Fixed the broken dust collection port on my Kapex

[ear3]

A while back the dust collection port broke on my Kapex, where the tabs that capture the screw that tightens/loosens the swivel on the port snapped off:

[attachimg=1]  [attachimg=2]

Not sure what the engineering justification for this design feature is, but the tabs are not separate pieces -- rather, they are parts of the entire molded plastic cover, meaning that a restoration to factory condition would involved buying a whole new left and right side cover (I think called the pistol stock in Ekat).

So I've made due for almost year by minimizing the pressure applied by the hose on the port, usually by carefully suspending the hose above the machine -- the wings at the bottom of the port that slide under the saw cover, along with tightening the screw that runs through the tabs, keeps the port in place as long as there is limited strain from the hose.

Inside the shop I would only occasionally have to deal with the port coming loose, but every time I worked with the saw outside the confines of my shop it became a huge nuisance.

So last week I finally got around to trying my own fix, which was to just epoxy the tabs in place:

[attachimg=3]  [attachimg=4]

So far so good after a week of use -- the port now stays in place even when the hose is attached without suspension to lessen the strain, and there's no loss in function for the screw that loosens and tightens the swiveling of the port.  Not sure why I didn't do this sooner -- it became one of those small 5 minute tasks you know you could and should do (like that damn broken light switch I still have to replace in my living room), but just keep passing up for other tasks.

Anyway, in case anyone has the same problem -- it can be fixed without buying a new cover.

 

[RKA]

And the epoxy holds on plastic? I would have assumed it wouldn’t bond well. 

 

[Jiggy Joiner]

This is another example of the downside of certain parts being made from a certain type of plastic.
I constantly hear how plastic is fine, and part of modern technology in power tool manufacture, which in many applications I’m sure is true. In some areas though, there is room for improvement.
I don’t know how the dust port got broken but, I’d imagine if it were made from light alloy, in this application it would certainly out live the life of the tool?

This isn’t aimed at Festool, I think all power tool manufacturers over use plastic to the point of excluding almost any other material.
From a design perspective, if it keeps weight down, and makes a tool more comfortable to use, even safer, I’m all for that but, it has to be durable, and a lot of it isn’t.
I have seen these sort breakages before on a lot of tools, and to be fair, it’s usually done accidentally by the owner/user. However, as Alex pointed out yesterday in another thread about a CT26, these tools are designed for professional use, and so should be able to take a bit of banging about, and knocks etc?
I have another brand expensive sander, the plastic dust port on that snapped clean off, whilst it was being used with an extraction hose, no pressure or pulling etc, it snapped clean off, I saw it happen.
Guess what, that tool now has a metal dust port.