Acrobat
Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 471
Hi all
I just took proud possession of a new Kapex 120. I don't have a mft or Kapex table yet, so have simply placed it on the worktop I used for my long used Ryobi mitre saw. I loved that too when I first got it, except the laser it had went wonky after a day so they remained off permanently, too hard to get right on it and found they just wasted my time. Thats now sitting on a shelf awaiting a new owner. So, first impressions, love the "feel" of it, I guess thats a Festoolian bias I have. Looks awesome (for a saw that is). After the two days I've had it, it runs very well and real smooth cuts, taken me a bit to get used to it but the mitre stops are great in that it snaps in and locks without any slight movement from side to side. The ryobi was a devil for that. Am so much happier there- I no longer have to put bits of tape with marks on it to line up when going back to 90 or at 45's. What a pain. . Dust collection: Major improvement and in fact the overriding reason I got the kapex. I got so tired and just plain fed up with the sawdust spewing from the old saw, took me ages to clean up and so much fine dust settling over everything in the garage. Yuck. 36mm hose is good. I got the non anti static version and works fine. Kapex, out of the box the lasers were way off. I didn't want to burst the covers to adjust them, but I had too pierce them with a small allen key. Why is the cover not simply removeable? Now they have holes in. Anyway, I followed the manual and the supplementary manual, thank goodness for that. It took me about two hours to get right and was nearly at wits end adjusting them. I hope they don't need re-adjusting anytime soon. I've yet to fully test and see what other calibrations are required, but it seems to cut at 90 and 45 very well so hopefully I will not have to adjust anything further. Next I put the crown stop extension thing on the left of the bed in its v groove. It does not sit flat with the bed of the kapex.It's about 1mm lower? I tried it on the right side and a better fit height wise. Is it only to go on the right? I cannot see any way of adjusting it to be flush when on the left, as as soon as I tighten it it sinks lower. Annoying. I read they said one can use sys 1 boxes as supports either side, so tried that, both sys1 boxes I have sit about 1mm higher than the bed of the kapex so what's up with that? I have the kapex clamped on each corner lightly. I note in the festool manual it indicates a different position to clamp than Rick C's supplementary manual so tried both ways. (On flat bit or in triangle area) Same result. Bummer. Am I being too picky here? Would be good to be able to slide timber across and have it laying flat all along. I would like to get the new extension wings one day but am just a bit put off if they don't run up flush either, then what?
On the motor side, I love the soft start and even the sound is not as whiny as the ryobi I've struggled with for years. A growl is fine with me.
I damaged the little rubber boot as the boot rested forward on top of a post I was cutting and the saw nicked into it a few mm's. My fault, it was a very large post 100x100mm so I guess I should have unclipped it off first. Trenching: I am happy to say I love the trenching it does, although there is no way of knowing how deep it's set to without trial and error first. Should be a dial-indicator I think. Not sure how they would make it work but it would be an improvement nonetheless. Maybe a mark indicating where the top face of the bed is and go up from there?
Flying pieces: Wow this was a suprise. On the ryobi I simply worked from the left and had the small offcuts on the right, they nearly alays stayed put, but on the Kapex one piece shot off at a hundred miles and hour out the back, luckily it shot out away from the window. It appears after some reading on this site, that I should clamp the offcut side to prevent this? I sthis correct as I work clamping the left. I will change if its better. Or should I simply have moved the wings in to prevent the piece from shooting out the back? I think I just hadn't given it any though that would happen. Old habits I guess.
So thats my fifty cents worth so far...some good, some not. Is it me and my habits from the old saw or am I expecting too much? I'll see how the next week goes and what results I get.
Uncle Festool [unsure]
I just took proud possession of a new Kapex 120. I don't have a mft or Kapex table yet, so have simply placed it on the worktop I used for my long used Ryobi mitre saw. I loved that too when I first got it, except the laser it had went wonky after a day so they remained off permanently, too hard to get right on it and found they just wasted my time. Thats now sitting on a shelf awaiting a new owner. So, first impressions, love the "feel" of it, I guess thats a Festoolian bias I have. Looks awesome (for a saw that is). After the two days I've had it, it runs very well and real smooth cuts, taken me a bit to get used to it but the mitre stops are great in that it snaps in and locks without any slight movement from side to side. The ryobi was a devil for that. Am so much happier there- I no longer have to put bits of tape with marks on it to line up when going back to 90 or at 45's. What a pain. . Dust collection: Major improvement and in fact the overriding reason I got the kapex. I got so tired and just plain fed up with the sawdust spewing from the old saw, took me ages to clean up and so much fine dust settling over everything in the garage. Yuck. 36mm hose is good. I got the non anti static version and works fine. Kapex, out of the box the lasers were way off. I didn't want to burst the covers to adjust them, but I had too pierce them with a small allen key. Why is the cover not simply removeable? Now they have holes in. Anyway, I followed the manual and the supplementary manual, thank goodness for that. It took me about two hours to get right and was nearly at wits end adjusting them. I hope they don't need re-adjusting anytime soon. I've yet to fully test and see what other calibrations are required, but it seems to cut at 90 and 45 very well so hopefully I will not have to adjust anything further. Next I put the crown stop extension thing on the left of the bed in its v groove. It does not sit flat with the bed of the kapex.It's about 1mm lower? I tried it on the right side and a better fit height wise. Is it only to go on the right? I cannot see any way of adjusting it to be flush when on the left, as as soon as I tighten it it sinks lower. Annoying. I read they said one can use sys 1 boxes as supports either side, so tried that, both sys1 boxes I have sit about 1mm higher than the bed of the kapex so what's up with that? I have the kapex clamped on each corner lightly. I note in the festool manual it indicates a different position to clamp than Rick C's supplementary manual so tried both ways. (On flat bit or in triangle area) Same result. Bummer. Am I being too picky here? Would be good to be able to slide timber across and have it laying flat all along. I would like to get the new extension wings one day but am just a bit put off if they don't run up flush either, then what?
On the motor side, I love the soft start and even the sound is not as whiny as the ryobi I've struggled with for years. A growl is fine with me.
I damaged the little rubber boot as the boot rested forward on top of a post I was cutting and the saw nicked into it a few mm's. My fault, it was a very large post 100x100mm so I guess I should have unclipped it off first. Trenching: I am happy to say I love the trenching it does, although there is no way of knowing how deep it's set to without trial and error first. Should be a dial-indicator I think. Not sure how they would make it work but it would be an improvement nonetheless. Maybe a mark indicating where the top face of the bed is and go up from there?
Flying pieces: Wow this was a suprise. On the ryobi I simply worked from the left and had the small offcuts on the right, they nearly alays stayed put, but on the Kapex one piece shot off at a hundred miles and hour out the back, luckily it shot out away from the window. It appears after some reading on this site, that I should clamp the offcut side to prevent this? I sthis correct as I work clamping the left. I will change if its better. Or should I simply have moved the wings in to prevent the piece from shooting out the back? I think I just hadn't given it any though that would happen. Old habits I guess.
So thats my fifty cents worth so far...some good, some not. Is it me and my habits from the old saw or am I expecting too much? I'll see how the next week goes and what results I get.
Uncle Festool [unsure]
I wish I had the Kapex when I started- there was a lot of trial and error on my part, especially any jobs that required angles cut neat and tidy. The kapex's handy tool would have saved me a heap of time and wasted timber. Im hoping it will anyway. So if the kapex can handle the variety I throw at it I will be happy. I made a extension fence with tape rulers and stop blocks for the ryobi mitre saw as I found that was so helpful so am hoping the kapex's version is at least as helpful and sturdy. In regards the C12, if thats stopping you from gewtting the Kapex I would swap it and pay the difference. You can always get but with a cheaper drill but for the mitre saw you will want as good a quality as you can afford. Took me ages to bite the bullet, but like all my festool purchases when upgrading from an old inferior tool, I am glad I have and usually say what took me so long!
. Looks a winner. Thanks for the pics.
