Kapex fence out of square

Qualicum

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Jun 22, 2014
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I recently sent my Kapex saw in for a repair, under warranty, with great results. While in the shop, they also replaced the "warped fence", which I never noticed, (at no cost). My first cuts after getting the saw back showed that the fence was out of square to the blade. There are four screws to loosen or remove the fence, so I worked at several tries to get it perfect square and got it close enough for the job I was doing. Still, I figure there must be some easier way to square the fence to the blade, than my "trial & error" method. What do you do? How is the fence set at the factory?
 
Hey Qualicum, I find myself in the same out of square situation. Disappointing no one had input on the issue. Did anyone reply via private message?

How did you remedy the issue?

I'm about to start loosening screws and making adjustments. Any advise would be appreciated.
 
Thanks Harvey. I've read the section on page 25 regarding adjusting the saw. I just thought someone may have a little more insight.

I am a little hesitant to make the micro adjustment by tapping on the handle and not having a way to measure the movement. It seems like it could become time consuming. I've been putting it off because I didn't want to make it worse.

But if the saw isn't cutting square what's the difference if it's off by a 0.2 degrees or 2 degrees. I guess it's time to stop procrastinating and finally take the time to set it up properly.
 
In the manual it says the factory calibration is o.5 deg. and one could actually do more harm than good trying to get closer. I don't understand why the factory spec is not acceptable ? How much is the saw off?
 
mstack said:
Thanks Harvey. I've read the section on page 25 regarding adjusting the saw. I just thought someone may have a little more insight.

I am a little hesitant to make the micro adjustment by tapping on the handle and not having a way to measure the movement. It seems like it could become time consuming. I've been putting it off because I didn't want to make it worse.

But if the saw isn't cutting square what's the difference if it's off by a 0.2 degrees or 2 degrees. I guess it's time to stop procrastinating and finally take the time to set it up properly.

Use the laser as your measurement. It will take you a total of 10 minutes to adjust it if you know exactly how far out the saw is. My saw was about 1/32" or more off out of the box and I squared it up as the manual says in a out 5-10 minutes. The main thing is to get your lasers perfectly on your cut. Than draw a square line from your registering flat side across the board with a good square like a starett or I used my woodpecker. You will visually be able to see how far off the saw is between your square pencil line and the lasers. Tap the handle until they line up and do a test cut with the 4 cut method. If it is off decide which way to correct the saw. Clamp your boad into the saw if you need to adjust more make a pencil line exactly onto the laser line move the saw in the direction it is out and watch how far ou move the laser from your line. At this point he saw should be within factory specs which I believe is something like .01".
 
Thanks Tayler_mann! That is exactly the type of tip I was hoping someone could offer. Hopefully I can find time this weekend to give it a shot.
 
Qualicum said:
I recently sent my Kapex saw in for a repair, under warranty, with great results. While in the shop, they also replaced the "warped fence", which I never noticed, (at no cost). My first cuts after getting the saw back showed that the fence was out of square to the blade. There are four screws to loosen or remove the fence, so I worked at several tries to get it perfect square and got it close enough for the job I was doing. Still, I figure there must be some easier way to square the fence to the blade, than my "trial & error" method. What do you do? How is the fence set at the factory?

The screws you mentioned are not used to set for squareness, check out the manual mentioned by Harvey in previous post.

With my old makita ls1013 those bolts that hold the fence were used to set the fence square to the blade, but once I had the saw squared up, the mitre-detents weren't acurate anymore; I like the system on the kapex better.
 
Worked like a charm Taylor_mann, thanks! Got her dialed in to about 0.009 degrees of error or approximately 0.001" over ~6-6/16".
 
I'm having the same problem and read in another thread that you need to check your 45 degree angle after correcting for 90.  A few of the fellas found that their 45 was off after calibrating for 90.  Seems like a simple fix of either moving the scale in or out depending on the error.  I haven't calibrated mine yet.

On another note is the "electronic" version of the calculator not working?  I entered my numbers to see the error and hit the "Calc Error" button and it still remains at 0.  [crying]
 
The calculator might not work in a web browser version of a pdf viewer.  If you download the file and open it in adobe reader it should work.  Better to try on a computer versus a handheld device.

If I am incorrect I will bet that [member=191]Rick Christopherson[/member] will let us know.

Peter
 
Calculator works fine with Adobe Acrobat reader on iPad.
Peter's right. Web browser viewing does not allow the calculator to work.
Simon.
 
Sorry for some confusion on my part.  The calculator does work but only if the value in the "Left" cut is greater than the value in the "
"Right" cut.  When I reverse the values it will not calculate.

There is a good video on Kapex (and some other saws) calibration with a good tip on keeping the scale aligned while calibrating the saw.http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/07/23/miter-saw-tune-up/
 
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