Why did my Kapex decide to eat itself?

[aprikh1]

Tonight I was happily working on my crown molding project, when during a cut I felt some resistance. Before I had a chance to stop, there was a burnt smell and small shreds of black plastic were flying everywhere! Of course I immediately stopped to see what happened. It seems that somehow the saw blade cut into the black shroud that is directly underneath the blade.

Upon closer inspection, the shroud retraction mechanism does not seem to have any damage; however, the shroud does not retract sufficiently away from the blade, and as a result there is contact between the blade and the shroud.

Any ideas what could have gone wrong?
What is the purpose of this shroud? Can I remove it and continue working until I can get a replacement part from Festool?

Thanks in advance.   [crying]

 

[duburban]

maybe you don't feed it enough wood?

 

[aprikh1]

OK. Good news. I think I fixed the problem. The black saw blade shroud is normally secured in place to the main saw body by a small tab. This tab prevents the saw blade shroud from dropping too low and making contact with the blade. Somehow my shroud interpreted this tab as merely a suggestion and not a requirement, and went where no shroud should; hence the burnt smell and small chunks of plastic everywhere.

Anyhoo, the fix is to push the shroud back behind the tab on the saw body. Although it seems that Festool does owe me a replacement shroud. All is well that ends well    

 

[neeleman]

The new Dust extraction attachment 475318 only costs $3.32.

The part number is 471316 and the price is $5.06 USD for the shroud and 471315 at $1.61 for the clamp.

It's easy to replace, I did it myself on my Kapex as well.

[Edited to correct the part numbers needed - Shane]