Radial arm vs. TS55 & MFT??

[Dave Rudy]

Why do you think the KAPEX will make the RAS obsolete?  It doesn't take a dado stack, which is part of the appeal of the RAS for me.

I have learned that in woodworking, there are usually many ways to make a single joint or cut.  I prefer the OF 1400 for dados -- much  much easier to fine tune depth and width and you can see what you're doing while you're doing it.  The Kapex, though, as I understand it, will allow controlled depth cuts -- move the stock several times and you have a dado without the stack.

 

[Tinker]

For short dados across the board,and rabbets lengthwise, I like my WoodRat. For those cuts, the DC is ok. Not exceptional, but adequate.  For long dados, i like my OF 1000, and have just started working with my OF 1400, both of which have far better dust control for those cuts than the Rat.  For most edge work on wood less than 4 or 5 feet, I like the Rat.  For longer pieces, I set up with either of the Festool routers as I don't have to move the wood.  The rest of my routers are mainly gathering dust.  No matter, the quickest set up for dados and rabbets, if I had it set up with dado blades in a permanent spot I think would be with the old RAS.  I was always comfortable working with mine.  There is a connection on it for a vac hose, but I never used DC with it until it had been retired to cold storage.  I don't really know if DC is good or not.  I probably will never know. i am slowly getting setup so I will have only WR or Festool routers for dados & rabbets.
Tinker

 

[Eli]

The Kapex does allow for trenching cuts, and they are very, very clean. You do need to either flip the workpiece or put a sacrificial piece behind it. It is very fast, accurate, and I repeat, clean. A particular joy is seeing a laser skip down the side wall of something you're trimming a skeench off of.

 

[Toolpig]

Kind of a slow way to do dadoes.  Too bad.

TP

The Kapex does allow for trenching cuts, and they are very, very clean. You do need to either flip the workpiece or put a sacrificial piece behind it. It is very fast, accurate, and I repeat, clean. A particular joy is seeing a laser skip down the side wall of something you're trimming a skeench off of.

 

[jonny round boy]

RAS's are fairly dangerous to start with - combining that with a dado stack seems to be asking for trouble (those cutters are illegal in the UK anyway).

 

[Eli]

Kind of a slow way to do dadoes.  Too bad.

TP

The Kapex does allow for trenching cuts, and they are very, very clean. You do need to either flip the workpiece or put a sacrificial piece behind it. It is very fast, accurate, and I repeat, clean. A particular joy is seeing a laser skip down the side wall of something you're trimming a skeench off of.

Depends on what you think is slow. Depends on the actual cut. For me, it's way faster to make a cut w/a Kapex than to set up a dado stack. I don't much care for dado stacks though. Almost anyone else would be way better at setting them up than me. Using, yes, maybe I'm faster. Setting up, not faster (for me). Not to mention where I did it we had a CMS, OF1400 or Kapex. CMS doesn't handle a dado stack. So router or Kapex. No-brainer which is faster then. Also it wasn't a dado but a trenching cut? Five inches wide and half the depth of a 2x4. Maybe apples and oranges...

 

[Toolpig]

I'd agree if you only needed to make a couple of quick dadoes.  But if I'm making a kitchen full of cabinets, a dado stack is the way to go.

TP

Kind of a slow way to do dadoes.  Too bad.

TP

The Kapex does allow for trenching cuts, and they are very, very clean. You do need to either flip the workpiece or put a sacrificial piece behind it. It is very fast, accurate, and I repeat, clean. A particular joy is seeing a laser skip down the side wall of something you're trimming a skeench off of.

Depends on what you think is slow. Depends on the actual cut. For me, it's way faster to make a cut w/a Kapex than to set up a dado stack. I don't much care for dado stacks though. Almost anyone else would be way better at setting them up than me. Using, yes, maybe I'm faster. Setting up, not faster (for me). Not to mention where I did it we had a CMS, OF1400 or Kapex. CMS doesn't handle a dado stack. So router or Kapex. No-brainer which is faster then. Also it wasn't a dado but a trenching cut? Five inches wide and half the depth of a 2x4. Maybe apples and oranges...