The Festool Kapex, page two

The saw goes on the table next, there are four round rubber feet; these feet are spaced to fit into the holes in the MFT’s top.

Release the saw’s carriage pulling the locking pin outward, releasing the saw from its downward position. Now, loosen the locking knob to allow the carriage to slide on the rails.

To set the saw to 90 degrees, lift up on the miter lock handle, press down the detent override and rotate the saw to 90 degrees. Pressing the miter lock handle down will lock in the miter setting.

The Kapex also has two recesses for bolts to mount the saw to the MFT or any other table/saw stand. Festool offers the “clamping kit” part # 494 693, (sold as an accessory) kit includes two bolts and two locking knobs. Drop the bolts down through the recess and screw on the knob from under the MFT.

Festool clamps can also be used in addition to or in place of the clamping kit. Place the clamp in from below the MFT, there is a space for the clamp on the saw’s base, tighten the clamp.

The crown stops with base extensions part # 494 369 (sold as accessories) can be mounted to the “V” grooves in the Kapex’s base to cut crown molding “in position” or “nested”. Attach the vacuum hose to the dust port on the saw. Unwrap cord and plug it into the CT’s outlet, turn the power switch to the “auto” setting. The saw is ready to cut.

Out of the Box

With the Kapex unpacked I wanted to check the quality of the saw right out of the box. I wanted to check to see in the Kapex had any of the common quality control issues that other brand saws seem to have. After a basic function test, I began my “out of the box test.” I wanted to check the fence for square and to see if the saw’s bed was completely coplanar (all on the same plane), the lasers and how accurately the saw would cut.

I used my 7" Incra guaranteed square, with bright sunlight backlighting the square to check the fence for square. As you can see in this photo there is a small amount of light visible. After checking both fences all along entire range of travel this gap was relatively consistent. The picture makes it look like there is much more of a gap then there really is. Without the strong backlighting the gap is undetectable. I’m satisfied that this saw’s fences are at a right angle to the saw bed.

It’s important for the saw’s bed to be perfectly coplanar for accurate cuts. I checked the saw bed by placing a 2' Stabila level to act as a straight edge. No obvious gaps, so I tried to slip a piece of paper under the level, it would only slide under the rounded edge of the level. I continued checking with the saw mitered to 20, 30, 45 degrees in both directions, 60 degrees on the right side and 50 on the left. All surfaces were coplanar.

Now for the real test, how does it cut? First up, 90 degrees cut in a piece of 4/4" pine. The cut was a perfect 90 degrees. Forty-five degrees miter and bevel cuts were also spot on. Compound cuts will be discussed later in this review.

The lasers didn’t check out. Both were off by 1/32". Since other Kapex owners abroad have commented that their saw’s lasers were perfectly set at the factory I was a little surprised by this. This isn’t a big deal, a few minutes of adjustment and the alignment was corrected.

The last thing I wanted to check was the machining on the fence extensions. I removed the fences to have a look at the quality of the machining, it was fine, but there was a burr left from the process. These burrs was very thin and extended part of the length of the both fence. I was able to easily remove it with my fingernail. The burrs themselves didn’t interfere with the operation of the fences. However, if the burr was to break loose of the fence and lodge into the slot, perhaps then, the fence could bind. I believe the real culprit may have been damaged fences from their being mishandled while off of the saw. Since the fences are a relatively soft alloy they could be damaged if dropped on a hard surface. I’d suggest storing them in a safe place while off of the saw. I don’t know if this is going to be an issue in the future, I’ll just keep an eye on them just to make sure a problem doesn’t develop.

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