Thanks  Tallgrass.

Does   the  bevel locking  mechanism   give  you  any  trouble?
Go to   6 minutes  in...

It's the ergonomics of the vertical handle and the secondary safety switch that bother me about the Kapex. I tried one a few years ago, the cuts were great, the dust collection was superior, the handle/switches are a no-go for me. I much prefer the Dewalt DW717. It's a 10" SCMS with a horizontal handle and no secondary switch. Unless a guy is cutting 4 x 4 posts on a regular basis, I just don't see the need for a 12" blade? The 10" have far less deflection/wobble and give much cleaner cuts in the same material. Yes, 12" has more capacity, but if you are not using that, what good is it otherwise?
One of the other guys in the same shop has one of the non-sliding Dewalt's and it is horrible. It jerks when it starts and has that little extra tab on the switch too, plus makes a hellish sound when it runs. If the color scheme wasn't the same, you would never believe that the same company makes them.

   The handle position on the Kapex was designed that way on purpose. It's much more ergonomically correct than the horizontal handles like on my Bosch. Think of it this way, if you are hand sawing and wish to make accurate cuts, you align your lower arm and hand in the same plane as the saw blade.  Once you think of it this way, it makes sense, at least if you have much of a hand tool background.

    WRT the Bosch, I like mine but when I really want to make accurate cuts for furniture pieces, I sneak into the classroom at work and use the Kapex there. The cut quality is simply superior. IMO, one the best features of the Kapex is the hold down....I'd give a lot for something similar on my Bosch. In the end, they are just tools and whatever works for the individual will be what he or she chooses. That said, IME, showing a customer the cool features of a tool like the Kapex is just a lot of fun.

    BTW, Crazy, your point about blade deflection and wobble between a 12" and a 10" saw is spot on. As always, OALA, and YMMV.

Festo Joe
 
Festool Specialist
Woodcraft of Chattanooga

The best accessory I ever added to my older DeWalt 12" chop saw was the Fastcap zero clearance tape. 

It does exactly what it claims to do. 

But additionally it shows precisely where both sides of the saw blade cut. 

I make molding returns on end cuts.  Cutting the 45 degree angle was never an issue.  But making precise length cuts was.  I generally made them a little oversized and then glued them in place and used a sander to get them flush.  But that was an extra step.

Now I simply make a thin line exactly where I need the cut and extend it over the edge.  I than align that with the zero clearance cut.  It is always exactly on the mark.

I suppose a precisely calibrated laser would do the same (as long as you don't change the blade width.  But the zero clearance is cheap, easy to install and always automatically "calibrated".



https://www.amazon.com/FastCap-Zero-Clearance-Tape-Strips/dp/B07C68GTVK

Was  back in the  tool  store  today.
And  I went  straight to the Bosch  glide.

The  locking  lever  on  the glide  is  quite   difficult   to  move.
And as in  the review  video,  movement is  still  possible  when  its  back in the tightened  mode.
And  I'm no  shrinking  violet  either. I was  almost  expecting  something  to  snap  as  I  pulled  it.

And  like   the reviewer  said,  for  the  amount  of  force  needed,  you  would  expect  the  saw  head  to  be  locked  solid.

On  a  totally  separate note..
My two  work colleagues  have  Makita  ls1013  saws  that  have seen  a lot of  work.

Personally  I  would  chuck  both  of  them  in  the skip.
No  working guards.  I think one  guy  jams  his guard  up  with  a  wedge of  wood.

Anyway  I was  using  one  the  other  day  and as I turned  away  from  the saw,  the  back  of  my hand  came  into  full  contact   with  the  spinning  blade  as  it  wound   down  to  stop.
I was  surprised  when I turned  back  I saw  no red  stuff.

   The handle position on the Kapex was designed that way on purpose. It's much more ergonomically correct than the horizontal handles like on my Bosch. Think of it this way, if you are hand sawing and wish to make accurate cuts, you align your lower arm and hand in the same plane as the saw blade.  Once you think of it this way, it makes sense, at least if you have much of a hand tool background.

    WRT the Bosch, I like mine but when I really want to make accurate cuts for furniture pieces, I sneak into the classroom at work and use the Kapex there. The cut quality is simply superior. IMO, one the best features of the Kapex is the hold down....I'd give a lot for something similar on my Bosch. In the end, they are just tools and whatever works for the individual will be what he or she chooses. That said, IME, showing a customer the cool features of a tool like the Kapex is just a lot of fun.

    BTW, Crazy, your point about blade deflection and wobble between a 12" and a 10" saw is spot on. As always, OALA, and YMMV.

Festo Joe
 
Festool Specialist
Woodcraft of Chattanooga

I just can't get along with the vertical handle. It's a wrist posititioning thing. With the horizontal handle, it's a simple pull down with no flex to the wrist at all. The vertical hand position of a hand saw is a much different motion. Forward and back in a straight line is far different, where stability is the point, but that doesn't apply to a mitersaw.
There are times when I make hundreds of cut in a few hours on a mitersaw station that is very high by most standards, but works great for me. I never use the hold down, ever, with any mitersaw. I have the Kreg stop system on both sides of the saw, calibrated to be dead-on. I cut to measurements rather than marks to a lazer or shadow light line, so those would not be added value features for me.

Ironically, a horizontal grip is what sent me in the direction of the Bosch simple miter saw that I bought 20-some-odd years ago to cut landscape timbers, because it felt much more natural for a non-slider chop saw.  I used that thing off and on over the last few years and was reminded during the Festool Live episode on Kapex Tenons that I even kludged together a blocker to cut tenons in 4x4s on that little Bosch jobber when I was building corbels for my old house.  I always thought my next saw would also have a horizontal grip, but now I have a Kapex. 

Time will tell if my body demands I go back to the horizontal grip some day or not, but my back and hips are more of a problem than my hands or wrists at this point.

I have been fine with the handle on my Kapex.   I guess it's what you are used to.   My previous saw was a Makita 10" Miter Saw that had a similar style handle.

Bob

I have the Bosch axial glide and there is a screw that adjusts the glide action for more or less restriction.  Just fyi.