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Post by andy king on Oct 18, 2007 16:45:14 GMT
If anyone has one that is!
When I looked at one of these recently, I noticed that the angle divider, when stored on board, prevented the turntable from swinging right the way around to its full 50 degree setting, stopping it at 48 degrees, so it has to be removed if you need the full travel.
Also, the fences are the pull back type to allow the head to tilt, (nothing unusual there) but they have small retaining screws to keep them from sliding right out, but in doing so, restrict the tilt angle. The left hand fence needs to slide over a little more than the screw allows, but the righthand one needs to be removed to allow the motor to slide through.
OK, it's not a problem as such, but I would have thought that a system albeit simple, devised to retain the fences in place, should still give the saw its capacities, otherwise, what's the point? (Especially as you need a hex wrench to screw them in or out)
The angle finder only needs to slide in a little further to get the table to rotate fully as well, and as it's Festool, I thought it would have been better thought out.
Am I being to picky, or should a saw that sells for around £800 have these niggles better thought out?
Or have I got it wrong completely! (The anglefinder only fitted one way and wouldn't push back any further, no matter what I tried, although the saw I had was sent to me after being looked at by someone else, and had no manual etc, but it was easy enough to get to grips with it, just these fence issues that I found frustrating) Otherwise, it's a great saw.
Any thoughts?
Andy
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Post by windmillman on Oct 18, 2007 19:03:12 GMT
Hi Andy,
I have a Kapex and yes you are right you do have to remove the angle divder to swing the saw head to the full extent.
The screws on the back fence issue was pointed out to me by the dealer. You are not supose to remove them to fully slide the fence back but screw them down and slide the fence over them so they dont get lost. The dealer pointed this out with some pride "Festool think of everything" were his words.
The saw is alot of money but I will say it is the best one I have used to date. My back is grateful that I no longer have to pick up my large 300mm Bosch CSMS. The cut surface is quite remarkable, the only odd things about this saw is that it seems to cut at a very low speed and is very quiet. The dust extraction is very good but not perfect. The lasers are good as well but only if you are working indoors or outside on a dullish day. I question its duradility in the back of the van as there is a lot of plactic in its construction, festool will supply a large stainer for it so that will help. My dealer is getting one in for me to look at will report back on it and its price tag.
After all that it is the Dogs Bo****ks
Regard John
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Post by mailee on Oct 18, 2007 21:48:36 GMT
I did have a play with one and found it to be superb in cutting and the dust extraction was great. It is sturdy as a rock and very accurate. I did find the problems described and I also found that it was hard for me to handle the trigger and safety switch having small hands. I found it hard to reach over at a perculiar angle and push both the button and trigger and was at my full stretch with my hand. To me it is very overpriced for something that has these oversights.
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Post by andy king on Oct 19, 2007 9:07:13 GMT
The screws on the back fence issue was pointed out to me by the dealer. You are not supose to remove them to fully slide the fence back but screw them down and slide the fence over them so they dont get lost. The dealer pointed this out with some pride "Festool think of everything" were his words. So what he's saying is that by screwing them in, the screws don't get lost? In my opinion, the chances are, if the saw is used on site and the fence removed for compound cutting, it's likely the fence will be mislaid, not a couple of cheap and easily replaced screws which makes it poorly thought out from that respect. The L/H one can stay on board using the green clamping lever, but the R/H one needs to slide too far away to get it to engage if I recall, and if the screws need to be down to get the fence off, and its required to get the full range of angles, why have them in the first place? My argument is, if Festool did their homework properly, the R/H side of the table/fence should be longer to allow the fence to remain in place, and the base casting altered enough to allow the saw to travel its full range without removing the angle finder, another piece that could be mislaid. The L/H fence can easily be recified, it's simply a matter of moving the retaining screw over a few millimetres I would imagine. Sounds to me like Festool know they haven't got it quite right and the salesmen are instructed to say 'they think of everything'  They've certainly thought of an excuse... Just my 2p, but as I said, at £800, despite the fact it is a very good saw, the ease of setting the angles (the compound tilt adjuster is superb) is a major selling point, so should be a simple job of tilt and cut, not having to strip the saw down to do it in my opinion. Andy |
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Post by Scrit on Oct 19, 2007 19:00:31 GMT
The question has to be "is it really worth almost twice the price of a Makita LS1013?". I've used various deWallys (no, not a typing error!), Makitas and Hitachi SCMSs in recent months and of all of them the Makita still seems the best by far (DWs are all noisy brutes which seem to suffer from premature mitre lock failure in site use) - especially after heavy usage. Next week I've been promised a 12in LS1214 to "play" with. The only pity is I've yet to see a Bosch anywhere.
Scrit
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Post by windmillman on Oct 19, 2007 19:00:48 GMT
End of the day nothing is perfect and if you are willing to pay the price go for it.
It is with out doubt the best saw that i have had, (i have had bosch, dewalt makita). The build quality is very good, it`s smoth to operate, the cut is fantastic, the dust extraction is the best of any i have used . I would recommend anyone to get one.
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Post by Alf on Oct 19, 2007 19:09:27 GMT
The only pity is I've yet to see a Bosch anywhere. That is a pity - I'd love to hear the opinion of someone who hadn't only tried the Bosch (like me) but a wide range. Not that I'm not happy, but I'm perverse in liking to know of things I might not otherwise have thought of. The appalling dust extraction on the Bosch is a given...  Cheers, Alf |
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Post by Scrit on Oct 19, 2007 19:24:38 GMT
On site dust extraction is normally referred to as "the labourer" or "the floor"
Scrit
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Post by Alf on Oct 19, 2007 19:30:50 GMT
On site dust extraction is normally referred to as "the labourer" or "the floor" Scrit Alas, I don't have the former and can't find the latter...  |
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Post by dom on Oct 20, 2007 5:34:22 GMT
;D ;D
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They've certainly thought of an excuse...
