kapex vs. bosch axial

[harryangel69]

This past weekend I got to use the Kapex and the new Bosch side by side. Not literally side by side, but I walked back and forth the forty feet many times. I really don't know why. I have no intention of purchasing either one, but I am eight and these are my toys. I started with the Kapex. I wanted to see what the hype is all about. Then just stumbled on to the Bosch booth. It took some coxing for the Bosch rep to let me make a couple of cuts, but he did. Then every time I had a question I just walked over and looked. The Festool rep was all "everyone come and cut your finger off". I mean really everybody was making cuts. I was shocked at that, but whatever.

I am not going into an indepth review. It is not fair to anybody. The only reason they are even compared is the forward slide motion. Normally you would not compare a ten and a twelve. Just wanted to throw out some impressions I got from the tools themselves. I have used almost all of the sliders on the market.

The Kapex.

The first thing I noticed was the ball bearing slides were no where as smooth as I expected. Not that they were not tight. Just guess I expected more from great Festool. They had the same feel as other quality sliding miter saws. Solid and tight with no noticeable play, but did not have any measuring tools. Just using feel, putting enough side to side pressure to make the rep cringe.

The second thing is that it is quiet. I mean almost cordless quiet. I had the Makita 7 1/4 inch 18v cordless slider, and I would make that comparison. It will get louder as it breaks in, but if I am impressed that's saying something.

The Kapex was completely covered in dust, but I could tell their dust collection system was not working very well.

I still don't understand why there is no "D" style handle. It is just more natural position, but it is what it is.

Smaller than expected. Nice and light. Easy to pack around.

The Bosch Axial

Man that thing is big. Bulkier than expected. It is smooth. Just epic. Can't feel anything move. Not a bearing click. I mean nothing. As I was trying to find fault with the unit twisting and slamming I mentioned that the slide was smooth but way to loose. Loose enough that one little push would make it slam back. Like the slight little bump you give a cabinet door to make self closing hinge slam shut. Then your wife looks at you like why did you slam the damn cabinet door. The rep, trying to stop me from breaking it in half(I was really trying), grabs a wrench and gives the joints a little tweak. The thing stiffened up a lot. The little bit of play that I may or may not have been imagining went away. Just smooth.

It did kick a little bit on the brake, but it is twelve inch.

It was also covered in dust, but again I can't quite speak for the dust collection to which it was connected.

I don't like the trigger safety. It seemed awkward to use, but I only made three cuts.

There it is my impressions. Not a review. Just my thoughts.

[ChetlovesMer]

Thanks Chad,

I know it isn't a review, but it is interesting. 2 questions:

Where were you? I assume a demo day.

Were they offering any demo day discounts? What was the list on each?

Take care,

Chet

[harryangel69]

I was at The Woodworking Show in St. Louis. I did not really touch on the price of either. Partly because I know the retail, and partly because I had no real intention of purchasing either unit.

Thewoodworkingshow.com

[Texfire]

I just unpacked a Bosch axial glide in my shop today. Was on the fence, but jumped when the price on Amazon dropped below $750. I checked the adjustments, but they were right on out of the box. The glide is like butter, kinda surprised me when I started the motor with the handle extended and slightly lowered, and the handle bucked incrementally due to the torque from the blade spinning up. It is bigger than I expected from the pictures, but not so bulky that I couldn't unpack and move it by myself. And the trigger safety will take some getting used to, still figuring out the trick with it.

The cuts were clean on both sides for the test cuts, I used it to cut some melamine templates and 2x4s for my wood rack this morning. No problems noted, clean cuts and dust collection was good when I hooked up my Festool vac. Miter settings seemed accurate and repeatable.