kapex

[Tracy Nauman]

Morning!

The armature/motor is out of my Kapex again. This will be the second time replacing it. I am debating on moving on from this saw and go with another Makita. I have a Makita now that is the same age as my Kapex with no issues. It gets much more use and is abused loading and unloading on the job site. My Kapex stays in the shop. When this saw was fixed I was assured that there would not be any more issues. I am loosing confidence in Festool. The Kapex, Carvex and my cordless drill have all gave out with very little use compared to the Makita and Milwaukee tools I use. I would like your guys opinion.

 

[afish]

Some Festools are great and well worth the money.  The Kapex does not make the cut for me.  Both Dewalt and makita make great saws at a fraction of the price and as you have found out they take abuse and just keep on performing.  The Kapex does have 2 things going for it one is the bevel lock and adjuster (however its rare I need it) but it is nice not having to do the reach around and the ability to go up against a wall.  The MAkita does both of those things so its a mute point really but the dewalt lacks these features.  I currently have a dewalt and if I was going to replace it I would be giving the Makita a good hard look.  Some will argue "oooh but the dust collection is so much better on the Kapex"  That may or may not be true I cant speak personally since I dont own a kapex but mitersaws are known to be the bad boys of dust.  I use a short 24" hose on my dewalt hooked to a CT36AC and have no complaints.  Is it perfect (NO) but its pretty darn good and I do 99% of my cutting outside anyways.  I couldnt ever see myself bringing and setting up any mitersaw station in to a customers finished home. If its a dedicated shop saw then some type of dust hood can be used and even the KApex will benefit.  Festool makes some great tools but mitersaw, routers, MFT/3, jigsaws, cordless drills are not one of them.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Another vote for the DeWalt DWS780. Mine’s been absolutely tortured, but it seems to be completely unburstable - 9 years on construction sites and still working as well as the day I bought it. Super accurate, fully adjustable and utterly reliable. The dust extraction’s not great though, and it’s bone-crunchingly heavy. Well worth checking out. I also have the little 190mm Makita LS0714 for small-scale trim work and it’s really excellent. I’m pretty sure the big Makita would also be a great choice.

 

[afish]

Another vote for the DeWalt DWS780. Mine’s been absolutely tortured, but it seems to be completely unburstable. Super accurate, fully adjustable and utterly reliable. The dust extraction’s not great though, and it’s bone-crunchingly heavy. Well worth checking out.

Use the shortest and largest diameter hose I made a short hose just for the dewalt with the DWV9000 connector.  This helps the dust collection a lot.  I also keep mine on a Ridged M-SUV cart which I sort of love.  It folds and transports super easy but the extension wings are really only good for supporting trim.  Any type of long 2x material will sag the supports and require some additional support. However that can be said for most of these types of stands. 

 

[ChuckS]

Sell the Kapex (if I don't already have one, I'd buy it and have Festool fix it), and move on. No reason to stick to a tool that has failed you twice (unless the first time was repaired during warranty for free).