Kapex blade bolt sheered off

[chrismorrow]

I just went to my local Woodcraft to buy a new blade for my Kapex.  As soon as I got home, I was eager to get the new blade mounted and start cutting.  Unfortunately, when I went to unscrew the bolt to take off the blade, it wouldn't budge.  My saw is bolted to my workbench, so I was able to really torque it.  However, the bolt broke before the allen wrench did.  Now I have have a bolt stuck in the arbor and no blade on my saw.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the stuck bolt?

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi Chris,

Ouch, sorry to hear about the sheared bolt. In what direction were you turning the wrench? Remember that the bolt on the Kapex is left-hand threaded, so you'd turn clockwise to loosen, counter-clockwise to tighten.

Assuming you were turning counter-clockwise, hard enough to shear off the bolt, I'm skeptical that any sort of home-brewed method for releasing the bolt will be very useful. Since the machine is brand new, and you likely still have all of the original packaging, I'd suggest reaching out to Festool to see if you could send it in for them to repair.

 

[chrismorrow]

Thanks for the reply.  I honestly could not remember what direction the bolt was threaded.  I tried both directions and it was stuck.  The good news is I managed to get it out.  I took a punch and gave the bolt a bit of a whack to shock it.  After that, the bolt was loose and I was able to twist it out with a flathead screwdriver.  Now, I just have to find a replacement bolt.  I'll give Festool a call tomorrow to see if they can send me the part.

 

[kevinculle]

If you were able to remove the threaded portion afterwards without much difficulty it strongly indicates that you were inadvertently tightening the bolt when it sheared off.  You might want to draw an arrow with a marker pen on the outer washer to remind you of the left-handed thread.

 

[Mortiser]

If you were able to remove the threaded portion afterwards without much difficulty it strongly indicates that you were inadvertently tightening the bolt when it sheared off.  You might want to draw an arrow with a marker pen on the outer washer to remind you of the left-handed thread.

It's a good tip. I do this on all of my left-hand threaded tools... with a RED, permanent marker.