Major_gloom
Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 2
Hi people, I realise there's a fairly good chance my questions will have been answered already, and usually I find any info I've needed fairly easily on here without ever having to make a post, but having ploughed my way through a few thousand posts regarding the kapex and still not being entirely sure about a couple things, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make a post and show my appreciation for the information I've gained from this site in the past. It's been very handy.
So, I've been looking at getting a new mitre saw for a while now, my current saw I use for site work and so on and is fairly ancient, but , that said , I could never bring myself to replace it because it was just so good at what it did. It's one of those little compact dewalt that are basically a rebadged Elu design. Very limited , a bit small, not what you'd call precision exactly , but that's a trade off that's well worth it for the benefits of being so compact you can grab it out the van with one hand, sling it on your shoulder and wander up 4 flights of stairs with it casually with your other hand in your pocket. And it's solid, nothing has worn , there's no slop, no wobble , no loosenes whatsoever, and has never even needed a part (tell a lie, the rubber feet have perished) . And it's remained that way despite my treatment of it getting less and less careful the older it got and the more I knew I was going to replace it imminently. But that day just never seemed to come, the thing just wouldn't die. Despite the way I chuck it in the back of the van , pile up stuff on top of it , drag it out from under bags of sand and cement, use it in the rain, leave it covered in cement dust , I've even dropped it a couple times.... and it still remains solid , cuts square and true, and is no different in performance to when I got it (second hand!) Over a decade ago.
But finally it developed a minor wobble when the blade span, a very slight side to side motion similar to when a blade is warped.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
More than likely was from a time when I decided for the benefit of saving a minute or 2 , to rip a shor5 bit of 2x4 with it. It did what you would expect and slammed the 2x4 up into the saw with a force that was quite something, I was amazed at just how hard it took it , enough force to kill you if it was your head that took the impact not the saw, ...... I kept using it that day and didn't notice anything up but I reckon that was what finally broke the seemingly unbreakable... (Yeah I know , I know,, don't do that)
So, my question is this, how tough is a kapex? I know that I'm not looking at a brand that designs their tools with the kind of abuse I described above in mind, and obviously it will be taken care of to a much higher degree than my current saw, but am I kidding myself that a kapex can cope with the reality of being lugged about in the environments I describe? Would it deal with constantly being moved about in and out of a van and used in mucky environments dumped in the back of the van dirty and yanked out and expected to work perfectly again the next day? Or am I asking too much from something that is described as a precision tool? Is it the kind of thing you would never dare put lose in the back of a van for fear of it getting a knock ? Would it cope with a damp dusty environment ?
I'm talking specifically about the ks60 as it fulfills the size and weight / compactness requirements. Which leads me to my other questions , was it only the big kapex saws that had the motor burn out issues? Or was that the ks60 also? They look like a very different saw so was hoping it was ks120 specific. And was the issues with the kapex limited to just the 110v versions?
I realise most people use festool in a workshop environment, and are probably horrified at what I've been describing
but actually , the festool stuff I have is plenty robust enough for this kind of thing. Yet with the kapex , despite being described as a portable saw designed for site and on the road etc , I wonder if I'm kidding myself.
I'll replace the part for the dewalt anyway and get it going again no doubt , I was kinda tempted by the new versions of the same saw I noticed they do, but I couldn't help thinking the new build quality won't be the same , so I'll be stuck with a saw that has the limitations of single bevel and less than ideal sliding system of an old design without the bomb proof invincibility that made the old one unbeatable for what it was.
This is the problem , I want it all , it needs to be light , compact, versatile , and tough. But , it would be nice to have all that with all the bells and whistles , double bevel , trench cut, super accurate and precision fine adjustability.... I know there's going to be a trade off somewhere , you can never have it all , the kapex ks60 appears to fulfil all that as far as I can see, with the only unknown being the durability.... I have a feeling I know the answer already but am interested in people's experiences.
So, I've been looking at getting a new mitre saw for a while now, my current saw I use for site work and so on and is fairly ancient, but , that said , I could never bring myself to replace it because it was just so good at what it did. It's one of those little compact dewalt that are basically a rebadged Elu design. Very limited , a bit small, not what you'd call precision exactly , but that's a trade off that's well worth it for the benefits of being so compact you can grab it out the van with one hand, sling it on your shoulder and wander up 4 flights of stairs with it casually with your other hand in your pocket. And it's solid, nothing has worn , there's no slop, no wobble , no loosenes whatsoever, and has never even needed a part (tell a lie, the rubber feet have perished) . And it's remained that way despite my treatment of it getting less and less careful the older it got and the more I knew I was going to replace it imminently. But that day just never seemed to come, the thing just wouldn't die. Despite the way I chuck it in the back of the van , pile up stuff on top of it , drag it out from under bags of sand and cement, use it in the rain, leave it covered in cement dust , I've even dropped it a couple times.... and it still remains solid , cuts square and true, and is no different in performance to when I got it (second hand!) Over a decade ago.
But finally it developed a minor wobble when the blade span, a very slight side to side motion similar to when a blade is warped.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
More than likely was from a time when I decided for the benefit of saving a minute or 2 , to rip a shor5 bit of 2x4 with it. It did what you would expect and slammed the 2x4 up into the saw with a force that was quite something, I was amazed at just how hard it took it , enough force to kill you if it was your head that took the impact not the saw, ...... I kept using it that day and didn't notice anything up but I reckon that was what finally broke the seemingly unbreakable... (Yeah I know , I know,, don't do that)
So, my question is this, how tough is a kapex? I know that I'm not looking at a brand that designs their tools with the kind of abuse I described above in mind, and obviously it will be taken care of to a much higher degree than my current saw, but am I kidding myself that a kapex can cope with the reality of being lugged about in the environments I describe? Would it deal with constantly being moved about in and out of a van and used in mucky environments dumped in the back of the van dirty and yanked out and expected to work perfectly again the next day? Or am I asking too much from something that is described as a precision tool? Is it the kind of thing you would never dare put lose in the back of a van for fear of it getting a knock ? Would it cope with a damp dusty environment ?
I'm talking specifically about the ks60 as it fulfills the size and weight / compactness requirements. Which leads me to my other questions , was it only the big kapex saws that had the motor burn out issues? Or was that the ks60 also? They look like a very different saw so was hoping it was ks120 specific. And was the issues with the kapex limited to just the 110v versions?
I realise most people use festool in a workshop environment, and are probably horrified at what I've been describing
but actually , the festool stuff I have is plenty robust enough for this kind of thing. Yet with the kapex , despite being described as a portable saw designed for site and on the road etc , I wonder if I'm kidding myself.I'll replace the part for the dewalt anyway and get it going again no doubt , I was kinda tempted by the new versions of the same saw I noticed they do, but I couldn't help thinking the new build quality won't be the same , so I'll be stuck with a saw that has the limitations of single bevel and less than ideal sliding system of an old design without the bomb proof invincibility that made the old one unbeatable for what it was.
This is the problem , I want it all , it needs to be light , compact, versatile , and tough. But , it would be nice to have all that with all the bells and whistles , double bevel , trench cut, super accurate and precision fine adjustability.... I know there's going to be a trade off somewhere , you can never have it all , the kapex ks60 appears to fulfil all that as far as I can see, with the only unknown being the durability.... I have a feeling I know the answer already but am interested in people's experiences.
