Kapex base is not level

[paul_david_thomas]

With reference to the wobble on the Kapex. Send it back. They will give you a new one. I had this. I think the saw I was sold was old stock. The one I have now is just fine.

 

[Chas]

After reading this thread, I took a closer look at my saw. It appears to be flat at 90 degrees but as it moves to the right it is out probably 1/2 mm or so. And when moved to the left, slightly less than that but noticeable. Im using it for 90 degree crosscuts a lot right now but will be doing a lot of miters soon. I hope it doesn't affect my cuts.  I also have early signs of rust on that spring plate.

My mfg date is 08 / 09 is that Agust of 09 or September of 08?

 

[Forrest Anderson]

My mfg date is 08 / 09 is that Agust of 09 or September of 08?

Where do you see that date? On my saw, the date is just the year (2007) printed on the manufacturer's label, at 90 degrees to most of the text.

Forrest

 

[Chas]

On the big label that is on the right hand side of the saw, at 90 degrees to the rest of the text, on the left hand side of the label itself, it says 08 / 09. There is no number like 2007 or anything.

 

[Holz Arbeiter]

After several months of thinking, I took the final step and bought a Kapex. I looked forward to getting this saw for several weeks. Last Friday (yesterday) it was delivered, and I enjoyed myself for several hours while I set it up and did some test cuts After a while, started to notice that some cuts were very out of angle ...

After several hours of reading the manual (the official and supplement manual) and doing some "trial and error", I remembered a thread where a guy had a similar problem with the base of his Kapex. So I took out the longest straighedge I have (the MFT/3 fence), and laid it on the bed on the saw. And guess if I was disappointed!

If the saw is set with a miter angle of 0 degrees, and I press the straighedge down against the saw on the right side, there is a gap of 2mm (0.07 inches) on the left side. If I set a miter angle of 60 degress, the gap increases to around 4mm (0.15 inches). It's so much that I can actually fit two creditcards under the straightedge!

It seems that the middle part of the saw (the one that pivots) is out of alignment.

I have uploaded a video to youtube of me placing the straightedge (sorry about the crappy quality, it's recorded with a cellphone):
30012010009.mp4

Is there anybody here who have had similar probles with their Kapex?

I realize this an old post but I've got the same problem with the Kapex I just bought, I'm going to call Festool tomorrow and see if I can get this resolved.

 

[rickets]

This is what I did to my saw.  I took the miter base off of the saw base, removed the saw head from it and took it to a machine shop to have it resurfaced.  They took off  .005 of an inch to make it perfectly parallel to the saw base.  With new SS shims, I regreased it with a graphite lube.  Then I assemble it without the head attached.  The miter base was perfectly flat with the saw base in all directions.  I also replaced the spring washer with needle bearing and two races to minimize the flex.  Its really solid now.  After attaching the saw head to the miter base, there is a little flexing and the front part of the miter base does come up a little (now it's only .004").  I have to say though, with some further investigation, I noticed that when you pull the head forward to start a cut, the miter base becomes dead flat with the saw base.  And as you go through the cut, the bases are still pretty flat.  Only when I put the head up and back the base flexes.  It was a blessing in disguise because I fine tuned my saw's angle stops.  I made an acrylic throat plate and cut the kerfs in it with my wood blade.  Mistake.  Now i gotta send it in for sharpening because I tried to cut some mahogany and almost didn't want to cut!