New Kapex 120

[Mike Phillips]

I just got a Festool Kapex 120 sliding compound miter saw. The first two cuts on it didn't go so well. A dowel was marked at exactly 3". When I made the cut, the right laser was directly over the 3" mark. The cutoff is to the right of the blade. After I made the cut, the cutoff piece was 3-1/16" long. Just to be sure, I did it again, and I got the same result. Either the laser is misaligned, or I don't know how to use it. As a beginner, I'm not into calibrating new, very expensive tools, so I'd like to understand what's happening. Thoughts?

[Steve Wilde]

Mike,
The lasers occasionally need to be aligned, it's a really easy process. They may come out of alignment during shipping and such. most of my festoons are dead on out of the box, but occasionally they need a little adjustment. Print out this supplemental manual and read it, it's got some really great stuff in it. It will also show you how to calibrate the lasers. Welcome to the green cool aid.... It's a very slippery slope!
http://www.waterfront-woods.com/fest...KS120_R3_1.pdf

[Mike Phillips]

Steve, thanks for that MUCH better manual. That being said, I think I'm going to let Festool calibrate the lasers. I spent big bucks on this one because of the bad experience I had with a cheap Hitachi saw. The decal has to be punctured to adjust the laser.

[Steve Wilde]

Ok, do what you like but if the shippers knock it around a bit you may have to redo it. Anything that gets shipped from your kapex to a table saw will need some minor adjustments. Not worth the hassle to send it in in my opinion. I would bet festool will even send you a new decal if you really want. Just my 2 cents though...

[James Zhu]

Check this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr_a0jWnm_U for all the calibration including laser adjustment.

[Tom Ewell]

First thing I did on mine was check for square, learned the saw functions and doodads, then set the lasers to how I liked them.

Don't recall (it's been 5 years or so) how far off the lasers were off (if at all) but setting them was no big deal. Mine are set to have the mark on the stock just inside the laser, if I'm fitting a piece I'll cut with the mark on the laser then trim to fit.

Best bet is to check out the saw by cutting something other than a dowel.

Let Festool calibrate it if you wish (1/16 does sound a bit off) but they still might not get how you like it.

[johnny means]

Sounds like driving 20 miles to save a dollar on ground beef. Fiddling with equipment is part of the deal.

[Mike Phillips]

So how much does a saw cost that you DON'T have to fiddle with? Remember, I'm a beginner.

[Jebediah Eckert]

So how much does a saw cost that you DON'T have to fiddle with? Remember, I'm a beginner.

If there was only such a world.......I'm racking my brain trying to think of anything I have woodworking related, that plugs in, that didn't need some type of adjustment. I'm at a loss. I've never relied on a laser, table rule on tablesaw, router table gauge, anything like that. I find that the angle you look at all these marking devices with machines have to much variance if you want precision. If the laser is out of alignment greater then that can be adjusted then send it back. Like Tom said adjust it to your preference.

Even a Lie Nielsen handplane needs a little adjustment before use.

I guess a precision square, a newly sharpened handsaw, and maybe a screwdriver don't need any adjustment whatsoever but I really had to think about that for a minute.

If it cuts dead square your way ahead of most saws out of the box. If lasers were never invented I'm sure you could still get fantastic results out of that saw.

[Mike Heidrick]

Some of the dewalt SCMS/CMS have an led light over the blade. Shadow line always makes a perfect line where the blade will cut and never needs adjusted. You can see the teeth in the shadow when the saw is off and the full kerf shadow when the blade spins. It is an amazing invention for a cms/scms.

[Craig Hoehn]

I don't think Festool even attempts to get the lasers spot on from the factory. I had to adjust mine myself but they are now dead on. Pretty much every tool you should expect to tweak to get it perfect. A good quality tool will have all the major components good to go, like flat tables, square surfaces, and well designed and easy to access adjustment points. You could pay $40,000+ for a table saw but guess what? I wont show up perfect and it will need fine adjustments once it is in place.

[Kent Adams]

So how much does a saw cost that you DON'T have to fiddle with? Remember, I'm a beginner.

The Kapex is nowhere near the most expensive mitre saw, not....even...close. However, I've not worked with any piece of equipment which had moving parts that didn't require an adjustment.

[Dave Lehnert]

So how much does a saw cost that you DON'T have to fiddle with? Remember, I'm a beginner.

You are going to do woodworking but don't want to make adjustments to your tools ??????? No such thing.
Kinda like wanting to be a preacher but not work on Sundays.

[Mike Phillips]

No, it's more like buying a new car and not having to stop off at the repair shop on the way home.

[Victor Robinson]

Part of the thing with the lasers is people have different preferences on where they want the lasers to be relative to their workpiece mark and the kerf. You have to be willing to adjust them. It's quite simple. The adjustments on tools is what makes them expensive. Imagine a laser that couldn't be adjusted and you have a $150 miter saw, and one that couldn't be adjusted very well or hold its adjustments and you have pretty much all the other ones.