Got rid of dewalt shadow chop saw for kapex

[kev carpenter]

Hi got a few festool stup (ts 55, domino,planer,t15) bought my dewalt shadow saw a couple of months ago was a good big saw but f***@g heavy and dust extracting was stupidly bad so went back to were i had got it (the saw centre glasgow scotland) went to see if they would part exchange it for a kapex and the lovely manager gave me a full refund for the dewalt and just pay the balance on the kapex ;D and i only went up to get ma ts 55 blades sharpend . RESULT [smile]

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Hi got a few festool stup (ts 55, domino,planer,t15) bought my dewalt shadow saw a couple of months ago was a good big saw but f***@g heavy and dust extracting was stupidly bad so went back to were i had got it (the saw centre glasgow scotland) went to see if they would part exchange it for a kapex and the lovely manager gave me a full refund for the dewalt and just pay the balance on the kapex ;D and i only went up to get ma ts 55 blades sharpend . RESULT [smile]

Well done! What a nice dealer! TSC are on my list of Scottish dealers to visit - what is their Festool in-store display like? Do they have lots of Festool stuff?

Forrest

 

[kev carpenter]

Hi forrest the saw center is the best I've seen in Scotland for wood workers and joiners and the staff are really good and the first time a manager knows what hes talking about and they do the tool show in the secc (for DEWALT  [mad]) .

and i got that deal from one of part ime staff phoning the manager and waking him up out his bed on a Saturday morning [eek] and because i spent that much money on a regular basis thats why he gave me that deal, thats what i call a service

Any wayback to there festool range pretty good they have a wall and floor section dedicated to festool about 8 meters long on show ,they have the sander 2 types of jigsaws ,kapex with wings,
2 types planers all vacs and the rolling cabinets and a good amount of accessories

bad points they don't have the mft/3 only the original mft 800 and they don't have the big router only the 2 small ones withe handles but they have allot of good big wood working if you have a workshop and also have full range dewalt stuff and makita and trend but i cant see buy the green gold (festool) ;D

 

[Peter Hamilton-Scott]

Nice result. It looks like you've got a good dealer there and that's my experience here in the south-east as well. I'm happy to wear non-Festool caps. I've got a nice Dewalt compound mitre saw that's given me very good service these past two years. I've also got a Dewalt 744 table saw that is less used perhaps than any other tool I have but it still gives crisp clean cuts. To be honest, I'm going to phase out my other tools for Festool and the next wave will focus on sanders. What I've got now is ok but there are better tools to be had!

I like the Kapex. I saw it at a dealers open day week before last. Oozes quality. But what else would you expect?

 

[kev carpenter]

Hi im on the same boat got all the tools i need but phasing out non festool tools mostly down to some tools not having good enough dust extraction , next tools on the cards are a new vac but not decided what one yet and router even though i have have good ones just now and both are only about a year old but need a dust free zone when working in peoples houses and i use alot of MDF [scared] .

Festool is about buying a in an kind of mobile work station but i thought the dewalt would be good and looks the biz but not practical in the end up far to heavy and dust extraction is terrable , and i avoided using it at all cost so it was costing me money and time an extra ?500 is well worth it in ma book , a happy joiner makes more money than one with abad back from lifting a 12 inch dewalt saw ;D

 

[Peter Hamilton-Scott]

Agreed! Dewalt makes heavy pups for sure. I've hurt myself more than once hauling my 744 through the house. Now I can do most things with the TS55. I've never had a dust extractor so what's a bucket load of MDF dust to us real men! [eek]

For a while I kept my mitre saw in the loft. Getting the bugger up the ladder was actually easier than getting it back down again. I thought gravity would actually help but there are times when it gets in the way.

 

[kev carpenter]

I have got to give it to dewalt for sit for rough joinery like a framer and alot of people using it dewalt does best and will last forever but they have no chance when it comes to woodworking or finishing and i think they no that thats why they concentrat on builders not craftsmen

and i gave my old dewalt of 6 years (second hand aswell) to my dad (bricky come builder) it when i orderd my kapex ;D.

 

[woodguy7]

Kev

Like you i am phasing out my other tool brands for festool, nearly there but been a huge investment.  I only do finishing work & bench joinery, stairs doors etc & the festool system is a fantastic step up in quality & dust extraction.  I have recently bought the new cleantex  & can throughly recommend it.  Next week will be the jigsaw & hopefully the week after the 1010.  Don't know what to do with all my makita stuff, don't like selling tools.
Everything i buy is from Highland Industrial Supplies in Inverness & the service is superb.  I get quite a lot of free stuff but like you, i think it is because i spend so much.
A good long term investment me thinks.

Woodguy.

 

[kev carpenter]

Hi wood guy im the same most of mi festool tools i have bought all within 4 weeks as i set up a new wee 1man joiner business after having up to 6 guys working for a couple of year roughing houses (drywalling)

and i set this business up in the hight of the credit cruch with joiners doing things for half the price so the only thing i could do is do things faster without getting any staff so thats were the ts-55 came in i have used nearly every day since i have owned it and paid for itself within a couple of weeks and every time i go to the saw center (glasgow) to get my blades sharpend i end up buying another festool [eek].

a month ago i went to get ma blades sharpend i was loking for a new drill for doing doors and kitchens but i wanted something that could cope with a big auger bit (25mm) for doing the doors and like everybody else no way can a 15v gun do that ,so the manger said go and get your auger bit and ill charge the guns up the other was the new 18v nano dewalt so i wated for about 15 min and tested it on a pallet in the shop and the nano did not impress me and that we dinky t 15 kept on going so that was me down another ?500 (i always say ?500 because i dont look at recipt just give him ma card and run )[crying]

 

[woodguy7]

Kev, we could be twins  [laughing]  Your story is almost the same as mine.  Used to be a makita man until one day a new rep came into my workshop & said have you seen this festool stuff in action.  Well i bought my first festool that day, ts55 & that was that, haven't stopped since.  I have the c12 but i WILL have the t15.  Prob have to wait a few weeks though with the jigsaw next week & the 1010 the week after I'm starting to push it a bit.  I think it could be an addiction  [eek]

Woodguy.

 

[kev carpenter]

it is an addiction and I'm a junkie [scared]

i want the festool barell type jigsaw so i can work underneath for doing skirting but haven't even broke in mi dewale jigsaw as i only use it sinks and hobs cut outs and i use the ts-55 for that now and the jigsaw the corners but if a relay need  ill find a way of justifying it [eek]

but i have wanted a vac mini or midi for a wyle but cant seem to figer out what one is best for me using mdf allot and the midi or mini not relay suitable coz i want roll into customers homes with all the tools staked up and rolling all in one with the ts rails on ma back (in the bag another ?35 quid)  even thow people think they look like festool comes out of argos ???

 

[woodguy7]

I tend to buy first, then try to think of a reason to justify it afterwards  [embarassed]  I got the bag & 1 spare blade free when i bought the ts55 & a week later he gave me a free 800mm rail. I have since bought the 3m rail & love it.  Argos, thats a good one. I really like the cleantex ctl26 but it is bigger than i thought it would be.  When i bought my hl850 planer, the rep gave me a free moulding head & promised me another when he can find it in his garage  [big grin]

Really happy with the service i get from them (& the freebees)

Cheers, Woodguy

 

[kev carpenter]

got the ehl 65 planer bought it when a got the ts 55 just bought because it says festool so it must be ok and used it and wow 99%dust free when on vac [big grin] down side is u cant unplug it at the unit but not realy a issue now

i get some small stuff free but a get good prices usualy about ?80 or ?100 of most stuff about ?500 ;D but the kapex deal was the iceing on the cake but he know when a go to pick it up ill end up spending about a grand  [eek] hes not daft he knows me to well [big grin] just dont tell the misses

 

[kev carpenter]

Goy my kapex today  ;D and treated myself to a midi  [big grin] took a few pics of the saw center aswell

 

[Brice Burrell]

Goy my kapex today  ;D and treated myself to a midi  [big grin] took a few pics of the saw center aswell

I think you're really going to like your new saw setup Kev. I'd recommend the larger D36 hose for use with the Kapex, it greatly improves the dust collection over the smaller D27 hose.

 

[kev carpenter]

Thanks Brice i am just as exited about the vac ;D as i am about the kapex being able to walk in with all ma tools in 1 go save heap of time as i do alot of small jobs with my company

I have thought about the bigger hose but does it fit well on top of the vac

My next purches is a small router for a hinge jig using ?25 pound one from B&Q (diy store) and does the job fine but not got dust extraction and wasent that impressed with the 1010 but the 1400 was up my street apart from the weight good for 1/2 shank but heavy for hinges.

I might do a few reviews from a carpenters point of view from working from a van and in occupied houses

 

[danrush]

Hey Kev, 

I will echo Brice's advice and suggest upgrading to the 36 hose for the Kapex.  It REALLY does make a big difference in dust collection. I used an off brand hose, cut it short for dedicated use on the chop saw, and never looked back. 

I have both the 22 and mini, and don't see any difference in dust collection between the vacs, but do see an improvement in the larger hose size.

Dan

 

[Brice Burrell]

Kev, that's a down side of the D36 hose, it doesn't fit in the built-in hose garage. Here in the States we have a number of other brand hoses that will fit the Festool vacs, as Dan said it can save some money that way. Another advantage for the larger hose is it also works better with cleaning the jobsite up. You could pick up a D36 hose in one of the cleaning kits, I did a review of the Festool Installers/treadsperson cleaning kit, it comes with the D36 AS hose. Over on the talkFestool forum Seth Semenza did a nice review of the Festool compact cleaning set, its a kit without a hose.

 

[kev carpenter]

Thanks Dan and Brice its probably a good idea because with my old vac i have been leaving peoples houses in not best condition and not including the dust in the air that takes days to settel i want to achive 98% dust free [eek] and i want to get a y connection for running the ts-55 and router for doing doors but my main goal is to make sure its only 1 or 2 trips to the van as i do alot of single doors per house mostly to drum up business and works realy well but setup time is what kills me [mad]

 

[woodguy7]

I took Brice's advise & ordered the tradesman cleaning set.  Not received it yet, should get it this weekend.  One thing with the new cleantex.  I ordered an extra socket module & "y" connector.  The extra socket does not turn on the vac when the tool is switched on !  After checking on this they say that the first (main) socket has to be in use for the the second one to activate the vac !!!  Totally not what i wanted but there is a cheat.  Don't buy an extra socket module, just get a 2 plug adaptor & plug it into the main socket.  Works just fine.

Woodguy