Kapex, maybe more woodworking, question:

[mjaynes]

I'm making a 30" square table, edged with 8/4 Sapele.  I have cut the miters on my Kapex.  Beautiful smooth cuts, however, when I layout the square - my joints are open.  So I did the "5-cut" test and found my saw to be at 0.085° - a little over 1mm over the run of just under than 12" (don't have the numbers in from of me).  I understand this to be within tolerance (0.16°, right?), but the sum of 8 cuts over 120" makes for gap that is way too big to accept.  So.. Not having tried to adjust the Kapex, am I going to struggle to bring it in that ~tenth of a degree?  Or is there some other (woodworking) trick to close my joints up?

I'm a hobby woodworker just getting back to it after a long hiatus. Thanks!

 

[dltflt]

Mine was spot on. Sorry to hear you are having issues.

 

[tjbnwi]

You need to adjust both the 0º detent and the 45º detents.

Check the on-line supplemental manual, I believe the procedure is in it.

Tom

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Give our service guys a call. They can provide you with information on whether that is within our specs and also assist with calibration, if needed. The number is below in my signature.

 

[Stone Message]

My Kapex arrived with a perfect setup but I gave the mitre lock a huge bash with a 5" x 5" post one day and had to make some adjustments. Without doubt you need to refer to the excellent US Supplemental Manual (well done Rick). I used it to get the process right but I found it very easy to get mine better than the stated acceptable spec. Here are some recent mitres.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

32 miter cuts. Each joint has a 8x100 Domino in it.

I did check and set the saw prior to cutting. Make sure the screw head broaches are clean and the driver is well seated, I striped one of the screw heads on my Kapex.

Tom

 

[mjaynes]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I have found the supplemental manual - that's where I learned about the 5-cut calibration test.  Per that supplemental manual, my Kapex is within the spec of ±0.16°.  I did however find an older thread (2010) that suggested that there is a way to test the 45° cuts as well, but no mention of how.  I'll try adjusting the 90° cuts per the supplemental manual, if I can't make a big improvement, I'll give the service guys a call.  Thanks, Shane.

If I tried that 32-cut piece, Tom, I'd need a 17th piece to fill the gap.

 

[tjbnwi]

You've already tested the 45º settings. If the pieces are cut to the proper length (either 4 the exact same length or 2 and 2 of the exact same length) when you placed them and the corners did not close properly, the saw is off.

I set my Kapex to 0.001" square in 10" using the 5 cut method. The 45º is now dead on also.

Tom