Kapex Issues Resolved??? (or are current saws still having issues?)

ogrebelle

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
10
Hi all,
I have been waiting to purchase the Kapex until the air has cleared and the "bad" saws have either been Festool repaired, sold and field repaired, or destroyed.  I thought I had waited long enough and just bought a Kapex last week from a local dealer.  I brought it home and played with the miter right out of the box to see if I was clear...a little stiff but smooth emough.  Still grinning.  The next day with the saw sitting in the same place on the living room floor I played with it again and immediately (on the second swing) noticed the dreaded grinding.  Really it was far worse than I thought it might be from reading about it.  At times almost to the point of fusing.    It is mostly from 90 all the way to the far left stop, however, it has occurred to some degree all the way accross the miter range (interesting that it is by far worse on the left side of the guage).  In looking underneath the saw at the spring plate/miter guage junction there are obvious metal filings and markings on the guage.  Also, separately, on the left bevel between about 35 and the end of 47 the bevel action is not overly smooth and feels as though something is rubbing (but not specifically grinding...yet).  BTW, I live in northern Utah where humidity is generally quite low and the high temps for the past week have ranged from the low 70's to the low 80's.  I have turned the saw on but have not cut anything yet as I am trying to decide what I want to do with it.  I still have three weeks for return.  I am just a hobbyist/weekender (i.e. - hack) but love woodworking and working with high quality tools.

Any thoughts?  I was sincerely hoping that the problems had already flushed through the system.  Needless to say I am disappointed and am not sure that I want to deal with the field-fixes or even a "fixed" unit from the factory.  Is there a range of serial numbers that are affected?  If so, where do the "good" serial numbers start?  Could I have received an "old stock' saw?  When is Festool going to fix the problem in earnest?  Will there be a Kapex v.2 and, if so, when?  Should I trust the "fixes"?

I own 6 other Festool tools and various accessories and am quite pleased with all of them.  I so want to love the Kapex and feel comfortable keeping it, but...

Now that Festool owns FOG I hope to hear from them as well.  I have not contacted them yet, however, as I was hoping for some input from you gurus first.
Thanks for llistening and indulging me,
Doug
 
Give Festool a call.  It is possible that your unit wasn't checked by your dealer prior to you getting it and it has the dreaded scraping problem.  Talk to them about your other concerns.  I am sure that they can help you out.

Peter
 
I'm surprised that there could still be any left in the pipeline with problems. The same thing happened to me about a year ago, and it was rare even back then.

I simply called my dealer, Festool overnighted me the upgrade kit, it took a few minutes to install, and it has been perfect ever since.

Not to worry, call your dealer.  :)
 
Doug,

I had one of the early saws with the problem.  Made the repair with the new spring plate (took about 5 min, as John said) and I use the saw daily with no signs of trouble.  Give Festool a call, they will fix you up.

Dan
 
So, it sounds like the "fixed" saws are still working well longterm (longterm being relative here).  Is this generally the case with the rest of you guys?
Doug
 
ogrebelle said:
So, it sounds like the "fixed" saws are still working well longterm (longterm being relative here).  Is this generally the case with the rest of you guys?
Doug

Yeah, this seems to be the case. My saw got the new spring plate and its working well. I'd strongly recommend you call Festool and discuss the issue with them. I really do believe you'll be happy with the fix.
 
I have never had any problems with my Kapex that weren't of my own making (I destroyed the lower dusthood by using a stop that was too high and it pushed it into the blade.  Festool sent me new parts and it is now fixed).  It remains one of the most accurate and dependable machines in my shop.  My saw is two years old, so perhaps I was just lucky. 
 
Mine has been completely trouble free, so far.  I didn't purchase mine until several months after the initial release, and the dealer checked to ensure that it had the new plate before shipment.
 
This problem was resolved over a year ago and you should call Festool for a replacement spring plate. The spring plate replacement is very straight forward and takes minutes.

Dan Clermont
 
I spoke with Festool and also my local vendor today.  I will be taking the new and unused, yet scraping, saw back to the vendor tomorrow and swapping it for a new one that they just received from Festool yesterday.  I'll let them deal with the spring plate and the left-bevel rubbing.  Wish me luck.  I hope all is well straight out of the box.  I'll let you know.
Doug
 
I've been getting a few useful PM's (some on both sides of the fence) from you guys.  Thanks for your input and keep your thoughts coming.
Doug
 
This is the second time I've had to type this as the first one errored out in posting.  Frustrating!  Anyway, here we go.

I went to my dealer Wednesday to trade my Kapex for another one (Kapex #2) that they just received from Festool the day before.  Good timing.  On opening the new Kapex and looking at how it was packed it became clear that I was not the first to open Kapex #1 (although it appeared to be unused).  It was not packaged like the new saw which was clearly a factory job.  Not that this is the source of my issues but when plopping down $1,300 for a new saw I want to be the first one to open it.  Maybe it's just me but I don't think this is too much to ask.

My initial observations out of the box were that the miter functioned smoothly accross the range.  There were no grinding, rubbing or other bad sounds, just silky smooth.  In looking at the miter guage there appears to be ample room both above and below the guage.  I have not actually measured it yet but it appears as though there is approximately .7-.8 mm between it and the spring plate.  Also the bevel functions smoothly with no rubbing at all.  One other note as it has been discussed on the board a bit.  I used my engineer's square to measure the fence to base deck for squareness.  I measured in three points on both the left and right fence and also took measurements with each fence slid to different positions accross their ranges.  Each point came out dead square I'm happy to report.  So far everything looks, acts, and sounds like a Festool should.

Eager to use the saw I spent a good part of yesterday using it on miscelleneous projects.  I cut crown, picture frames, door casing, and 75 pieces (using the "chop" feature) for a craft project for my wife and 24 other women.  The saw cut great and was smooth in every respect.  So far I am quite pleased with its performance.  The lasers came adjusted well enough but I will be fine tuning them a bit closer to the cut line on both sides.  Also, I have not yet made the "test cuts" suggested by the Kapex supplemental manual to test for squareness of cut on the miter and bevel but suspect it to be dead-on based on the assemblies of yesterday's cuttings.  I will, however, do this sometime over the weekend just to verify.

One note on Festool's customer service that I've heard so much about...it is a double edged sword.  First of all my dealer exchanged the saw for Kapex #2, no questions asked, which is good.  Also, Shane Holland sent me a PM right after I poted my initial message about my issues which was nice.  He gave me the name and number for their service manager at Festool's service department and told me to call him and that he would discuss with me the options for getting this taken care of.  So far so good.  I called this gentleman and all he did was offer to send out a new spring plate.  He seemed quite "bored" with the issue and gave vitually no creedence to my other questions or concerns and simply pawned me off to my dealer at that point.  I guess this is fine but not only did I NOT get the extra mile, I didn't even get the last half of the first mile.  I don't know, maybe I interupted him in a game of Guitar Hero or something and he was miffed.  At any rate I was completely underwhelmed by my experience with Festool Customer Service.  It almost made me not even try a saw #2 but luckily my dealer stepped-up.  Ultimately I would rate the service I received as an honest D+ (with the exception of Shane's quick initial response). 

Hopefully this was the last time I will ever need to use them.  I have never had any issues of any kind with any of my other Festool's.  But to the point of this post, so far so goods on this saw.  I have a little over 2 weeks left in my 30 days so hopefully all goes well.

One more thing while I am at it.  Before I bought the first saw I called Festool to see if they could offer me a package deal on the Kapex and an MFT/3 (not the Kapex version).  I figured they could work up a deal for me as I did not want the Kapex version of the MFT.  They said they could not offer me a package deal other than the "standard" ones.  That was a bit disappointing as I don't think it was an unreasonable request.  It would have helped ease the pain of all this.
Doug
 
I went to my dealer Wednesday to trade my Kapex for another one (Kapex #2) that they just received from Festool the day before.  Good timing.  On opening the new Kapex and looking at how it was packed it became clear that I was not the first to open Kapex #1 (although it appeared to be unused).  It was not packaged like the new saw which was clearly a factory job.  Not that this is the source of my issues but when plopping down $1,300 for a new saw I want to be the first one to open it.  Maybe it's just me but I don't think this is too much to ask.

One more thing while I am at it.  Before I bought the first saw I called Festool to see if they could offer me a package deal on the Kapex and an MFT/3 (not the Kapex version).  I figured they could work up a deal for me as I did not want the Kapex version of the MFT.  They said they could not offer me a package deal other than the "standard" ones.  That was a bit disappointing as I don't think it was an unreasonable request.  It would have helped ease the pain of all this.
Doug
[/quote]

  Dave,

Glad the new saw is all that you hope it is, but possibly the reason why Kapex #1 looked packaged differently than Kapex #2, is that many dealers, myself included  (or even Festool?) would take the saw out of the box to check spring plate tolerances.
With all due respect,  regarding expecting Festool to offer you a "package" price on items other than those available to all customers , is quite an unreasonable request, or perhaps a reasonable request with a reasonable reply.

Bob
 
With all due respect,  regarding expecting Festool to offer you a "package" price on items other than those available to all customers , is quite an unreasonable request, or perhaps a reasonable request with a reasonable reply.

Bill,
My name is Doug (not Dave) but I assume you are addressing me.  The Festool of 3 to 5 years ago did this very thing for me on two separate occasions when I didn't need a "standard" package so I don't know how my inquiry would be considered unreasonable this time.  Your reasonable request/reasonable reply scenario is more palatable to me.  Obviously times are changing though.  Back then most of my Festool purchases were direct from them before they ceased direct orders.  I understand why they ceased but I did find it to be an easier and more convenient process, for me anyway.  BTW, I never suggested that I "expected" them to offer me the package, I know better than that, I simply hoped they would.
Doug
 
ogrebelle said:
With all due respect,  regarding expecting Festool to offer you a "package" price on items other than those available to all customers , is quite an unreasonable request, or perhaps a reasonable request with a reasonable reply.

Bill,
My name is Doug (not Dave) but I assume you are addressing me.  The Festool of 3 to 5 years ago did this very thing for me on two separate occasions when I didn't need a "standard" package so I don't know how my inquiry would be considered unreasonable this time.  Your reasonable request/reasonable reply scenario is more palatable to me.  Obviously times are changing though.  Back then most of my Festool purchases were direct from them before they ceased direct orders.  I understand why they ceased but I did find it to be an easier and more convenient process, for me anyway.  BTW, I never suggested that I "expected" them to offer me the package, I know better than that, I simply hoped they would.
Doug

Sorry Doug for the wrong name, but I see you returned the favor ;). Anyhow, so with what you've said about your getting deals from Festool directly, then I will stick with "my reasonable request, reasonable answer". 

Bob
 
Bob,
I hope the name was accepted with the same friendly grin I had when I wrote it.
Doug
 
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