Kapex miter table hard to turn or Scraping?

[MiterMaster]

I thinks me be going that route seein's how I can smell chit from a mile away. None of what has been offered for a fix is working,  and the corporation says what they are fixing is the problem

Tony, the new spring plate fix has worked for some people and they are sending out new saws for those that the fix didn't work, so they do have a fix. Seems one problem is people that are getting replacement saws are getting them from dealers with "old" stock and are having the same problem.

The replacement saw I got direct from Festool (Indiana location), my replacement is dated 05/08 and it has these same issues.  They did overnight me a replacement spring plate which I hope to install today.  Once I get the new plate on I'll post on if it corrected the problem or not.

Mike

 

[MiterMaster]

.....All the saws were checked for this issue before shipping. It seems to becoming more and more clear this problem doesn't surface until the heat and/or humidity comes into play.....

Hate to put a spin on this thought, but my Kapex has been housed in our basement since I got it, it has not been out on any jobsite.   It's pretty cool down there, say low/mid 70's, not much humidity and it still has grinding / scrapping issues.  Again, Festool did send me a new spring plate, I hope to install today so I'll post once I get it on.

Mike

 

[MiterMaster]

Do they send out the product before they get your return or do they wait to receive the defective unit?

It may be different between dealers how they handle replacements?  My dealer was great about this issue (here's a plug for Bob Marino)!  He arranged for Festool to ship me a replacement Kapex, and this happened before I returned the initial one. 

I received my replacement in 2 days, I'm returning the 1st one tomorrow.  I did not have to wait to send back the 1st saw, they sent my replacement right away, Festool (& my dealer too) do take care of you, don't worry about it!

Mike

 

[Mr Jones]

I just checked my UK early model, must have been one of the first 5 or 6 my dealer had. so I guess Jun/July last year, little use this year and a bit of travel. Mine does have the rubbing mark on the mitre scale, and sounds a little scratchy when moving it, but never tight been tight or seized. I must have made fewer than a 500 cuts other than 90 degree with this saw, I had felt from the start that the turning was a bit 'non festool', but the kapex has been harder to love than the kit I have.

It has never been really hot. sadly.

 

[hamsey]

John from Festool came by and replaced my spring plate. It is now silky smooth. Hopefully, it stays like that. Time will tell.

I am pleased the way Festool has handled this. When I contacted John about a replacement saw he told me I was better off with the repair because there was no guarantee that the new saw did not have the problem. That made sense and I am glad I went for the repair.

Norm

 

[Brad Evans]

>>>  ...  he told me I was better off with the repair because there was no guarantee that the new saw did not have the problem.

Precisely why I'm not considering the saw until this customer beta testing program is concluded and the design is corrected!

 

[hamsey]

Used it for a couple of hours last night, swinging the miter from 45? to 45? with no scraping. Checked again in the morning so far so good.

Norm

 

[mantonuc]

I replaced my Spring Plate on Thursday.  It has been great ever since and I used it a ton this weekend and yesterday...  That definately fixed my problem...

Matt

 

[womackdesign]

Received my spring plate from Festool yesterday. Replaced it this morning, took 5 minutes and it runs super smooth around the mitre gage. Thanks Bob for sorting out the problem for me. Dewalt 708 relegated to cutting rough stock and dust collection.
Chad

 

[fpsnyder]

Received my spring plate today, installed it and no more scraping! Works like a charm. The new spring plate appears to be thinner and the lever doesn't seem to over ride the indent when raised all the way up.

On a side note, I used my Kapex over the weekend to install some Cherry crown with a bunch of one inch returns...the accuracy of the dual lasers and clean cuts produced perfect results. I even made a zero clearance continuous crown jig for the Kapex (copied from JLC thread) which worked great. However, as with any powered miter saw, I was not so lucky mitering the smaller dentil moldings to wrap around the returns. These cuts were hit and miss as to whether or not the blade caught the material and blew it apart. So I will finish cutting these smaller decorative moldings with a hand saw and miter box...they're just too flimsy.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Received my spring plate today, installed it and no more scraping! Works like a charm. The new spring plate appears to be thinner and the lever doesn't seem to over ride the indent when raised all the way up.

On a side note, I used my Kapex over the weekend to install some Cherry crown with a bunch of one inch returns...the accuracy of the dual lasers and clean cuts produced perfect results. I even made a zero clearance continuous crown jig for the Kapex (copied from JLC thread) which worked great. However, as with any powered miter saw, I was not so lucky mitering the smaller dentil moldings to wrap around the returns. These cuts were hit and miss as to whether or not the blade caught the material and blew it apart. So I will finish cutting these smaller decorative moldings with a hand saw and miter box...they're just too flimsy.

Try a deep back up fence (that holds the stick a few inches forward of the real fence) and use the saw in chop mode so the stick is supported on the side opposite the tooth direction.

 

[Steveo48]

>>>   ...  he told me I was better off with the repair because there was no guarantee that the new saw did not have the problem.

.....until this customer beta testing program is concluded .....

What a great way to describe it! 

I'm pretty suprised that so many of the saws have this issue.  I'm really suprised that so many posters rave about the customer service... holy cacca boys, a $1,300.00 miter saw should be ready to roll out of the box. I'd stuff the fix, send the saw back and wait until it was done right.

Steve

 

[ccmviking]

Ok so I finally got to extensively use my replacement Kapex yesterday.  Made probably between 200-300 cuts and many of them mitered.  I hadn't experienced any problems up until about 3:30 PM.  The plate hadn't been grinding one bit, and then just completely locked up.  When I say completely it's not like you couldn't move it but it was very, very hard and ground the miter scale really bad.  I hadn't even left if unattended.  I made a cut at a left 45 and then measured and marked my work piece for a right 45.  I went to swing the table around and it wouldn't.  For some reason I was shocked!  Well to the trailer I went as I was at least not so stupid that I hadn't brought the plates and torx driver with me that Festool had sent me for my first saw.  One plate is marked 2.9 and the other 3.0.  decisions, decisions...  So I quickly stuck the 3.0 plate on there and continued working with no real issues until 9 PM last night.  It does seem to scrape more on the top side at the detents than it did with the stock plate.  This is what happened with my first saw.  Once I changed the plate it worked for hours and then started having problems at the top.  It won't get heavy use like yesterday for a few more days as I'm doing a kitchen tear out today but if and when I do it better not start acting up.  I'm seriously at the point where one more issue is going to send it packing (Sadly) and I'll be back to using the 716.  I've lost too many hours work dealing with this, and my time is too precious to me.   

Btw... I measured the stock plate, the 3.0, and the 2.9 and the plate thickness of all of them is 3.02mm.  The difference appears to be in the depth of the detents stamped into the plate.  I can't get a good measurement of those with my caliper.

Chris.... 

 

[Julian Tracy]

Yea, it certainly does seem as though Kapex 1.0 isn't ready for prime time just yet. 

Aside from the green juice blinders that come about with any new Festool product launch - WHY didn't we hear about this from our neighbors across the pond that have had the saw for a few months now.  Surely they use their saws at different miter settings like we do here.  Curious, huh?

I was pretty close to talking myself into the purchase.  Seems to mirror the iPhone 1.0 - thye finally got it right with the 2.0 version.

Julian

 

[Julian Tracy]

They should give every owner of the kapex that has had problems a new saw blade to compensate for the pain in the butt.

JT

 

[Michael Kellough]

This Kapex is the 1.1 or maybe 1.2 release. I don't know if there where any issues with the initial release in the rest of the world.

Rick said the spring plate was changed immediately prior to the NA release but did not say what prompted the change. He did say there was concern that the lock might not be strong enough but why? Was some other part changed? A thinner miter scale?

The thing that worries me is that the miter table is stiff even with the spring plate removed. Why? Is there a problem with the pivot post? Bearing tight or not square to the turret bearing surfaces? That would be a big problem.

 

[Talisker2]

Greetings all, apparently temperature is not a factor (about 55 degrees in my garage), my saw which I bought on the 10th of this month and only used it 3 times testing the angle froze up last night while I was showing it to a friend.

Called Festool and they are shipping a new plate as well as a suggestion to lap the end of it to obtain 2mm or .010 off or put it in a vice a whack it (not very accurate but thats what he said anyway).

I think after work today I will pull it and lap it.  He went on to say that even the new plate may require some adjustment.  My last three on the serial is 395.  Not sure where they started making factory changes.

To say I am disappointed in Festool is an understatement.  To lay out this kind of money and have to monkey around with a field fix is pretty poor marketing/engineering on their part.  

Jim in Anchorage AK.

 

[Julian Tracy]

Called Festool and they are shipping a new plate as well as a suggestion to lap the end of it to obtain 2mm or .010 off or put it in a vice a whack it (not very accurate but thats what he said anyway).

Oh my - better remove this post...  If folks hear about Festool suggesting that Kapex owners whack the saw parts to get them correct... they might need to lower the price a tad bit imo.

FS: killer miter saw, fancy colors, fancy features - New - needs work $1300 - must have hammer for adjustment.

Julian

 

[Sweet]

Yea, it certainly does seem as though Kapex 1.0 isn't ready for prime time just yet. 

Aside from the green juice blinders that come about with any new Festool product launch - WHY didn't we hear about this from our neighbours across the pond that have had the saw for a few months now.  Surely they use their saws at different mitre settings like we do here.  Curious, huh?

I was pretty close to talking myself into the purchase.  Seems to mirror the iPhone 1.0 - they finally got it right with the 2.0 version.

Julian

I can't give a definitive answer to this one.

I have had my Kapex for a maximum of two months and we've just finished the second fix/trim work on the job that we are on now. I have had four of us using the saw. Some days it's been in almost constant use and I certainly haven't encountered any problems.

It was a simple transition from DW708 and Makita's to using the festool. We've cut mitre's,  compound angles, half laps, trench's with it.

However, from picture's that you guy's across the pond have posted, there do seem to be at least some superficial differences. I wonder if there are other modifications that Festool has HAD to make in order to meet your Health and Safety (or equivalent to our PUWER regulations).

Without going into too much detail, Brice's saw seems to have some kind arm/cover by the fixing bolt for the blade that my saw defiantly doesn't have. An example of our different regulations?

On site in the UK we have to run 110 volt systems and tools, which are deemed safer. Domestic voltage here  is 240 volt. I am led to believe that  on the European continental sites they are allowed to use 240 volt tools on circuit breakers. Normally contractors in the UK have to pay extra (!!!) for 110 volt tools too....

It goes on.
??? ???

 

[honeydoman]

This Kapex is the 1.1 or maybe 1.2 release. I don't know if there where any issues with the initial release in the rest of the world.

Rick said the spring plate was changed immediately prior to the NA release but did not say what prompted the change. He did say there was concern that the lock might not be strong enough but why? Was some other part changed? A thinner miter scale?

The thing that worries me is that the miter table is stiff even with the spring plate removed. Why? Is there a problem with the pivot post? Bearing tight or not square to the turret bearing surfaces? That would be a big problem.

michael,

the  saw sits on top of a bed of greese and there are no bearrings under the turntable.  my friend took has apart and discovered this.  what happens as sawdust gets under the turntable?  he told me all the other miter saws sit on bearings to turn back and forth.  or if it is cold outside and the greese hardens up?  unsure.