Kapex vs Makita LS1216L 12"?

darita

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Jan 23, 2007
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I've got the Makita, but I'm thinking about replacing it with a Kapex.  I don't move the Makita and won't be moving the Kapex around either.  I like the fact that I can cut wide boards on the Makita, but DC sucks.  I do wish the Makita had lasers.  What will the Kapex give me that the 12" Makita does not?
 
darita said:
I've got the Makita, but I'm thinking about replacing it with a Kapex.  I don't move the Makita and won't be moving the Kapex around either.  I like the fact that I can cut wide boards on the Makita, but DC sucks.  I do wish the Makita had lasers.  What will the Kapex give me that the 12" Makita does not?

Makitas often have head play, especially the news ones. Kapex has none. Dust collection is awesome. Saw is lightweight, small footprint, lasers work perfectly, comes with an angle finder, has soft start, comes with a blade that you can actually keep, and the bevel adjustment is spectacular.
 
I have just sent my 1 month old makita ls1216 back as the fences were not in line (had a new set of fences from makita and was still out even after tightening the grub screw on the back to maximum) and the electric brack intermitantly started to not work and still had the fault after a new set of brushes.
so i went out and bought the kapex and couldnt be happier.
 
obviously you are sacrificing a fair amount of depth. with the makita i usually stood my skirting up to cut them where as on the festool you would have to lie them down, but the angle of the saw is so easy to set its not really an isue. as far as i can see the kapex is just as capable i just had to change a few habbits.
 
The specs of Makita I don´t know much about, no doubt their tools are high end, but remember that with the Kapex you get 10 years of guaranteed replacementpart availability.
If some rediculous button or custom part goes, you can replace that.
This is, in my opinion, one important reason, for the extra cost of festool tools.
They wont sell you a new one every 3-5 years.
 
And have you ever tried to change the blade on a makita saw? The kapex, on the other hand, is incredibly simple and fast.
 
KorDes said:
And have you ever tried to change the blade on a makita saw? The kapex, on the other hand, is incredibly simple and fast.
Yeah but how often are you actually changing your miter saw blades. Maybe take it off for a cleaning evey few weeks. I think ease of blade installation is an irrelevant feature when comparing two miter saws.
 
darita said:
... I do wish the Makita had lasers.  .....

Doesn't the "L" in 1216L denote that the model has laser functionality?  I was going to buy one recently, and (at least in the UK), that's what the L denotes.
 
I think ease of changing blades is important. My saws are used on a crew and "bad things" happen to the blade and depending on what we are doing will change from a rough cutting blade to a smooth one often. I don't own a Kapex but I do own the Makita and it is a great saw. If i tried the Kapex I would probably agree it was better.
 
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