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Festool Kapex KS 120 Instruction Manual

Other manuals for Kapex KS 120: User Manual, Instruction Manual

Summary of Kapex KS 120

  • Page 1

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 1 the festool kapex ks120, sliding compound miter saw. Review by brice burrell.

  • Page 2: Packaging

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 2 the festool kapex ks120 sliding compound miter saw, with its dust collection capabilities, light weight, compact size and accurate cuts, will set a new standard for miter saws. Any one of these features would be a welcome addition on any new miter s...

  • Page 3

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 3 my kapex was shipped from the festool warehouse on a pallet along with the mft/kapex and accessories via a freight carrier company. All three boxes were well packaged. The kapex was delivered in two boxes, the outer box a plain cardboard and the inn...

  • Page 4: Set Up

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 4 the saw also has a plastic sleeve on the one of the rails to prevent the saw’s head from being able to moving during shipping. The mft/kapex was packaged in a cardboard box with styrofoam also. I give festool high marks for the packaging; you can ex...

  • Page 5

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 5 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 t...

  • Page 6: Out of The Box

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 6 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 ...

  • Page 7

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 7 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 deg...

  • Page 8: Kapex

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 8 some of the items we’ll be looking at in this review. Kapex mft/kapex accessories dust extractors i’ll be giving you a close look at the kapex, all of its related accessories and since dust extractors are an important part of the kapex dust collecti...

  • Page 9: Mft/kapex

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 9 mft/kapex it may seem out of order, but i want to start with the mft/kapex since you’ll see it in almost ever picture. It’s used as the stand for the saw; it can also be used as a work platform for smaller projects or for a stand for other tools. It...

  • Page 10: The Kapex Ks120

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 10 the kapex ks120 i’ll be separating “the kapex” section into a number of sub-sections to better organize the information in this review. I will go over the saw’s capacities/specifications first. The kapex: by the numbers standard package includes: 6...

  • Page 11

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 11 cutting capacity 90°/90° 12” x 3 15/32” 305 mm x 88 mm left/right 45°/90° 8 15/32” x 3 15/32” 215 mm x 88 mm left 45°/45° 8 15/32” x 2 1/8” 215 mm x 55 mm right 45°/45° 8 15/32” x 1 3/8” 215 mm x 35 mm special cutting depth 4 23/32” x ¾” 120 mm x 2...

  • Page 12: The Kapex: Features.

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 12 some of the other specifications, miter detents at: 0°, 15°, 22.5°, 30° and 45°. There is a marking for 31.6°, but, no detent. Saw blades are 260 mm diameter (about 10 ¼”) with a 30 mm arbor bore. The kapex is covered by festool’s 1+2 warranty. The...

  • Page 13

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 13 the bevel lock is a flip lever located on the top rear of the saw. It’s pretty easy to reach and adjust. With the bevel flipped up the bevel selector knob and the bevel of the saw can be adjusted. With the bevel selector set to 0-45° the saw can be...

  • Page 14

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 14 the ± 45° setting allows the saw to be beveled to 45° both to the left and right with no stop at 0°. The ±47° setting, the saw can be set to 47° to the left and right, no stop at 0°. Once the bevel adjustment lever is unlocked the bevel can be set ...

  • Page 15

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 15 a unique feature on the kapex is the rack and pinion micro bevel adjustment. The right rail has a handle on the front that turns the bevel adjustment gears to fine tune the bevel angle. Here’s a picture of the back of the kapex with the cover remov...

  • Page 16

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 16 the micro bevel adjustment is one of the features that i’m excited about, with the large scale and this micro adjustment in is possible to set the bevel to ¼ degree repeatedly. This feature will come in handy when it comes time to tweak a miter on ...

  • Page 17

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 17 the kapex comes with the angle transfer device, “angle finder”. The angle finder can be used on both inside and outside corners. Once the angle is set, take the angle finder over to the saw, align one of the lasers with the line on the angle finder...

  • Page 18

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 18 the special cutting position fixes the carriage so the saw acts like a chop saw; this holds the saw in the perfect position to maximize the cutting height. This position can used when cutting crown “nested” or “in position”. To set the saw to the s...

  • Page 19: The Kapex: Accessories

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 19 trenching (dados & rabbets), most scms have this feature. On the kapex the trenching depth of cut is pretty precise and easy to set. While it won’t produce furiture grade results, it can make field expedant dados and rabbets for paint grade work or...

  • Page 20

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 20 with the mft/kapex out of the way we’ll look at the other kapex accessories, the saw blades, crown stops and clamping kit. With the festool extension wings not yet released in north america i’ll show you the sawhelper extension wings. The clamping ...

  • Page 21

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 21 one nice thing festool has done is stamp the specs right on the blade (tooth design and count, rake angle and gullet spacing). This information is needed for the sharpening service to bring the blade to specs and to produce the best possible finish...

  • Page 22: The Kapex: Dust Extractors

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 22 all of the kapex’s blades are 260 mm diameter, 30 mm arbor bore, 2.5 mm kerf; carbide tipped and come in a reusable cardboard sleeve for storage. Universal blade: for wood/soft plastic, 60 tooth alternating top bevel saw blade, teeth have a -5° rak...

  • Page 23: The Kapex: In Use

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 23 the kapex, however, festool recommends the larger d36 hose. My experience bears that out. I use the as hoses because i cut a lot of azek, pvc trim, the dust has a charge to it and it sticks to everything unless i use my as hose and ct extractor to ...

  • Page 24

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 24 now, with the festool tools, vac and as hose the dust is in the vacuum bag, not on me, the tools or on the ground. It’s not just the dust collection, it’s the speed and accuracy of the ts55 and kapex that made a difference that day. When we finishe...

  • Page 25

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 25 the kapex is manufactured with relatively tight tolerances. The good part is that the saw is precise, with almost no slop or deflection, this produces great cuts. The other side is the saw is a little stiff in the mitering and beveling of the saw. ...

  • Page 26

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 26 the bottom of page 25) with the correct blade, a well supported work piece, clamped down will produce a high quality cut every time. My thoughts on the kapex’s accuracy, i can sum it up like this, the kapex is as accurate a miter saw that i have ev...

  • Page 27

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 27 speed before starting the cut. This question seems comes up often, can you make cuts with the kapex inside an occupied home or do you still have to set up outside? My take is this, it depends. I know, that’s not the answer you wanted to hear, but i...

  • Page 28

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 28 is thrown off the blade at a steep angle, this angle throws it right into the dust shroud. Two inch stock wider than that produces more dust and some of it can swirl around on the top surface of the wood and not get sucked up. The percentage drops ...

  • Page 29: Conclusion

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 29 cutting on a bevel the hold down may not be able to be used so i’ve used a festool clamp in the crown extension to hold the stock in place. I’m slowly getting used to the lasers; there are times when the laser speeds things up. When the saw blade w...

  • Page 30

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 30 a miter saw like the kapex teamed with an experienced user can be a money maker. The speed and accuracy a skilled user can get from the kapex can help get a trim job done on time and on budget. With less dust in the air and on the ground, the job s...

  • Page 31

    Festool kapex brice burrell, copyright 2008 page 31.