Kapex saw head issue

[Chuck Kiser]

Had some small issues with my well used Kapex that were easily solved with some cleaning and lubrication. This last issue is a little troubling and a safety issue as well. The saw head wants to stay in the down position after a cut. In most cases I have to lift it up after a cut. Since the blade cover lowers as the saw head raises this can be a problem when I'm running material quickly. Do I need to adjust something or disassemble something to get this back to normal operation?

Thanks for any advise, good OR bad, I'll listen to all of it. [wink]

 

[Alan m]

its probably either crap built up around the pivot(remove and lubricate) or spring issue. if its in warrenty i would send it in for a medical.

 

[johnnyinnb]

Its not the pivot pin, its the spring, as it coils it rubs on itself and they bind, blow the dust off it and a little lube on the spring will let the coils slide past each other

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I definitely recommend that you give the service department a buzz on Monday. They are in the best position to tell you what the cause might be. It'll cost you nothing more than a few minutes to make the call. Their number's below in my signature, M-F, 8a-5p ET.

Shane

 

[tjbnwi]

Chuck,

Get a can of GDL (garage door lube). It is designed for the redundant coil springs on overhead doors.

Tom

 

[ccmviking]

It actually looks as if the spring is wound around like a plastic tube or something.  Either way this is common and very easy to fix.  Just drop some 3 in 1 or air tool oil onto the spring and then you'll have to hold the head to keep it from bouncing up so quick.  Festool really should address the conflict in parts here.  Surely a coating or something would fix it.  Like I said it's easy to fix and pretty long lasting with a little lube.  And no I haven't had it cause an excess in sawdust build up.  Just put some lube on the spring and you'll be happy again.

Chris...

 

[Chuck Kiser]

The lubrication on the coil spring worked like a charm, thanks for the tip. The spring was clean, it never occured to me the coils would bind up.