Festool Kapex KS120 Instruction Manual
Sliding compound miter saw
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- Instruction manual (54 pages)
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Summary of Contents for Festool Kapex KS120
- Page 1 Festool Kapex Festool Kapex KS120, sliding compound miter saw. Review by Brice Burrell Brice Burrell, copyright 2008 Page 1...
- Page 2 Festool has come up with some unique features on the Kapex, for example, the micro bevel adjustment. No other saw on the market has anything like it. Festool has long a standing tradition of leading the power tool industry with innovation and the Kapex is no exception.
- Page 3 Festool Kapex 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 inner box pictured below.
- 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 expect your saw will arrive with no shipping damage.
- Page 5 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.
- Page 6 Festool Kapex 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”...
- Page 7 Festool Kapex 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"...
- Page 8 Festool Kapex Some of the items we’ll be looking at in this review. Kapex Accessories Dust Extractors MFT/Kapex 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 collection, I’ll be including them also.
- Page 9 Kapex’s bed to be the same height of the MFT/3 (900 mm). It has the same V-groove profile as the MFT/3. The profiles have slots for Festool clamps allowing work pieces to be clamped to the side of the MFT. The guide rail hardware from the MFT/3 can be attached to the MFT/Kapex.
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Page 10: Power Consumption
Festool Kapex 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 60 tooth Universal Saw Blade , Angle Transfer... - Page 11 Festool Kapex Cutting 12” x 3 15/32” Capacity 305 mm x 88 mm 90°/90° Left/Right 8 15/32” x 3 15/32” 45°/90° 215 mm x 88 mm Left 45°/45° 8 15/32” x 2 1/8” 215 mm x 55 mm Right 45°/45°...
- Page 12 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 official designation of the US version is: Kapex KS 120 EB.
- Page 13 Festool Kapex 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.
- Page 14 Festool Kapex 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°.
- Page 15 Festool Kapex 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 removed to show the gears that adjust the bevel.
- Page 16 Festool Kapex 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 a baseboard.
- Page 17 The Festool hold down has cam like clamping action that the Festool Clamping Elements have. No time consuming screw clamp like the old saw. This is a small thing that can make a big difference in time savings and safety.
- Page 18 Festool Kapex 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 special cutting position there is a lever that folds down, this engages in the back carriage to lock in place.
- Page 19 The MMC eletronics are also responsible for the somewhat unusual sound of the Kapex, sort of a growling sound. If you happen to own one of Festool’s TS plunge cut saws this sound will be quite familiar. In the picture to the right is the variable speed control, on/off switch for the lasers, dust port and at the bottom of the picture is the trenching lever.
- Page 20 Without the stop portion one the crown stops act as small extensions. Saw blades, the heart of any miter saw. Festool offers four saw blades for the Kapex, two for wood, one laminates and one for non-ferrous metals.
- Page 21 Festool Kapex 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 finished cuts.
- Page 22 One of the key features that makes the Kapex such a valuable tool is its dust collection. At the heart of that capability is a Festool dust extractor. I’m sure other brand vacuums will work with the Kapex; I prefer the CT vacs with their variable suction, anti-static hoses, auto start, Sys-dock platform and hoses are a perfect fit on the Kapex.
- Page 23 Festool Kapex 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 collect the dust.
- 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.
- Page 25 (bevel cut) tall hardwood baseboard. The Kapex blades are 2.5 mm (around 3/32”) they fit into the thin kerf category. The Festool blades do pretty well on bevel and compound angle cuts. They are surprisingly stiff, here’s one you can try at home, take Kapex blade and tap it with a coin, what do you hear? The answer is very little;...
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Page 26: Dust Collection
Festool Kapex 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 ever used. - Page 27 Festool Kapex 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 it’s...
- Page 28 Festool Kapex 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.
- Page 29 Festool Kapex 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.
- Page 30 Festool Kapex 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.
- Page 31 Festool Kapex Brice Burrell, copyright 2008 Page 31...