I'm having some trouble with my new Kapex 120 miter saw. It seems to cut a perfect 90° angle on the left side of the blade but not on the right—it's off by about 1 to 1.5 degrees. I initially thought this could be due to a crooked or misaligned fence, but it looks straight to me. I even used a sharpie and sandpaper on my jointer to check for high spots, and still no luck. I'm using a high-quality machinist square to check for squareness, so I'm confused. Can anyone else get perfect 90° cuts on both sides without adjustments? Or is there something else I might be missing that could cause this issue?
3 Answers
I was wondering if the two sides of your fence can be adjusted separately? In many cases, that's a feature that could help fine-tune the angles you’re getting. But if it’s a single piece, adjustments may be limited.
Have you tried using a straight edge on the bottom of the fence to see if it's parallel? Festool usually has good quality control, but sometimes defective saws slip through with fences that are a bit off. If that's the case, reaching out to Festool for a repair or replacement might be necessary. Just a heads up, they may ask you to send the whole saw back, which could keep you without it for a week or more.
I’ve noticed that when I’m cutting thicker or harder materials, the blade can deflect during the cut. What I do is push against the deflection slightly. Your hand might want to arc, which can affect the cut. If your fence is straight, ideally it should still cut at 90 degrees on both sides. To reduce deflection, I usually cut most of the material first, leaving just a sliver for the final pass, and do some cleanup on my shooting plane. It helps me achieve a perfect cut every time.