Kapex & Dewalt Stand

[score0matic]

Yep, that is true. I'm only in this for my hobby. I have very limited space why the whole festool line of products really appeals to me, since I have to setup and breakdown for each project. I'm working on getting a shed for the garden stuff so I can use the garage a bit more permanent. Don't think I'll get a dedicated wood shop anytime soon so the ability to pack it up is necessary. It is a royal pain, but it works.
Michael

Michael

The issues you just enumerated are those of the professional carpenters here as well.  many of their solutions and methods directly apply to everyone else who does not have, or have much, dedicated shop space.
Craig

 

[score0matic]

Julian,
But please, we are NOT snobs.  We're fans and connoisseurs.   ;D

Peter

Peter
Speak for your self ......I am a total Tool SNOB...... [big grin]  right down to my $29.99 Homedepot shopvac

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Yep, that is true. I'm only in this for my hobby. I have very limited space why the whole festool line of products really appeals to me, since I have to setup and breakdown for each project. I'm working on getting a shed for the garden stuff so I can use the garage a bit more permanent. Don't think I'll get a dedicated wood shop anytime soon so the ability to pack it up is necessary. It is a royal pain, but it works.
Michael

Michael

The issues you just enumerated are those of the professional carpenters here as well.   many of their solutions and methods directly apply to everyone else who does not have, or have much, dedicated shop space.
Craig

I do have the luxury of a big garage to do some stuff in but, more times than not, my shop is inside someone's house, in their back yard, garage, front side walk.

I need portability, flexability, light weight, easy set-up and break down, need to keep homes clean, and I need repeatable performance.

That is not much of a list, huh?

 

[peter halle]

Charimon,

You are a brave poster to admitting to be a snob.  Please forgive my efforts to protect your dignity.

Walk tall and carry your nose higher!    [not worthy] [not worthy] [not worthy] 

Peter

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Would you mind snapping a picture of how the rail attaches to the kapex ?

Here you are:

There are three main parts - the Kapex with the V groove at the left- and right-hand sides of the table, the Table Widener (part of the Crown Moulding Stop assembly), and the Extension Fence (part of the Table Extension assembly). The Table Widener clamps onto the V groove of the Kapex by using a large knob under the Table Widener. The Extension Fence has a T slot on the bottom which slides over the rectangular nut on the Table Windener. This nut is tightned by using a small knob underneath.

The following photo shows all three components seperated:

In this photo, the Extension Fence has been attached to the Table Widener, and that assembly is being offered up to the Kapex:

Here is an underneath view of the Table Widener and Extension Fence assembly:

Side view of the above, showing how the V groove is being utilised:

Hope the above answers your question

Forrest

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Tomorrow I'll take photos of the far end of the fence, showing the tape measure and how the fence is actually made up of three parts to allow it to extend to full length (about 2.4 metres).

As promised, here is a photo of the far end of the Extension Fence.

It can be seen that the fence is made up of three components:

A - This is the main fence, and is 110cm long
B - This is another fence that slides inside A. When extended, the total length of A and B is 215cm. Tightening the left-hand black knob will lock B at any position
C - This is an extrusion that moves freely along B. It can be clamped using the knob on the back. Its purpose is to act as a "ferry", to transport the tall moulding support and stop flag when B is extended.

The following photo shows the back of A, B and C.

Forrest

 

[EcoFurniture]

Thank you for the pics! I finally get an idea how that whole set up works!

On a side note:
How come that such a high priced item (that soo many people are considering buying) is not being pushed by festool USA? I mean come on, how often did people ask for pictures/videos? There is virtually no information on those extensions available...

Thanks again Forrest for your efforts! I hope Festool will honor your work.

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[peter halle]

Andreas,

I don't know if you remember, but the fence system wasn't even available here when the Kapex was first introduced.  It came later.

Peter

 

[mwildt]

Hi Forest,

Thanks for the detailed pictures. That really helps understand how it all fits together. It is also clear how folks have said it is easy to get out off alignment if the far end of the rail is bumped. This is due to the single pivot point on the crown molding bracket.

I looked at the 8020.net profiles they might be used, but only if the spacing to the to bolt is the same. Hard to tell from these pictures. Making your own sawhelper bracket is not worth it since you can bolt on some alu rail on the bottom of the crown molding bracket.

A merge between the dewalt setup and the sawhelper/festool rail would be ideal. One could change the dewalt 'wood' spacer such that one could mount a 8020 rail so it becomes an extension of the fence on the kapex. That way you would get full fence support. A full underside support like the sawhelper could also be done if the kapex, on the dewalt setup is raised just enough to put a piece of ply on top of the supports on each side. That would then provide both fence and bottom support in a collapsible package.

Michael

 

[Dan Clark]

Chris,

Very nice!  I like the tight shape with no excess table hanging around.  I was thinking of a building a table that didn't use the crown stops, but couldn't figure out how to get mounting blocks close enough to the saw bed and still have space for your hands when you drop it in there.    I guess crown stops are the best approach.

Some questions:

What is the thickness of the table?  It looks like 5/4. 

Why solid wood instead of ply?  I have lots of extra 3/4 ply laying about and was thinking of using that.

It looks like the top of wing attachment block is coplanar with the saw bed/crown stop.  Is this correct?  Do you foresee wood expansion being an issue?

How is the table top mounted to the stand?

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[Dan Clark]

Chris,

Thanks.  It looks like I'll be getting some nice poplar right quick.

Regarding the table top, mine is used and had a custom table top that the original owner used, so I don't know how the original top was attached.  I built a custom SawHelper table top for my Makita LS1016 (which I subsequently returned and bought the Kapex).  Here's a thread describing the process: http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49400&highlight=ls1016.  Post #3 contains pics of the underside of the table top showing how I connected mine to the stand.

One more thing...  If you were going to do it over, what would you change?

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[Dan Clark]

Chris,

Thanks.  Great info.  Looks like I'm buyin Poplar tomorrow.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Gaucho Woodworking]

Great stuff. I went ahead and bought this DeWalt stand. Last night I set up my Kapex on the 3/4" pieces and found out that the stand does not line  up with the supports. It looks like the Kapex is about 3-1/2" forward than the supports  for your pieces.
Any thoughts on how to bring them both on the same plane?

 

[Frank-Jan]

I had the same problem with my makita ls1013, I ended up drilling extra holes into the base of the saw, but I wouldn't do that to my kapex. I got the dewalt stand 1.5 years after I saw it on the dewalt site and knew I wanted it, because it wasn't available here yet; but now dewalt also sells wider brackets, they might fix the allignment issue, or you can mount the saw on a board or some strips first, like Chris Rosenberger did in the startpost, but then you have to modify the supports aswell.

(I haven't used my kapex with the dewalt stand, I mainly like the dewalt stand for ease of setup on uneven ground, but I use the kapex mostly for interior work, and I prefer the festool stand for that)

 

[Kevin Stricker]

I'm reviving a dead thread to show the modifications I have done to my DW 723 stand. 

I just bought the stand this week, and still have to finalize the attachment of the rail to the stand.  I had an extra 1400 rail sitting around, and bought $50 worth of extrusion from Rockler.  They have a sale on L brackets ($0.99/pair) which I used to attach the extrusion to the rail and the t-slot in my crown extension. 

Super ghetto compared to Forrest's setup with the Kapex extensions ( want pics!), but the price was right.  Now I need to modify the production stop and add a tape. 

Anyone else have some tricked out mods to show off?

 

[justinmcf]

hi kevin, is that an fs 1400 guide rail you are using as an extension table?
do you mind if i ask why?
that seems like a waste of a good guide rail and money.......

they cost over AU$200 down here.

regards, justin.

 

[danrush]

hi kevin, is that an fs 1400 guide rail you are using as an extension table?
do you mind if i ask why?

Justin, I can't speak for Kevin, but I always try to find multiple uses for my equipment, especially in the field.  I rarely use the guide rails and Kapex at the same time, so I'm going to bounce off kevin's idea and work on something along the same lines.

thanks Kevin,    Dan

 

[kev carpenter]

I have used the dewalt stand with my kapex since day 1, works fine

 

[Kevin Stricker]

hi kevin, is that an fs 1400 guide rail you are using as an extension table?
do you mind if i ask why?
that seems like a waste of a good guide rail and money.......

they cost over AU$200 down here.

regards, justin.

I bought a bunch of Festools from a widow whose husband had only used for a few months before passing away.   Included was two additional rails which I did not need, but I was getting a good deal on the rest of the tools.  So now I have three 1400's and two 1040(?)'s and the 1400 rail was sitting around collecting dust, and I found a better use for it.  

If you have any ideas for a continuous work support as strong and light as the rail I would love to hear about them.  Then I could sell some of the rails and buy some other goodies.

 When you compare it to a Sawhelper, which is not even available anymore it is still pretty cheap.  

 

[justinmcf]

i dont like tools sitting around gathering dust either, so i guess i would have done the same thing, considering it was a freebe.
regards, justin.