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new saw

toolpouchguy | Posted in Tools for Home Building on May 4, 2013 06:27am

Well i took the plunge and bought the Kapax

it’s only been a couple of days using it hope i learn to enjoy it more soon,

 find the blade that came with it chips the wood ,not the greatest cut,is this not where it excels 

read review after review and everyone said  they are the greatest ,i am not convinced yet ,does it get better 

if i get the blade sharpened will it cut better .

 see a couple places for improvment ,

really not use to a safety switch, why do we need this? guess if it was droped down 1/2″it would be better 

i can see the laser could be a great thing, 

the dust collection is ok not as good as i expected  

i will be able to check it out more next week have a bunch of face frames to make 

should i just go buy a new blade ,will that help 

Reply

Replies

  1. calvin | May 04, 2013 10:28am | #1

    Tool

    Don't know what to tell you...........

    mine new, blade just fine.  Where's the chipping--top or bottom?

    safety switch, only a problem when saw set on table, horse, or stand too tall.

    laser?    Great!

    dust collection with vac-better than any other saw, dealt, mak, hitachi.

    1. toolpouchguy | May 04, 2013 12:31pm | #2

      it's chipping at the top ,think its the blade ,i usually get new blades sharpened before use ,

      sure i will like it soon enough 

      1. calvin | May 04, 2013 12:54pm | #3

        Tool

        I'm away from home, can't look at the blade number.  Is your saw new, with the stock blade?

        Are you pushing the saw back into the stock?

        Have you visited the Festool Owners Group site yet?

        Theres some good info to be had, along with a "bootleg" user's guide.

  2. florida | May 04, 2013 03:30pm | #4

    Just a question. What is it that you do that you felt that a $1500.00 saw would do better than a $600.00 one? This is not a challenge, I'm really curious. I admit I dodn't get it.

    1. toolpouchguy | May 04, 2013 06:56pm | #5

      i don't know

      you know i have gotten by with a few miter saws over the years,

      my last one the fence was wore out from sliding stock acroos it to make my cuts ,some will say how can this happen millions of cuts thats how 

      so i thought i would try a festool the other tools i have seem ok,

      well it is the same as any other saw the lasers got me 2 of them wow 

      i just do trim jobs nothing to big trim houses the odd built in mantel stairs same old same old 

      i have a few others aswell they are just wore out ,so i thought why not take the plunge ,so i will give it a week and see what happens 

      but what else is there really ??

      1. calvin | May 05, 2013 08:06am | #6

        Tp

        Make sure to find all that the saw can do.

        ever change the drop down stop of the blade for a dado or cut back?  This saw will allow you to set a fixed depth of cut as an extra option, while keeping the full depth of cut available with the flip of a switch.  No putzing with double nuts.

        The other saws I looked at before purchase, Bosch and Milwaukee.  Both too heavy for what I do-mobile finish, rather than full house trims.

        only improvement I'd have liked to have seen.    Mitre-micro adjustment.

        1. toolpouchguy | May 09, 2013 06:40pm | #9

          saw saw saw

          well used it all week has not impressed me ,cuts are poor ,blade is bad

          thought they were suppose to be the superior saw

          and why the heck does it shoot wood all over .

          it has made for an ineficient week ,had a friend who bought on he said give it a month

          then i wont be able to return it 

          it was the lazer that had me, but it is off all the time.

          and its a pain to set a half a degree the saw bed is very stiff ,that is very frustrating 

          and never use the angle finder i can guess those very easily 

          i have many saws to compare it to, if i had 2 set up i would not go to that one first 

          thats just my humble opinion 

          but maybe i will give it another 4 days 

          1. DanH | May 09, 2013 09:15pm | #10

            I wonder if the saw is damaged somehow.  Have you looked carefully for something bent or misaligned?

          2. toolpouchguy | May 10, 2013 05:32am | #13

            i will

            Thanks Dan i never thought of that, will look today and see whats up 

          3. toolpouchguy | May 29, 2013 06:44am | #15

            yes Dan the saw was very poorly made ,it was damaged 

            when i would swing it to a miter angle it would gring and it was very hard to swing 

            i am going on to saw number 2 ,hope if i dont like this one i can still take it back 

            i find the dust collection does not work a well as my dewalt saw with a vac hooked up to it 

            ,but the cord wrap is nice ,

            havent seen $1000 worth of extra value yet 

          4. calvin | May 09, 2013 10:16pm | #11

            Don't know what to tell you.

            Mine was good from my long time supplier, right out of the box. 

            Blade-excellent.

            Lasers, two fine lines-one on each side of the cut-too easy to line up to the mark.  Not a solid line that blinds the mark-dashed line that makes your mark, purely visible.

            On rare occasion, I'll shoot a pc.............usually know why-I trapped a 45 crosscut scrap under the blade-

            release the trigger, don't move the carriage in / out / or up.   Slide the work away.

            no shooting pcs.

            One thing you should like-30 days-return, no bs.

            Take it back and try something else-or ask for another if this one seems bogus to you.

      2. florida | May 05, 2013 11:52am | #7

        Thanks. I've looked at them and even with the additonal features over other miter saws I just can't see the price working out. I don't do enough trim that I would ever get the value out of a Festool, assuming that there is $1,000.00 of extra value.

        1. toolpouchguy | May 05, 2013 12:06pm | #8

          I will tell you in a week

          I am going to use it this week and I will tell you saturday

        2. toolpouchguy | May 29, 2013 06:53am | #16

          I have not seen the extra value ,its big and very bulky 

          i should have thought about it more before i purchased it ,

          the company i bought it from says they have a hard time dealing with festool,on returns you would think they would bend over backwards to make people happy 

          its just an average saw nothing spectacular same as any other 

          and that dado feature is a joke ,my old saw was just as easy to set up and did a better job but that saw is wore out ,well just the fence everything eles works fine 

  3. IdahoDon | May 10, 2013 12:05am | #12

    I haven't had the Kapex, but with a Festool track saw the bearings got bruised (my mistake) and instead of glass smooth cuts it was suddenly no better than a decent skillsaw, even though there was no increase in blade runout the vibration made it not worth keeping.  If you had a bad bearing from the get go it might not matter what kind of blade you're using.   Along the lines of Festools blades, I've never had anything but great luck with them - equal to Forest blades.

    1. toolpouchguy | May 10, 2013 05:38am | #14

      i use my track saw all the time the thing is amazing ,sanders routers 

      just that miter saw something not comfortable with it and the cuts are so poor i use a wore out 8 1/2inch dewalt and it cuts far better 

      and i cut crown on the flat more productive so blade size is not an issue ,but that saw is discontinued .

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