Kapex "Trenching"

[Jeff Zanin]

I've had the Kapex for a while, and although I knew about the "trenching" capability I didn't have a need for it until recently, and actually thought it was a bit of a gimmick.

But a recent project require a small rabbet (UK: rebate) on the end of a piece of 1x stock, and the "trenching" mode turned out to be a good way of cutting it.

The trick to "trenching" is an auxiliary piece in front of the fence to space the work piece out so as to allow the bottom arc of the blade to pass completely across it.  In this case I used the clamp normally used for the work to hold a piece of 3" wide melamine against the fence, and just hand held the work against it.

The blade is pretty thin so it took a few cuts to make my rabbet, but it was faster, safer and more accurate than anything else I could think of.

Remember to push the "trenching" lever back to the cutting position when finished.  :

 

[ChuckS]

When I make those (skim) cuts, I switch the rubber shroud to one with the sawstache to trap as much dust as possible.

 

[aloysius]

Any SCMS can trench for a limited length.  The more sturdy & accurate the saw's head & carriage, the better the result.

However, the length of the trench is limited by the necessity to pack the workpiece away from the fence to achieve uniformity of depth.

Generally traditional Radial Arm saws are actually much better at this task.  It's down not only to the enhanced rigidity of the arm, but also the finer & more accurate depth-of-cut adjustment & locking.  The fact that accessory Dado Heads & blade sets enhance the speed & evenness of cuts on Radial Arms makes for speedy & accurate flat-bottomed trenches & other x-cuts makes it a superior tool in this particular task.  The same holds true for other multi-cut jobs such as Tenoning etc.

Radial Arm Saws are rightly regarded as being somewhat dangerous & lack portability compared to modern SCMS.  There are potentially serious issues regarding kickback prevention, blade guarding and safety-compromised moulding, ripping & planing operations that are simply unacceptable in untrained hands.  Nevertheless they are a much more versatile and rigid workshop-based tool than any SCMS that is still usefully relevant in many fixed settings.

 

[Svar]

The blade is pretty thin so it took a few cuts to make my rabbet, but it was faster, safer and more accurate than anything else I could think of.

Not sure about that. Track saw would work about the same. Router would do it in one pass, produce flat bottom, and most definitely be more accurate.

 

[Cheese]

I've used the Kapex for trenching but my preferred method is the radial arm saw. I look at it as how many people today actually own a a radial arm saw?
My guess, very few. So while it's a great alternative, if there are few owners, the Kapex with its trenching option suddenly becomes the standard. It's just one more nice feature on the Kapex.  [big grin]