Kapex Accuracy + stands and accessories

[stairman]

I spent a couple hours yesterday going through tools, cleaning, organizing and then CALIBRATING.
I don't know how many of you have seen this, but I found it to be a very helpful guide 

http://www.waterfront-woods.com/festool/Kapex_KS120.pdf

By nightfall, I had to wrap it up and start dinner,  but I did manage to get my Kapex calibrated to .0018" in 11"  accuracy on the miter  (haven't adjusted the bevel  or the lasers yet,  but will get to those next)

I've been focusing greatly on the Kapex accessories and stands,  but am slightly irritated due to the fact the crown stop extensions won't work with the UG stand,  so I started looking for a solution...  DOes anyone here have BOTH Kapex stands with extension wings?

I would like to know if the MFT type right and left extensions  which connect to the Crown extensions could be used with the UG cart?
I could justify buying the complete UG stand  + the crown extensions and the MFT extensions for when I have a house ful of crown to install...

I wish the UG allowed for crown stops...  I had an opportunity to try them about a week and a half ago, and I really like the crown stops PLUS the ability to clamp from the crown extensions track.

Has anyone found any other GOOD stand/carts for the Kapex?

also,  when it comes to calibrating,  how far do YOU go with your Kapex,  and how well does it seem to hold that accuracy?

These are supposedly calibrated at the factory,  however mine was off by quite a bit (in my opinion) the 4 cut method produced a difference of  .215" in 10.5" when I first began,  also the lasers are NOT accurately indicating the cut line in any way.

Is there any reason that Festool places a decal over the adjustments which must be PUNCTURED to access?

All in all, I absolutely LOVE this saw, and once I find a good stand and finish calibrating it,  I think it will truly be as perfect as a SCMS could ever be..

I would be interested to hear from others regarding accuracy, calibration  and of course the stand/cart dilemma

 

[Frank-Jan]

About the calibration, I calibrated the mitersetting after 6 months, when I noticed it wasn't cutting square anymore. (Ironically I noticed this when I was making a square piece of ply when I wanted to calibrate the pointer of my domino fence).
I don't remember to what degree of accuracy I went with the calibration, but you can overdo it, remember to do the test from both sides of the fence, there's also a tolerance in the straightness of the fence, and at some point you'll make the accuracy of cuts from the other side worse. (this having to do with the straightness of the fence is just a guess of mine, but I did notice that if I wanted to calibrate one side any further, cuts from the other side would get worse)

I hadn't encountered any issues with the bevelsetting being out of square, and considering Rick's warning in the manual, I left it for wat it was and didn't check it further.

I have the first version of the stand, from before the mft-kapex, with the mft800. I know jmb has both stands, but hates the old one. I actually like the stand I have, especially that it can be used with the fence of my  cs70 saw and the mft3. You do need at least two extra material supports with the extensions, but those parts are not very expensive (iirc it was about 8 euro for a metal plate and you'll also need the thumbscrew and a slidingnut to attach it) If you leave the crown stops attached to the extensions you don't need to recalibrate the taperulers when you reattach them to the saw.

The only problem I see with using those extensions with the UG cart is that you can't install the struts. (They weren't a part of the stand when I got mine, but I got a pair when they became available, and modified them a bit, so I can leave the bolt to fix them to the extension attached to the extension.) without the struts the extension is only attached to the crownstop with one bolt, and if you bump the legs that bolt will act like a hinge and the fence won't be inline anymore.

 

[harry_]

I believe I read here on the FOG someplace that if you install the extensions 'reverse handed' you get the best of both worlds.

 

[honeydoman]

Yes there was a post on that. Or you can do as Gary Katz teaches. Use a 1x6. About 36". And clamp it to the stand with some Irwin clamps. Use a space block. To set the board back the nesting space. Take out the blocks and you now have a full length crown stops that covers short pieces to long ones and it works great and have been doing it this way for years

I have the kapex ug stand. Works great.

I do not waste to much time on getting the calibration to 1/100000000. Waste of time for  what I do. So far my saw has been great and I only have to adjust the lasers from time to time.