Have they improved the Kapex throat plate?

[Toller]

Mine has buckled; it has somehow gotten longer than the recess it fits in, so it pushes up in the middle.

I expect Festool will send me another set if I call them, but it if will just happen again, it hardly seems worthwhile.

Anyone know?

I know some of you have replaced them with shopbuilt inserts.  If you could post some info on that so I don't have to reinvent it myself, that would be helpful.

Thanks.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi there Toller! How long have you had your Kapex? I've had mine since they were released in USA, and no problems yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the heads-up, hopefully your issue is resolved to your satisfaction! 

 

[Toller]

I've probably had it 3 months.

When you unscrew the three screws that hold it in place and take it out, it is an 1/8" too big to fit back in.
I might just be able to sand a bit off either end; but it would be nice if they had good ones to send as replacements.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi again! I'd definitely call and have Fes send you a new throat plate. Have a great week!

 

[rnt80]

Toller,

I'd just make a zero clearance insert and forget the whole thing.  I made three of them a couple of weeks ago and I'll bet the whole process took no more than 30 minutes.

 

[Diver]

Mine were bulged from the get go, and I actually ran the saw without them until replacements from Festool arrived.  I have no idea why the made them out of such a flexible plastic.

The first time I used the Kapex I was doing some small 2 3/4" Cherry crown and it was pushing the wood up at the kerf, blowing my joints, since I didn't have a T15 bit with me at the time I had to put quite a bit of force right near the blade to keep the wood down to finish the job.  It really is a safety issue, and I am surprised Festool has not came up with a better solution then looking through teir spares for ones that re bent the opposite way. 

I found with my replacements that they were too long and would still bulge when tightened, so I took a rasp and knocked some material off the ends.  After that I actually took a heat gun to my originals and heated them up enough to add back bend.  I then belt sanded the ends, and they no longer bulge when installed either.

Overall they are just a poor design, they are obviously not precision and therefore add no functional support to the workpiece near the kerf,  Rather they keep shorts from getting flung into the blade well an thrown out in your face, somehow I know this from experience, see above.

Since Festool is slow to react with an acceptable replacement,  someone with a CNC router could make a killing on some reinforced delrin ZC inserts.

 

[gkeas]

Mine were bulged from the get go, and I actually ran the saw without them until replacements from Festool arrived.  I have no idea why the made them out of such a flexible plastic.

The first time I used the Kapex I was doing some small 2 3/4" Cherry crown and it was pushing the wood up at the kerf, blowing my joints, since I didn't have a T15 bit with me at the time I had to put quite a bit of force right near the blade to keep the wood down to finish the job.   It really is a safety issue, and I am surprised Festool has not came up with a better solution then looking through teir spares for ones that re bent the opposite way. 

I found with my replacements that they were too long and would still bulge when tightened, so I took a rasp and knocked some material off the ends.  After that I actually took a heat gun to my originals and heated them up enough to add back bend.  I then belt sanded the ends, and they no longer bulge when installed either.

Overall they are just a poor design, they are obviously not precision and therefore add no functional support to the workpiece near the kerf,  Rather they keep shorts from getting flung into the blade well an thrown out in your face, somehow I know this from experience, see above.

Since Festool is slow to react with an acceptable replacement,  someone with a CNC router could make a killing on some reinforced delrin ZC inserts.

I just got my Kapex from Uncle Bob yesterday, and I used it for some minor tasks today.  I did not notice until I was using my 4" machinist square to check the blade that the insert was bulging up.  The things I was doing today weren't critical, but I will address the situation shortly. 

My Kapex isn't "scraping" like some, but my lasers were off a little out of the box.  I have the right side adjusted now, but I have a little more work to do on the left.

 

[Diver]

Congrats on the new saw, the overall concept of the saw is very clever and functional.  I am having issues with Festool's implementation and design of load bearing/ locking surfaces. 

According to the person I spoke with at Festool regarding the inserts they told me it was being addressed and their would be a proper replacement provided to owners in the coming future.

 

[Dan Clermont]

My inserts are fine as well along with the spring plate. I did have to adjust the lasers on both sides of the blade.

Dan Clermont

 

[alanm]

I had mine replaced when it was in for laser surgery fixing the loose laser mounts.
My inserts were bulging in cold weather and is a known fault at Festool. They say the expansion is due to moisture. A moisture absorbing plastic, what will they think of next?

The "new" inserts look similar to and are as flimsey as the original ones. They have the opposite problem of being too low now. Not as bad as being raised unless your stock is really thin. So it is an improvement, not a complete fix.

Looks like I'll have to make my own solid and flat inserts.

As an aside, they also fixed a couple of extra items relating to the fence, but wouldn't give me details. I can't see any difference here, so maybe it was just an inspection for other known issues.