User caused damage does not equal warranty claim

[Cheese]

I'm sane and I don't wear a seat belt...and at 67 years of age I've managed to avoid most of the pot holes of life. There was a time, circa 1966 and earlier when seat belts were a factory option from the automobile manufacturers.  To put things into perspective, before that time, windshield wipers were an option.
Just give life your best shot and be happy to live another day. Succumb to others structured life styles, and be happy to live for the rest of your life on pins and needles.

I like happy for the rest of my life rather than pins and needles...

 

[ScoFF]

You are tired of hearing about this in your entire life eh?  Awwww muffin...
The best thing to do then is to get out of your shop and create a thread on how much it bothers you.  There.  Done. 
Not that it's of any particular relevance but in my thread I was simply surprised at how easy the saw was broken and how much of it was broken.  And also that I wasn't home free from it breaking within the 3 year like I heard about.  I have about 10 years under my belt so far, with machines much bigger and much smaller, more expensive and less.  I know about kickback but it happens.    And no it wasn't clamped at both ends.
I understand the warranty more, and the difference between a tool falling apart and something breaking the tool.  Happy with the outcome.
My thread had a point, to get feedback and experiences from others, to find out if others had the issue and to document my outcome to help someone.   
But what is your point?

This post was not pointed at any person in particular. I am tired of hearing about this in my entire life.

 

[jimbo51]

A person buys a Dewalt or Makita or etc miter saw and uses it to make hundreds of cuts. Occasionally a small piece goes flying. Maybe it is because the blade was still moving when the saw was raised. Maybe the cause cannot be determined. However, the saw is never damaged.

The person now buys a Kapex and a small piece goes flying. This time however, the piece ends up causing major damage to the saw. One can certainly argue that the user must have done something wrong. There still is the point that this incident on any other miter saw would likely cause no damage. On the Kapex however, there can be major damage. This certainly suggests that the design and/or materials used for the Kapex are questionable.

Would Festool be willing to put a sticker on the Kapex that says, The user must always allow the blade to stop spinning before the head can be raised or risk serious damage to this machine. A number of people might pass on buying a Kapex if that sticker was in place due to a perceived fussiness of the machine.

Since this is a rare event that may have a component of design/material involvement, I think Festool should just pay for repairs when this specific event occurs.

I also also hope that Festool is investigating why some motors are burning up randomly. Those cases should also be covered for free for longer than 3 years. Motors in a $1400 saw should not burn out under normal uses for far longer than 3 years.

I really like my Kapex. I bought it based in large part on the quality of Festool. Festool needs to make sure that they keep their reputation for quality intact.

 

[joiner1970]

All saws can be damaged by kickback its NOT just a kapex thing. I broke my makita a few years back. I was trying to rip cut some tiny oak wedges and didn't notice the wood was probably 5 to 10mm off the fence. It bit and slammed the oak into the fence. It only moved 10mm Max but managed to smash the solid aluminium fence to pieces. It's amazing how much damage it can do.

Totally my fault.

 

[jimbo51]

Your experience is different than my point. I was referring to the saw being damaged by a small piece of cut-off, not the workpiece being slammed into the fence.

 

[joiner1970]

Your experience is different than my point. I was referring to the saw being damaged by a small piece of cut-off, not the workpiece being slammed into the fence.

This WAS a small piece just pointing out its amazing how much damage a small bit of timber can do at high speed, on any saw

 

[Oldwood]

I once read woodworking is high risk from the start until the product is delivered. All sorts of opportunities to screw it up along the way sometimes just by being a little distracted and sometimes just bad luck. Sometimes you wreck the project sometimes you wreck the tool.

I do agree that in general there is a tendency to not look in the mirror at the guy who probably caused the problem. I think the guy who sued because he cut his fingers off on the table saw is a shining example. When I read how the accident happened I thought how has he kept all his parts this long!!

Woodwork requires a lot of common sense and some mechanical ability.

Festool could maybe accused of over selling the tough tool concept a bit? I grew up with 6 brothers and my mom got a set of drinking glasses that she said were unbreakable..................We were able to disprove that declaration ;~)

Gerry

 

[RJNeal]

As per Joiner 1970 said it could happen.
The general that I work with picked a dewalt 12" saw five years ago and within a few weeks the fence got tweeted by one of the mates cutting 4x12. Not sure exactly what happen but the left side is no longer coplaner. It's not bad ok for framing.

One of the reason I buy some Hilti tools anything that happens within two years it's fix free. I had a drill body fall off a shelve and cracked the battery mount, it was repaired no problem.
Rick