Kapex Price Poll - How much would you spend?

[Dan Clark]

In the other Kapex poll, a large number of people said that they would buy a Kapex - by implication, regardless of price.  Another large percentage said "Maybe, if the price point was right".   So what's the "right" price point for you.   What is your tolerance level?   At what price point would you say, "Yep, I WILL buy that puppy!"

Inquiring minds want to know.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Mirko]

Much less than 800$ you guys are dreaming!! It can't be cheaper than the best CMS on the market in the US. My Dewalt was that much and its a piece of crap compared to the Festool saw! I hate the thing, it blows dust everywere, its a pain to change blades, did not come with laser... I could go on and on...
That low ball price shouldn't even be in the poll.
My 2 cents

Mirko

 

[Dan Clark]

Mirko,

Come on... Tell us how you really feel!    ;D

Personally, I think it will go for between $1,000 and $1,200.  And I'll buy in in that price range.  I'm just curious what other people are willing to spend.  My Bosch cost over $500.  It's a decent saw, but I don't think it's worth that price.  If the Festool Kapex has decent dust collection and standard Festool quality, it's easily worth $1,000 to $1,200. 

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Mirko]

I agree completly with you, I just kinda lost it because since that saw was released my 800$$ Dewalt has been looking pretty shaddy to me.
I fear that a North American, expectation of a comparable price to any saw already here, will never get it here. Not to mention its an insult to festool to expect to sell it for that low a price.
Just for the record i chose 1200$ and bottom line is that saw will make me money.

Mirko

 

[ejantny]

I'd go 900 to 1000 and give my son or son in law the Dewalt 708. No need for two but a good excuse to get the Kapex

 

[clarkdp44]

I spent about $500. for my Hitachi C10FSH, perhaps two years ago.  The saw has been very good, with my Fein vac the dust hasn't  been much of a problem.  HOWEVER, the fence has an attachment that I never use for fear of cutting into it if I forget to remove it when cutting extreme angles; the hold-down clamp design is so bad that I rarely use it, instead find other ways to hold things down; and adjusting the bevel is so much more difficult than I imagine the Kapex will be from the pix.  I'm saving my spare change starting yesterday, but I think $700 to $800 sounds like a very fair price, and that's sight unseen. 

Rethinking, although I'm not sure when I'd be able to justify the purchasefor myself, the $1200. price does sound reasonable.

 

[EdL]

Price is not extremely important, if I get what I want, I'll spend what it takes.
Good dust collection, fences that are flat and accurate, accurate cuts and repeatability. Thats all I want.

If a product doesn't deliver what it should for the money, then I have a problem.
So far Festool hasn't let me down on my expectations of their products.

Ed

 

[Ted Miller]

When it comes to power miter boxes I go with sliding double bevel 12". My Dewalt DW708 is a great machine, works hard, blade changing is a piece of cake and with an Iriwn laser it cuts fine. Never seen a miter box with good DC. I made a shell behind my SCMS to catch all the dust plus a hose to the guard adapter just like on my RAS.

I would guess the Kapex about $1800.00-1900.00 or so and I would love to see how it performs...

 

[ryansmythe]

if it works as well as all other festool products do in the long run it will be worth more than $1300 so i am pretty sure i will get one regardless of the price. i have a dewalt 718 and it does a decent job but i want something that does a great job.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

My Dewalt was that much and its a piece of crap compared to the Festool saw! I hate the thing, it blows dust everywere, its a pain to change blades, did not come with laser... I could go on and on..

So Mirko, I was thinking of buying the DeWalt saw.  Just wondering if you could give it to me straight whether you like it or not.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I'd go as high as $1000, so I will probably never own one, as I thing they will be way more than that.

 

[brandon.nickel]

Matthew,

I too have the DeWalt 708.  I love it.  With a Forrest Chopmaster blade on it, it cuts like a dream.  Finish-quality cuts every time.  Fairly easy to adjust.  Dust collection is terrible compared to Festool, but the CT33 hose fits (barely) into the built-in port and does collect some dust.  I was surprised it did anything at all.

Having said that, you can no longer buy this saw.  The replacement is the DeWalt 718 which is a much different saw.  They've moved the handle from the top to the side of the blade.  If you hold it like I do with your thumb on the left (instead of underneath), the 718 will pinch the hell out of your thumb as the blade guard goes up and your hand goes down.  Very unpleasant.  Also, the table is smaller and the guide rods and bearings are smaller.  I think it actually has a slightly taller moulding capacity, but for all of the above reasons I don't like the new one.  I was on the fence about justifying buying the 708 until the 718 came out and I took a look at it.  I bought my 708 from Amazon when they were on clearance about a year ago and I wouldn't trade you for the new one.  I'm not sure if you can still find 708s around.

I also bought the DeWalt stand for it for $189.  Very nice, but overpriced, especially since you really need to buy two more of the sliding supports if you're going to work with long stock.  Total is ~$240.

Only downside is that I haven't found a laser that fits it.  As soon as I send this I'm going on a hunt to find that Irwin laser that Ted mentioned.

 

[Lou Miller]

I'm one of the ones that isn't willing to pay a lot for the Festool. Reason is I have two SCMSs. One is a Makita LS1214 that cost me $452 delivered to my door, and I got a $200 18V drill to go with it. Other than dust collection, it will do everything the Kapex will do and then some. It has a larger cutting capacity and the accuracy of the saw is the best I've ever owned and I've owned a ton of miter saws throughout my life.

Bosch, Makita, and Hitachi are all excellent saws (sorry Dewalt fans, I think their saws absolutely suck, at least all the ones I owned did) that will cut just as well as any other saw. All three can be found on sale fairly frequently too. You can get anyone of them for under $500 (sometimes well under) if you're patient. I love Festool products as much as all of you do. However, I'm not willing to pay double the cost for something that has less capacity and really only distinguishes itself by better dust collection, IMO. I'd like to get one of those Lincoln pickups trucks for work too, but I make out just fine driving my GMC that cost about half as much...

That's just me though and I'm not knocking anyone that is willing to buy the Kapex. More power to ya.

 

[Mirko]

My Dewalt was that much and its a piece of crap compared to the Festool saw! I hate the thing, it blows dust everywere, its a pain to change blades, did not come with laser... I could go on and on..

So Mirko, I was thinking of buying the DeWalt saw.  Just wondering if you could give it to me straight whether you like it or not.

Matthew,

My saw is the DW718 I believe its the only saw that cuts 6" base standing up, thats the reason I got it. Now, if you need a big radial arm type saw go ahead and get it. You can zap through 2x12's all day with the thing, but thats not my intention.
What I found out later was there is no attention to detail on this saw, The front handle pinches your fingers when you release the set stop. The fence slides back and forth but it will not close up at the blade, so when you cut small pieces you must use a block behind it. I like a saw that I can use right out of the box without having to build a wooden fence on it, but thats the only way this saw is useable. The saw doesn't come with anything extra, like length stops, and out rigger supports, but they give you one hold down, and this thing is so sloppy at the hole that it swivles in, that you run out of thread befor it has a chance to bind up.
One upside I have found is if you take the fences off, you can use your Festool clamps in the dove tail slot the fences slide in, by the way thats the only quik way to put a clamp anywhere on this saw.
When you build and install a fence on the saw you not only decrease the cutting hight but you must cut right through it to insure the blade is cutting at the back, I hate that! now the fence you just made starts to sag and read out of plumb!
The dust shoot, what a joke! it has this flap of cloth or rubber to catch the dust, but its too small, nothing goes in it!! The ID of the dust port pinches of for some reason so its like 1" x 1/2"  its a @#$! crevasse tool!   It should be an inlet made out of a one gallon milk jug, now that will collect some dust!
Just go look at any Makita saw and you will see what atention to detail is, I flat out made a mistake buying this saw, and should have got a Makita or a Bosch.
What sold me on the DW718 was the free stand and the wide, and high cutting capacity, take those three features away, and your left with a boat anchor!
My first attempt at taking the blade off, was so fustrating I could have taken it back to Home Depot right there and then, but I took a break and tryed again later.The saw ships with the blade installed by reason: The average Joe will not ware out the blade during the 90 day exchange period , Home Depot raves about :-[

Anyway there are many more frustrations I have with this saw, but I will leave you with these to think about.

Mirko

 

[pteubel]

I have a Ridgid 12" (non-sliding) and a Dewalt 716. Both serve me well. As others have noted, the dust collection on the Dewalt is a lost cause. But it really works well on my Ridgid. It's got a full 2 1/2" connection and with the vac running (central vac system using a standard Shopvac, not CT) most of the dust gets collected. I was using the Ridgid for outdoor construction work and the Dewalt for in-shop use, but have since swapped...basically because of the better dust collection.

Will I buy a Kapex? I dunno. We'll see when it finally gets to these shores.

 

[ccmviking]

If we'll pay $350 for a jigsaw I'm sure we'd spend $1000+ for a SCMS.  My Dewalt cost $400 plus $60 for the laser (single laser mind you), $135 for a 12" Chopmaster Blade.  That's $595 to get something that's actually ok but no where close to being a precision machine.  If for another $400 or so I could get the dual laser, dust collection, crown stops, micro adjustment, variable speed, lighter and stronger magnesium casting I feel it would be a pretty good deal.  Not cheap by any means but a good deal...  But I have $19,000 in my home entertainment center so who am I to talk.

Chris...

 

[Per Swenson]

I, Like Lou, am a Makita miter saw man.

I have the 10 and the 12.

Have a Bosch too. And a Milwaukee 10 scms.

But I am one of the ones who could care less what the Kapex costs.

If it collects dust the way Festools do........

Well, I will have some ecstatic customers.

And folks, to them, all the skill in the world pales in comparison

to a daily spotless job site.

Per

 

[stvrowe]

I couldn't vote because there wasn't a choice called "I don't know".  Honestly, other than knowing it is a miter saw, I know nothing about it.  My rationale for not looking is, it is not available here yet so why bother?  When it becomes available I will look.  In the meantime, there isn't much point to lusting over an item that is currently made from the exotic material called "unobtainium".
Steve

 

[Lou Miller]

I couldn't vote because there wasn't a choice called "I don't know".  Honestly, other than knowing it is a miter saw, I know nothing about it.  My rationale for not looking is, it is not available here yet so why bother?  When it becomes available I will look.  In the meantime, there isn't much point to lusting over an item that is currently made from the exotic material called "unobtainium".
Steve

Now why did you go and introduce logic into this? What fun is that?  ;D

 

[Dan Clark]

I couldn't vote because there wasn't a choice called "I don't know".  Honestly, other than knowing it is a miter saw, I know nothing about it.  My rationale for not looking is, it is not available here yet so why bother?  When it becomes available I will look.  In the meantime, there isn't much point to lusting over an item that is currently made from the exotic material called "unobtainium".
Steve

There ya go...  Bein' negative and all!    ;D

Dan.