I received my Kapex this week. Along with the saw, I also got the UG-Cart. Not the wings, just the cart. In my opinion, the wings are overpriced and don't suit my needs. I have toyed with them. Very impressive and deceptively sturdy, but just not for me. Anyway...
I built a new set of home-made extension wings. They are attached to the saw via the extension plate that comes with the crown stops. The connection was an idea I used from NeilC. The extension wings are based on Gary Katz design ( www.garymkatz.com )
What I like about my set-up is that, while I don't see myself usually using them, I still have the ability to use Festool's crown stops, unlike with Festools extension wings. However, I prefer to use a sacrificial 1x6 across the entire base plate of my saw. It provides me with better support, especially when cutting self-returns. What I do think I may do is put a T-bolt through the 1x6 with a knob and attach it to the t-track on the extension plates. Since I didn't have any knobs or t-bolts handy, I used a Festool Rapid Clamp. I thought this worked out very good. It provided a stronger attachment of the 1x6 then my usual method of using quick-grip clamps that I always seem to bang out of position.
So the first task I had for the saw was running some 4 1/2" Dentil crown in a bedroom. Very straight-forward, rectangular room. No outside corners or self-returns. Normally, I prefer to cope all my moldings whenever possible. Dentil crown, however, requires way too much math for me in getting the dentils to continue properly around corners. So I miter the inside corners. I was excited at the chance to use the Festool Angle Finder that comes with the Kapex. However, the way I work, I was quickly disappointed. I believe in minimizing my movements. Equipped with a Stabila Laser Measure, I stand in one corner of the room and shoot the measurement for my 1st piece. Still in the same spot, I swing my laser measure 90* and shoot the measurement for my 2nd piece. Then I walk diagonally across the room and repeat the same process to get the measurement for the 3rd and 4th measurements. Here's where I realized the shortcoming of the Angle Finder. When I spread the device open to the angle, there was nothing to record. It's intended to be taken back to the saw, set using the lasers, and then the piece cut. But now instead of 1 trip back to my saw I would have to make 4. That's just way too time consuming for me. It's not useless for me though. Doing 1 or 2 pieces or needing to quickly bisect an angle, it's right there on the saw and is pretty accurate. But for production, I'll stick with my Bosch Digital Angle Finder or Starrett Angle Finder so I can record the angles as I go.
Now for the cutting...
I'm not sure if it's just because it's a brand new saw with a brand new blade or what...but man I have never felt a saw make a smoother cut then the Kapex. The only thing I need to get used to is the soft-start. Coming from a DeWalt 708 12", the soft-start catches me off guard a little bit. But I was very impressed with the smoothness of the saw and the quality of the cuts.
As for the laser, I needed to adjust it out of the box. I'm not sure if it got knocked out of calibration during transit, or if the factory setting differs from my preferred setting. When I line up the laser with my pencil mark, I want to be able to split the line of a crisp, 2.5 lead pencil mark. With a little adjustment, I was able to achieve this. After a few test cuts, I was marking the crown, lining up the pencil mark with the laser and dropping the saw right on for a cut right where I expected it...sort of. No fault of the Kapex, I just have to pay more attention to what end of the board I need. I figure within about 5 years of using this I'll finally get the hang of it.
One of the biggest reasons I got the Kapex was the dust collection. I mostly work in occupied homes. On a rainy day like today, cutting outside is out of the question. Even when cutting in the garage, I don't want to cover their car or children's stroller in sawdust. Also, working in apartment buildings makes it nearly impossible to set up outside. So I was really excited to finally get a miter saw with great dust collection. Surprisingly, I was disappointed. I bought a 37mm hose in along with the Kapex to make sure I got the most out of the dust collection ability. Hooked up to my CT33 and I was ready to kiss clean-up goodbye. Perhaps that was my problem...I had too high expectations for the dust collection. I know that cutting crown in position reduces the dust collection because of the "empty space" below the material, but even cutting some flat stock I wasnt getting as much dust collection as I expected. I had the big rubber scoop on, 37mm hose hooked up and suction on full bunny rabbit. So what gives? Am I just expecting miracles out of a machine? Or am I missing something??
And now for my favorite part of the whole set-up. I HATED pulling out my DeWalt 718. All 57 pounds of it. And at the end of the day, I think it gained a few pounds because it felt even heavier at 4:30. And then my stand. A cheap Black & Decker Workmate I modified so I can lock the 718 on and attached extension wings. Once set-up, it worked well. But carrying the 718 was a 2-hand and 1-thigh job. So thats 1 trip from the van to the work area. Now back to the van for the stand. So now even if I'm just doing a few quick cuts, I still need to make 2 trips back and forth to the van just to get my saw set up. This right here is where that price tag of $450, for something which looks like it cost maybe $70 to make, is totally worth every penny. Because it's not all about what does it COST, but what is it's VALUE. And to me, the value of pulling the Kapex attached to the UG-Cart and wheeling it right to the work area with a free hand to carry a stack of systainers, extension wing or a cup of coffee is at least $450. I can't put a price on that convenience, especially at the end of a long day when I just wanna go home and shower.
So thats it...1 day working with the Kapex. All in all, I am very happy with the purchase. For saw and stand, I spent $1,750. Do I feel like it was worth it? Absolutely. For what I do and how I work, this set up is valued at at least $1,750. Yup, I can probably get 4 good miter saws and stands for that kind of money. But the value I get out of not only this saw and stand, but its compatibility with the system (on the stand my kapex deck is the same height as my mft/3, and I can attach my extension wings to my mft/3 because they all use the v-groove), and the customer service, this beats the hell out of any other saw and stand on the market that I know of.
I built a new set of home-made extension wings. They are attached to the saw via the extension plate that comes with the crown stops. The connection was an idea I used from NeilC. The extension wings are based on Gary Katz design ( www.garymkatz.com )
What I like about my set-up is that, while I don't see myself usually using them, I still have the ability to use Festool's crown stops, unlike with Festools extension wings. However, I prefer to use a sacrificial 1x6 across the entire base plate of my saw. It provides me with better support, especially when cutting self-returns. What I do think I may do is put a T-bolt through the 1x6 with a knob and attach it to the t-track on the extension plates. Since I didn't have any knobs or t-bolts handy, I used a Festool Rapid Clamp. I thought this worked out very good. It provided a stronger attachment of the 1x6 then my usual method of using quick-grip clamps that I always seem to bang out of position.
So the first task I had for the saw was running some 4 1/2" Dentil crown in a bedroom. Very straight-forward, rectangular room. No outside corners or self-returns. Normally, I prefer to cope all my moldings whenever possible. Dentil crown, however, requires way too much math for me in getting the dentils to continue properly around corners. So I miter the inside corners. I was excited at the chance to use the Festool Angle Finder that comes with the Kapex. However, the way I work, I was quickly disappointed. I believe in minimizing my movements. Equipped with a Stabila Laser Measure, I stand in one corner of the room and shoot the measurement for my 1st piece. Still in the same spot, I swing my laser measure 90* and shoot the measurement for my 2nd piece. Then I walk diagonally across the room and repeat the same process to get the measurement for the 3rd and 4th measurements. Here's where I realized the shortcoming of the Angle Finder. When I spread the device open to the angle, there was nothing to record. It's intended to be taken back to the saw, set using the lasers, and then the piece cut. But now instead of 1 trip back to my saw I would have to make 4. That's just way too time consuming for me. It's not useless for me though. Doing 1 or 2 pieces or needing to quickly bisect an angle, it's right there on the saw and is pretty accurate. But for production, I'll stick with my Bosch Digital Angle Finder or Starrett Angle Finder so I can record the angles as I go.
Now for the cutting...
I'm not sure if it's just because it's a brand new saw with a brand new blade or what...but man I have never felt a saw make a smoother cut then the Kapex. The only thing I need to get used to is the soft-start. Coming from a DeWalt 708 12", the soft-start catches me off guard a little bit. But I was very impressed with the smoothness of the saw and the quality of the cuts.
As for the laser, I needed to adjust it out of the box. I'm not sure if it got knocked out of calibration during transit, or if the factory setting differs from my preferred setting. When I line up the laser with my pencil mark, I want to be able to split the line of a crisp, 2.5 lead pencil mark. With a little adjustment, I was able to achieve this. After a few test cuts, I was marking the crown, lining up the pencil mark with the laser and dropping the saw right on for a cut right where I expected it...sort of. No fault of the Kapex, I just have to pay more attention to what end of the board I need. I figure within about 5 years of using this I'll finally get the hang of it.
One of the biggest reasons I got the Kapex was the dust collection. I mostly work in occupied homes. On a rainy day like today, cutting outside is out of the question. Even when cutting in the garage, I don't want to cover their car or children's stroller in sawdust. Also, working in apartment buildings makes it nearly impossible to set up outside. So I was really excited to finally get a miter saw with great dust collection. Surprisingly, I was disappointed. I bought a 37mm hose in along with the Kapex to make sure I got the most out of the dust collection ability. Hooked up to my CT33 and I was ready to kiss clean-up goodbye. Perhaps that was my problem...I had too high expectations for the dust collection. I know that cutting crown in position reduces the dust collection because of the "empty space" below the material, but even cutting some flat stock I wasnt getting as much dust collection as I expected. I had the big rubber scoop on, 37mm hose hooked up and suction on full bunny rabbit. So what gives? Am I just expecting miracles out of a machine? Or am I missing something??
And now for my favorite part of the whole set-up. I HATED pulling out my DeWalt 718. All 57 pounds of it. And at the end of the day, I think it gained a few pounds because it felt even heavier at 4:30. And then my stand. A cheap Black & Decker Workmate I modified so I can lock the 718 on and attached extension wings. Once set-up, it worked well. But carrying the 718 was a 2-hand and 1-thigh job. So thats 1 trip from the van to the work area. Now back to the van for the stand. So now even if I'm just doing a few quick cuts, I still need to make 2 trips back and forth to the van just to get my saw set up. This right here is where that price tag of $450, for something which looks like it cost maybe $70 to make, is totally worth every penny. Because it's not all about what does it COST, but what is it's VALUE. And to me, the value of pulling the Kapex attached to the UG-Cart and wheeling it right to the work area with a free hand to carry a stack of systainers, extension wing or a cup of coffee is at least $450. I can't put a price on that convenience, especially at the end of a long day when I just wanna go home and shower.
So thats it...1 day working with the Kapex. All in all, I am very happy with the purchase. For saw and stand, I spent $1,750. Do I feel like it was worth it? Absolutely. For what I do and how I work, this set up is valued at at least $1,750. Yup, I can probably get 4 good miter saws and stands for that kind of money. But the value I get out of not only this saw and stand, but its compatibility with the system (on the stand my kapex deck is the same height as my mft/3, and I can attach my extension wings to my mft/3 because they all use the v-groove), and the customer service, this beats the hell out of any other saw and stand on the market that I know of.
