Festool 494391 Hold Down Clamp

Absolutely a worthwhile upgrade to my old 10" compound miter. So much better than the original screw clamp. The shank just barely fit into the left side but got caught on a chunk of flash on the right side. I cleaned up the flash on both sides with a dremel and now the clamp slides in an out perfectly. One caveat is that the clamp JUST BARELY clears the motor housing when mounted on the right side. No such issues when mounted on the left. Yea it's expensive but honestly worth it to me for the convenience and time saved over hundreds of cuts

This is now my second clamp for my Kapex. Some might think it's over kill or a waste, but I like having a clamp on each side of the blade. It's more useful than you'd think, least for the stuff I do.As for the clamp, it's just an outstanding idea. Most miter saw clamps, are screw type that you have to screw up and down to loosen or tighten. They are a pain, and if something is a pain to use, there is a good chance it won't get used. I hardly ever use the one on my old saw. But these, quick and easy to set the height, pull down the lever and done. So frickin easy. And they hold very tightly.Some might say they are to expensive, but I am more than happy I bought two. Would recommend.

In terms of overall functionality this is the fastest/simplest miter saw hold-down on the market. Bar none. You can move it into place, adjust it, and secure it into a hold position in 3 seconds...with one hand. And it provides all the holding power you'll need. For those Bosch owners, yes, it will work, but not out of the box. Another user provided the simplest fix which I'll reiterate here. Take it to your belt sander and evenly sand down the portion of the shaft up to the point where it flares out to serve as a positive stop for insertion (about 2") until it will slide smoothly into the hole (about 1/16th off the diameter, give or take). You could do it by hand without a stationary belt sander, but it wouldn't be pleasant (Wen has a cheap one for like $30 on Amazon that includes clamps to hold it down). You could also tap the hole(s) in the miter saw slightly larger but I usually opt to permanently modify the least expensive component ;) Also, if Bosch (or someone else) comes out with a similar hold-down I'd prefer the holes to be their factory size.

The problem with lot of these clamps/safety devices is that it's cumbersome and slows you down. So you end up not using it. This is so easy to deploy and retract that you end up using it. It fits the DeWalt DW716XPS saw perfectly. You have to push a litter hard to get it to seat, then rotate it to the front. It adds accuracy and safety and costs you fractions of a second. What's to not like? And you tell your friends that you have a FesTool tool.

The Bosch miter saw has a screw hold-down clamp that is slow to set up. The Festool hold-down clamp slides down on the workpiece and the clamps down with a lever. It is fast and secure; much faster to set up than using a manually operate screw turn down.The one issue you might have is that the thickness of the round rod that slides into the Bosch clamp hole is a bit thick in relation to the Bosch fence so it is a tight fit. I used a stationary belt stander to reduce the circumference of the rod where it fits tight against the fence; probably took off about 1/32" around it so the rod is not so tight on the fence and rotates a bit more easily. The bottom of the rod that locks into the Bosch bracket for the hold-down clamp is just fine; it is 1/2" in size which seems to be standard for most miter saws.This is a very pricey item--$90 so the convenience comes at the cost.

This clamp is awesome.I needed to move into my own shop and buy my own tools to make my Hard Maple Unit Blocks. I had been spoiled by the Festool Kapex KS 120 Sliding Compound Miter Saw in the shared shop I used to work in, but I didn't have $1300 to spend. So I bit the bullet and bought the closest thing I could find: the DEWALT DW717 10-Inch Double-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter-Saw.Almost as good, but the Dewalt screw down clamps were driving me crazy. They take so much longer to set and release than the Festool clamp's lever action. I make hard maple standard unit blocks for a living. This means that, at points throughout the day, I need to be able to move, set, cut, and remove small blocks of hard maple cut to a precision of 5/1000 of an inch. A fast clamp if a must, and the stock Dewalt screw-down miter saw clamps are not fast.However, I noticed that the base of the Dewalt miter saw clamps looked similar to the Festool Hold Down Clamp, so I took a risk and ordered my own Festool Hold Down Clamp for use on the Dewalt Miter Saw.Wow! It works!The two clamp stems are almost identical.The Dewalt DW717 Sliding Miter has almost identical anchor points to the Festool Kapex KS 120. The left-hand anchor point on the Dewalt DW717 is set a little further back limiting rotation for the Festool clamp, but the right-hand anchor point on the Dewalt DW717 is set back almost identically from the fence as the anchor points on the Festool Kapex KS 120 and both anchor points are about an 1/8" deeper, so you can either drop a bead in the hole or slightly lift the Festool Hold Down Clamp when you set the clamp.If you have to cut a lot of pieces fast, and have a Dewalt Miter Saw, you should think about buying this.All the best,Pepi AceboCarolina Pratt Unit Blocks

I use this with my Bosch GCM12SD miter saw. It is so much quicker than using the hold down that came with the saw. Great product.

I once read somewhere that this would fit my saw...well it does not fit the Hitachi C12RSH2.Sadly I will have to return it. Clamp seams to be made well and it’s quick to make an adjustment and lock it in place. Too bad it doesn’t fit my saw.