurt? I do have great resistance. Yes, I do . Oh yess, I do have resistance. Nah, I don?t want to look at a Kapex. NO WAY.
As I was making all of those cuts with both setups (ATF and SCMS) I noticed there seemed to be a little more dust (heavier particles were seen flying around, but my CT 33 seemed to be collecting the fine dust from both machines as far as I could see) from the SCMS, but not a terrible thing. I DON?T NEED A KAPEX!
I finally quit playing and put the SCMS back into its hiding place and crawled back to my MFT/ATF area to clean up. Maybe 5 seconds with the CT hose and all was fine there. Next was the MFT where I had the SCMS set up. There is a tool shelf behind. It only took me about five minutes to clean the shelf (without removing any of the tools. I could move them another day when my back was not hurting so.) I then took a look behind the MFT. Horrors! That is a mess. I moved the MFT out into already crowded space and got out the brush and dust pan for initial cleanup (all of my shovels are out in the barn with my landscaping tools). Then I attacked with the DC hose. Within 10 or 15 minutes, all was back to nearly normal and I took a walk around the block to try to put my back into some semblance of working order.
WHEN DOES JULY ARRIVE? WHO WOULD LIKE TO BUY A SLIGHTLY USED HITACHI 8-1/2? SCMS. I KNOW WHERE YOU CAN FIND ONE. I would even deliver personally anywhere in Connecticut/Western Mass area.
Tinker
PS: That part about all of the dust was strictly a figment of my imagination. Yeah, Riiiggghhhhhtttt.
, I think most people want to see the dust collection, how about a video of the Kapex making a cut with the focus on the dust collection.
I'm really starting to appreciate the apparent precision of the saw...I guess I should expect nothing less from a festool.
