Kapex feature?

[azfrankp]

I been thinking about getting a Kapex to replace my radial arm saw. Can you adjust then fix the height of the blade as in order to make dados or rabbits?

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Welcome to the Fog azfrankp. Although I don't own one YET, it's my impression that you can set a lower limit for trenching as opposed to locking the height.

 

[#Tee]

yes you can, it basically turns into a radial arm saw when its in trenching mode. dados/rabbets of course would be limited to the cross cut capacity of the saw and or flip the work piece around.

 

[andyman]

yes you can, it basically turns into a radial arm saw when its in trenching mode. dados/rabbets of course would be limited to the cross cut capacity of the saw and or flip the work piece around.

I don't have 1 but I think you get a small amount of play when in dado mode same as most chopsaws for some reason

 

[Doug S]

Yes you can use the kapex for trenching but like most mitre saws it's hard to get consistent results and you need a packer between work piece and fence. Also some people complain that the maximum height when trenching is about 1 5/8" (I think) from the table to the bottom of the blade.

Doug

 

[bobdny]

Yes, you can make dados, with some limitations. For an excellent demonstration of this capability, see Dave Reinhold's "Festool Kapex Review" on YouTube.

 

[promark747]

yes you can, it basically turns into a radial arm saw when its in trenching mode. dados/rabbets of course would be limited to the cross cut capacity of the saw and or flip the work piece around.

I don't have 1 but I think you get a small amount of play when in dado mode same as most chopsaws for some reason

I wonder if that has anything to do with the "floating table/self-leveling" function Shane mentioned in response to the table flatness thread.  Hadn't heard of it before...I wonder how it is supposed to work.

 

[erock]

Check out the video.....around the 3:50 mark......



I've done it when making a couple picnic tables and other projects with great results.  You can dial in the depth very easily. 

The Kapex is a bad azz saw!!!    [wink]

Eric

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Should you need to tweak the bottom of the groove, the Veritas Router Plane is the Bee's Knee's.

 

[JBird]

Yes, you can make dados, with some limitations.

Major limitations. I was working on a quick and dirty project I thought I had all figured out in my head which required a lap joint of some 2x4s (cutting the half-lap in to the 4in height). It couldn't do it because of the narrow range of adjustment.

 

[Birdhunter]

I'm trying the limitation you experienced without success. Could you please elaborate?

 

[Doug S]

I think JBird means he needed the blade to be 2" above the bed of the saw to cut the lap joint but when in trenching mode the maximum is 1 5/8" ,if that is what you are asking Birdhunter?

Doug

 

[JBird]

I think JBird means he needed the blade to be 2" above the bed of the saw to cut the lap joint but when in trenching mode the maximum is 1 5/8" ,if that is what you are asking Birdhunter?

That's exactly what i'm talking about. I thought this was going to be my first productive use of this feature so it was quite disheartening.

[attachimg=1]
Don't try this with Kapex.

 

[JBird]

While i'm griping, another disappointment is that the Kapex with the UG extensions can't measure out to 8 feet with the built in scales/stops. It's just shy of it. Makes it very inconvenient when you want to even up a batch of 2"x4"x8's. Something purpose built for the USA would never suffer from this oversight but maybe this is what we deserve for not adopting metric.

 

[Birdhunter]

Thanks for the explanation. Never tried to do this with anything but my table saw and a dado blade.

 

[rst]

I've done overlaps stacking the material and using a router and guides for large projects (even easier now with Festool router and guide rail) and my table saw for small ones.

 

[semenza]

While i'm griping, another disappointment is that the Kapex with the UG extensions can't measure out to 8 feet with the built in scales/stops. It's just shy of it. Makes it very inconvenient when you want to even up a batch of 2"x4"x8's. Something purpose built for the USA would never suffer from this oversight but maybe this is what we deserve for not adopting metric.

Try these extened extension ideas .

Seth

 

[Michael1960]

Thanks Seth - a couple of really neat ways to get a bit more utility out of the UG stands. 

 

[SMJoinery]

I find the trenching very accurate.
A recent job making a wine rack proved it for me.
There were 2 separate frames with 54 divisions all formed with half Lapp joints.
Glued up it was strong, super accurate and square.