Kapex Theft Prevention
- Thread starter Arthur
- Start date
I always keep my tools close to me especially on congested jobs. To me two of the greatest advantages of festool equipment is that its light enough to keep it in close proximity to myself. Also the super effectiveness of the dust extractors has worked on the routers, plunge saws, sanders, & even on biscuit jointers all under heavy use. so no complaints of me making dust everywhere. I have always used dewalt large sliding miter saws and bosch table saws on job sites and handled the dust accordingly. i am considering a kapex but i am curious how the dust extraction holds up under heavy use on a sliding mitersaw like the kapex. But i always take the time to pack up my tools and take them with me They are all high dollar specialty tools as well as top notch as i have mentioned. My work trailer is always wedged where it can not be stolen as well as all festool goes back in the alarmed shop. I enjoy doing high quality work and i enjoy my tools just as much. Why take risks with your considerable investment in tools? [eek]
Sparktrician
Member
Peter Halle said:
I never, under any circumstances, leave tools on a job site. It's worth it to me to invest the extra labor to do a load-out at the end of the day and a load-in when I return, just for the peace of mind. Peter brings up a good point about replacement cost. Insurance companies will often game you by offering insurance at "actual cash value" which really means depreciated value, but they often won't tell you that so they have less payout when there's a loss (and you get a very rude surprise). They also won't tell you that for only a smidgen more, they offer full replacement cost insurance that covers the whole cost of replacement without depreciation.
PA floor guy
Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2012
- Messages
- 290
Some great response here. I have had this happen 2 years ago. Was doing a very large floor install, sand and finish. Included inlays, and picture frame floors. So of course I had a lot of specialty tools on site. The homeowner seemed like a great guy. Well it turned out that I made a terrible discovery involving the homeowner. So I called him out on it, and a lot of my tools, floor sanders, etc. Were left on site. Well I wasn't allowed back In the house of course. And all of my tools somehow disappeared. Roughly 40k worth. Luckily for me, I'm a tool junkie, and have spares of everything. So I was able to resume business. Well here's the point that I'm getting to. I had very good insurance on my tools, itemized with serial numbers. I got every dollar back, it took some time, but I was made whole again. Get insurance. It's not that much, I have a separate policy with my business insurance. Great thing to have. I do not have a kapex. I have the big hitachi and dewalt models, they are both a few years old. When I'm ready for new, I will have a kapex for sure. Everyone, get the insurance, there are ruthless animals out there. I won't tell you what transpired between the homeowner and myself. But it's something straight out of Jerry springer. Good luck.......Sam
Sam I am glad to see that you have retained your sense of humour after the experience of such a theft. Hopefully I never catch anyone stealing my gear. I have seen every episode of Dexter!!
After reading the responses thusfar I have a portable cable alarm attached to all my festool while on site and bring them all home every night. For the extra time required I maintain peace of mind. Most of new customers are very impressed by the Professional visual look of Festool and usually make comments on them. I am getting great referals also.
After reading the responses thusfar I have a portable cable alarm attached to all my festool while on site and bring them all home every night. For the extra time required I maintain peace of mind. Most of new customers are very impressed by the Professional visual look of Festool and usually make comments on them. I am getting great referals also.
Arthur said:
i've got currently about $30k in materials and tools on a jobsite....
in a 40' mobil mini bin, with two locks on it, both by Mul-T-Lock.
one is a large padlock on the door latch, and the other is a hockey
puck lock in the hockey puck lock pocket.
you can open the locks with either a plasma cutter, torch, or grinder.
a few years ago, i lost a custom trailer with a knapp gang box built
onto it... with $22k worth of tools for electrical construction. the
only way to open that one, is with a grinder or plasma cutter, etc.
that one will prove interesting for whoever cuts it open... there was
about 20 lbs of cadweld material, and a set of bottles for the cutting
torch in the bottom of the box, and any sparks and flame would most
surely ignite the cadweld material (exothermic weld material) most
closely resembling thermite.
enough heat to slag the whole trailer down into a glowing puddle
of slag in a hole in the asphalt. a quarter pound of that material will
melt a 1" diameter stranded copper cable to a puddle in about
three seconds. seriously.
i just hope they had it hitched to the back of their brand new truck
parked in their garage when they cut it open.
Padlocks are very easy removed. A small battery angle grinder or dremel tool and a few seconds removes a lock.
The better tools boxes will have keys like this one in the image below which you insert through a hole in the plating. So nothing to cut off easily. All the site containers in Dublin are like that. And a weak lever to open the door, so if forced it breaks. A lot of old wooden chests would have had that design. So to get inside to the treasure probably meant hacking the chest to pieces.
The better tools boxes will have keys like this one in the image below which you insert through a hole in the plating. So nothing to cut off easily. All the site containers in Dublin are like that. And a weak lever to open the door, so if forced it breaks. A lot of old wooden chests would have had that design. So to get inside to the treasure probably meant hacking the chest to pieces.
...throw it in the bottom of an old garbage bin (cleaned inside of course).
Place a black garbage bag in the bin covering the saw and throw some garbage in the bag.
In my younger days when I worked as an electrician I met a carpenter who didn't bother to bring his tools home every day. Maybe because he went to the construction site on a bicycle. As he said "I've never met a guy so poor that he steals garbage." [tongue]
Of course you have to make sure that the garbage bin isn't emptyed regularly by someone else...DON'T USE A PUBLIC ONE! [scared]
[attachthumb=#]
Kind regards
Henrik
Place a black garbage bag in the bin covering the saw and throw some garbage in the bag.
In my younger days when I worked as an electrician I met a carpenter who didn't bother to bring his tools home every day. Maybe because he went to the construction site on a bicycle. As he said "I've never met a guy so poor that he steals garbage." [tongue]
Of course you have to make sure that the garbage bin isn't emptyed regularly by someone else...DON'T USE A PUBLIC ONE! [scared]
[attachthumb=#]
Kind regards
Henrik
FulThrotl said:
And isn't there litigious nonsense that if you leave a situation in place as such that a person, even a scumbag thief, injures themselves in gaining access to whatever that it is deemed that you are liable for any injuries that they suffer? Load of crapola if you ask me, but the legal system has laws in place to protect us in one regard, but that can also boomerang back on us in peculiar ways that are so unjust.
I HATE thieves. They (thieves) should all be made to work at the bottom of the ocean in only their underwear.
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