Kity 419 - It's Broken Already

[Gill]

Blade height adjustment on the Kity 419 tablesaw is by means of a knob which, when depressed, engages a cog against the metal frame of the saw. When the knob is is depressed and the cog engages, rotating the knob raises and lowers the blade.

I've had my saw for about a month now and only used the height adjustment mechanism a few times. I raised the blade to its full height and tried to lower it but the height adjustment mechanism wouldn't engage. On checking, I found the plastic cog that engages against the metal case has mashed.

I can't believe that Kity would make this cog out of plastic! What next, motor car manufacturers selling cars with papier mache brakes?

So His Lordship kindly rang NMA (from whom I purchased the saw) to see what they had to say about it. He spoke to a guy named Alan who said he wasn't familiar with the problem; they just deliver the saw as it's supplied from Kity in France, but he would have a look at one of their saws and get back to us.

Have other Kity 419 users experienced this problem?

With the saw being brand new, the phrase that's lingering in my mind right now is "of merchantable quality". Kity are not supplying NMA with saws of merchantable quality right now.

Gill

 

[Chris Knight]

Gill,
That is rotten luck - really takes the shine off things when that happens to me! I guess it will get sorted quickly enough but that doesn't excuse the failure in the first place.

 

[trevtheturner]

That's bad luck, Gill - hope it's sorted quickly.

Just in case it is not, are you okay with your position as the buyer?

As you bought your saw from MNA your contract is with them. They cannot fob you off to Kity. In the event that they become 'difficult' (I am not suggesting that they will and have no reason at all to believe that they will), your protection lies with the Sale of Goods Act. As your goods have failed so soon (within six months of purchase) you should be entitled to a full refund, replacement or repair - the choice should be yours, not the retailers.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[dedee]

Gill, oh dear what a let down.

IIRC the plastic cog in the handle is engaged on the metal teeth when adjusting the blade tilt and not when raising/lowering the blade. I did chew mine up a bit when I tried to adjust the tilt while the lock was still on.

I am sure one of the other kity users will shoot me down if I am wrong and as I am in the office and relying on memory I would not be surprised.

Andy

 

[AndyBoyd]

I'm with dedee on this, to adjust the height just turn the wheel, the push to engage action tilts the blade but only when the locking knob is released. Had my 419 for 5 years now and not a peep of problems

 

[Waka]

Gill

Really bad luck, and you waited so long for the delivery.

I'm not familiar with Kity, but it surprizes me that they would have a plastic cog that engages on a metel one.

If you are going to keep the saw have you thought about getting a steel cog made? it shouldn't be too expensive, if you need help I may be able to be of assistence.

 

[kityuser]

I'd backup what has already been said, had my kity for around a year and no probs in this area so far.

I also am at work but if my memory serves me correctly I'm sure the mechanism you describe is for tilting the blade not raise/lowering it.

regards

steve

 

[Jake]

I suspect that the gear is deliberately made of plastic so that it strips if the mechanism is forced, rather than allowing more expensive damage to occur to other parts of the saw as might happen if were a metal gear.

 

[Gill]

It's working now.

I'd raised the blade to its full height and it had tightened in place. I showed His Lordship this thread and he applied his not-inconsiderable bodyweight to the mechanism. That freed it! It's a good job I'm not an engineer.

Thanks for your mesages, though - it'd still be stuck if it wasn't for you guys.

Gill

 

[Steve Maskery]

Gill
I had a similar problem on my Kity P/T a few days after new, it was the cog that engages the thicknessing drive. It, too, was made from plastic (resin, I think they call it) but it was a mess, and of course, completely unuseable).

Steyer did a good job of sorting it out, once they had the paperwork (complicated by the fact that it was bought by an insurance company from a dealer who bent bust the week after) and they sent an engineer to sort it all out. He was an experience enginner, worked on helicopters in the RAF, but had never seen one of these machines before.

To cut a long story only slightly shorter, they sorted it out to my satisfaction, and the engineer was able to bill them for 16 hours work. I don't think Kity made much of a profit on that sale, somehow.

Cheers
Steve

 

[thomaskennedy]

:lol: Gill,

You'll know next time ay?

Ta, Tom

 

[Losos]

Gill, Glad it's sorted. As a general engineering rule plastic (Resin or whatever) should not mesh with steel, but there are exceptions & I suppose the possibility of less damage is one, 'tho I would have thought a better design would help. I often wonder how much 'in house' testing goes on these days because 'events' such as you describe would surely be picked up in design before the product gets to market.