OMGA questions

[Martin Wasner]

Holding that switch is awkward.

Btw, just send the blade out for sharpening. Don't let a dull blade taint your first impression. It's cheap and will have to be done soon probably anyways.

You know I'm right.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hah, I’ve recently learned not to question good advice. So, off it goes to be sharpened.

[Jim Becker]

Given this is literally "in your house" that reduced sound level is a nice feature!

And yea, I agree with Martin...a sharp blade takes that out of the question as you continued with setup and cutting. (You being the master of sharpening most likely agree with that, too! LOL)

[Brian Holcombe]

The reduced noise is fantastic, I was expecting that from the Kapex but it proved louder than anticipated.

Im going to order a new blade, then send this one out. Given that the blade on there had burn marks all over it I’m guessing it’s been misused and so having it sharpened will attend to that.

Ive been really happy with Tenryu miter pro plus, so I’m going to order a 100T version of that so long as it fits the spec.


Edit: New blade on the way.

I ran it yesterday and noticed some runout at the blade, so I checked the existing blade, it is running out about .010" (near the middle of the blade) I checked the arbor and that is perfect, less than .0005" runout. So some knucklehead damaged the blade, hopefully it can be straightened and it will exist as a spare.

[Martin Wasner]

Let the sharpener know. They can usually beat them back into submission.

I should take a video of mine howling. It is brutal. The second you disturb the air flow the whistle goes away. It's something in the guard that does it, if you remove the guard, it goes away. Yours being direct drive should lessen the drive line noise, should limit done run out too.

[Brian Holcombe]

Will do.

This is pretty reasonable in terms of noise, I wonder if a perforated guard would minimize it?

I ordered 2" x 1.25" aluminum bars and 3/8" x 2" UMHW to build a fence. That should be fairly straight forward of a task, so should be up and running properly soon. Also bought UMHW to make a new ZCI since this one is pretty mangled, and it's a hollow form so solid will be better.

These saws are really easy to square, after messing around with the Kapex arrangement for so long it's nice to see something that you just turn the big nut and dial it into squareness. That's pretty sweet.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Wow, nice score! I use a 100T Tenryu Miter Pro Plus for finer work on a Dewalt 780 (12" slider) and I find it to be a fantastic blade for the money.

Where did you find this saw?

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Phillip, glad to hear that you like that blade. The 80T treated me very well, so I’m excited to see how the 100T goes.

I found this at a dealer who listed on Woodweb, JKL machinery. Father and son family business, they were excellent. Reasonable price, reasonable shipping, neatly packaged, followed through on every promise and picked up every phone call I made (or returned it in short order). They shipped with Saia who was also excellent. They arrived at the ETA and were quick and effective.

[Brian Holcombe]

New blade's here. I love this saw, it is an animal (a quiet animal).

I dialed in the squareness, the head was out a touch so I brought that in to square with shims. The table is super easy to square, just turret and lock it down.

Cutting through 12/4 x 2.75" ash takes two seconds, I do not pause at all, just pivot the blade down and its done.

Here is the cut:



I managed to get it better than this in the upright, and this I'll tune more once the fence is completed.



New insert.

[Jim Becker]

Dang....that cut is "wow"...

[Jeff Duncan]

Hmmmm, looks like they changed their fences. Mine was a single piece of cast iron with replaceable plastic inserts. I hate to say it but looks like they're trying to save money and made a cheaper version??? Hard to believe for what those sell for new. Though I had the 14" so maybe its different on the different sizes?

Regardless they are great saws and should last a lifetime

JeffD

[Martin Wasner]

New blade's here. I love this saw, it is an animal (a quiet animal).

They are pretty hard to beat for a chop box. Also pretty easy to be disappointed in other chop saws once you get used to one.

I do wish there was a handle out the front like a traditional saw. Fine tuning a ¼ of a degree isn't the easiest.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hmmmm, looks like they changed their fences. Mine was a single piece of cast iron with replaceable plastic inserts. I hate to say it but looks like they're trying to save money and made a cheaper version??? Hard to believe for what those sell for new. Though I had the 14" so maybe its different on the different sizes?

Regardless they are great saws and should last a lifetime

JeffD

Jeff, this is the 12” direct drive model. Lighter duty than the 14” belt driven, but heavier enough to be a production duty saw.

They are pretty hard to beat for a chop box. Also pretty easy to be disappointed in other chop saws once you get used to one.

I do wish there was a handle out the front like a traditional saw. Fine tuning a ¼ of a degree isn't the easiest.

Have you had to shim the head on any of yours? I don’t mind it, I’m rarely cutting anything other than 90.

This is a breathe of fresh air after borrowing my dad’s Hitachi for a week, I’ll be especially ruined for the next time I need to use that saw at his shop.

Dang....that cut is "wow"...

[Martin Wasner]

Have you had to shim the head on any of yours? I don’t mind it, I’m rarely cutting anything other than 90.

Two of mine are perfect, never touched them.

The other one, that's on my bench, has more problems than worth fixing. I'm hunting for a replacement, but they don't pop up often.

My single phase one is getting loose on the pivot pin at the back.

What did you shim it with?

[Brian Holcombe]

Interesting, I haven't found exactly where the out of squareness came from but I shimmed between the pivot mount and the turret and that cured it. I used shim stock. Once I find the culprit I think I will machine it, but I wanted to be certain of what it was before I go crazy hunting for it.

The pivot is tight on this one.

Here's the new fence, just need to check for clearance issues and add in the UHMW. These were more work than anticipated due to the clearance needed for the base of the hood (near the pivot) but I managed to maintain a much heavier section of solid material(rather than cast with hollows) so hopefully these do well.



Here's what I did to make the clearance for the shroud (when mitering).



And here is the result with a piece of UMHW held in place.





I'm thinking 3/8" material should be enough to allow some overhang around it (without aluminum backing it) and not have issues. I also setback the plastic about .005" from the aluminum since the insert should be replaceable and I've noticed that they're not super consistent in terms of thickness. Not sure if that was a wise move but I figured having a future insert protrude above would be more annoying. Time will tell.