New Kapex REB Not Calibrated ... What to Check?

[Bugsysiegals]

Festool makes a nice ecosystem of tools but somebody needs their eyes checked and/or a new square for Christmas.  The manual says the laser is setup from factory and doesn't need adjusting but the Left side doesn't even look like anybody tried to adjust it towards the blade.  Also, is this the fence squareness one should expect when they buy a Kapex? 

I don't mind calibrating things myself but if product is just moving out the door without proper Quality Control and/or setup it's a bit concerning and now I'm wondering if there's any critical oversights I need to check before the 30 day window expires?

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[Birdhunter]

My Kapex came with an Allen wrench just to adjust the lasers. The supplemental manual has excellent instructions on the adjustments. My guess most Kapex units need laser adjustment on arrival.

 

[Doug S]

I can't really tell what you are trying to show with the square?

You should check that the fences are exactly in line with each other.

I never use the laser, can't see the point in them.

 

[ChuckM]

My Kapex came with an Allen wrench just to adjust the lasers. The supplemental manual has excellent instructions on the adjustments. My guess most Kapex units need laser adjustment on arrival.

Agreed. I calibrated mine as it was off upon arrival. The manual covers the steps.

The laser lines are very useful to me for setting up the fence stop.

I wonder sending it back might not solve the problem if it came back off again due to rough handling by the shipper.

"if there's any critical oversights I need to check before the 30 day window expires?"

I checked mine for accuracy in cutting true, square, miters and bevels.

 

[FestitaMakool]

What Doug S said.

Lasers in my opinion are for rough cutting.
Lower the head to the piece, and let a tooth hit gently the pencil line when you creep upon moving the piece. Clamp and cut, the cut will be where you set a tooth mark.

The Kapex KS 60’s “cheaper” solution with its optional shadow LED light is lightyears ahead.
I wish the KS 120 could be retrofitted with that instead!
- Any makers out there for the challenge?

 

[Bugsysiegals]

I can't really tell what you are trying to show with the square?

You should check that the fences are exactly in line with each other.

I never use the laser, can't see the point in them.

I'm showing the fence is not 90 degrees with the edges of the deck.  Since the extension wings mount to the deck the angled fences cause straight boards to not lay straight across the extension wings.  In addition, assuming the blade is parallel to the edges of the deck, I'm not going to have 90 degree right angles at 0 degrees.

 

[Doug S]

The only thing that matters is the blade in relation to the fence.

When you mount the ug wings it is good practice to set them just behind the fence in case the timber is bent.

 

[Bugsysiegals]

The only thing that matters is the blade in relation to the fence.

When you mount the ug wings it is good practice to set them just behind the fence in case the timber is bent.

Yes, I agree, and did mount them behind the fence ... it wasn't until I had to move them the entire width of the rule back that I realized the board wasn't bent but the fences weren't in the same plane as the extension wings.

 

[pettyconstruction]

The fence can be adjusted by the bolts in the table.
Take the sliding fences off and that will expose the bolts.
Adjust as needed.
Cheers, Charlie

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Bugsysiegals]

The fence can be adjusted by the bolts in the table.
Take the sliding fences off and that will expose the bolts.
Adjust as needed.
Cheers, Charlie

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I actually did this and while it has limited movement and wasn't able to completely straighten it did improve.  Now I'll have to adjust the miter gauge ring in front since they had it squared to the fence which I've moved. 

 

[Doug S]

Once you start adjusting the fence and the miter gauge it can become a bit of a rabbit hole. If it's a brand new saw and that far out I would ask Festool to deal with it.

 

[ChuckM]

Once you start adjusting the fence and the miter gauge it can become a bit of a rabbit hole. If it's a brand new saw and that far out I would ask Festool to deal with it.

Agreed.

Gary has done the gaugehttps://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/07/23/miter-saw-tune-up/ but I suspect Festool has a more standardized process and proper tools to do and check the settings. When I "fixed" my Kapex, I did not need to do anything about the fence itself or the table (someone has done a video about flattening the table). If I had to work on so many aspects of trying to get the saw tuned up, I would rather get Festool to do it.

 

[BCConstruction]

They def don’t calibrate the saw. I would guess they have a jig they quickly set in place and adjust everything. People use the excuse of “well in shipping it would move” that’s just the fanboys excuse as to piss poor calibration. Once I adjust mine it never needs adjusting even though it’s bumped around and bumped into numerous times a day. I’m on my 3rd and all of them needed adjusting.

 

[Bugsysiegals]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I've been able to get the saw fairly square and should be able to make another small tweak to get it good enough for my needs.

I'm not sure about the EB but it's a bit tricky to adjust the fence on the REB because the deck handles which slide out are slightly recessed in and need to be brought out perfectly flush before using the square.  I held the flat part of my Woodpeckers square across the front and rear, loosened the knob, pulled the deck handles flush to the square while maintaining pressure of the square against the deck, tightened the knob, adjusted the fence to be square, made some cuts, and on 4" thick stock had only paper thickness sticking out past the square on one end. 

That said, I'm happy with it but will probably cut some wider stock to see just how far off it is and if needed square the fence again but with a feeler gauge to get the slight offset I need to get close to perfect square cuts.