Triton 2000 table saw - Ply tear?

[Geofract]

I'm new to this whole word working thing, though I am spending a lot time researching what to buy. Mainly trying to find the right table saw for my needs at the moment.

I am pretty much set on buying a 2nd hand Triton 2000 WC if I can get one at a good price.

At the moment I invisage creating a lot of furniture with plywood, from 12/15/18mm sheet material. I wonder if the Triton can be adapted to have a Zero clearance insert, to save tear when cutting Ply. Or for that matter, would it actually need one in the first place?

Any advise much appreciated

 

[RobinBHM]

A zero clearance insert may help.

I find saw blade height and sharpness is the key. A very sharp rip blade will leave a much cleaner cut than a slightly blunt cross cut blade.

If the saw blade is too high or too low you may find breakout occurs on more on the top or underside, so adjust until you get the best compromise.

 

[HexusOdy]

You can't have a zero clearance insert on a Triton WC but the slot for the blade to come through is fairly narrow, narrower than a traditional table saw I would say.

Tear out is going to depend on the power and quality of the circular saw you mount in it, the blade you use and having the blade set up correctly. I have a Triton and have used it to cut ply without any tear out.

On saying all that if I started again I wouldn't get a Triton WC. It cuts fine and there is nothing wrong with it per se, but as you get into woodworking more its limitations become apparent.

It's nowhere near as easy to pack away as their videos suggest. With the CS in place its heavy and cumbersome and you won't bother every time you want to use it so discount that as a feature.

The lack of standard mitre slots means as you advance you won't be making cross cut jigs, taper jigs etc.

You can't even cut a bevel without the £50 guide and some fiddling and even then it's nowhere near as accurate as on a standard TS. And it's noisy.

If you want something fairly cheap second hand to do rip cuts occasionally it's fine, but within months I regretted buying mine and wish I'd bought a standard tilt arbor TS.

 

[RogerP]

Tear out is more down to the blade than anything else. Using the right type of blade for the job but that can mean frequent blade changing and we all get lazy .....

I'd advise getting a normal table saw for the reasons given by HexusOdy.

 

[DiscoStu]

Is a track saw an option?

 

[Geofract]

Thank you all very much for the replies, they're really useful! Well worth knowing it's more about the blade type and sharpness.

As for the WC 2000, well I was quite wedded to the idea, but perhaps it's not right. So difficult to tell, as I don't quite know exactly what I want to do, short of building some furniture for my home, mainly out of ply - I like ply a lot, so that's all good

Beyond the WC 2000, I had considered a second hand Makita MLT100 or 2704 - I saw a decent looking 2704 go for £265 on ebay recently - good value I think. I don't think my budget can stretch much beyond that, and I would defo prefer second hand. As I only have a small shed, I would like something portable, and not much over 35kg. Any suggestions are welcome.

And yes, I think a track saw may be an option, why not I suppose.

Thanks again.

 

[HexusOdy]

You won't get a sheet of ply on a WC2000 or most table saws come to that so I'd consider a track saw. You'll be able to do cross and rip cuts and it won't take up any room.

But beware, what you think you are going to be doing often doesn't turn out the way you think it will. For example you say your going to make furniture with ply which is fine but what about your edges? You can band them but personally I prefer to use solid wood in which case you likely have to rip it to size and would need a table saw.

You may find you prefer to build the frame and legs out of solid wood and just use ply for panels and top.

I'd recommend getting a circular saw and try making something with ply. For now you can do it with a CS and a straight edge. Doing that you'll learn more about what you might want before investing a lot of money in some proper tools.

 

[Geofract]

Thanks for the reply Hexus.

I suppose I do have half an idea of what I would like to create, in that, I would like the edge of the Ply layers to be exposed, rather than banded. I would post a link if I could, but hopefully you get the idea.

But yes, who knows what I might like to make in time. In the near term, I might be better off coming up with a design, and then trying to work out what tools I need to make it. - might be a better way forward perhaps. Will have to put my thinking hat on, and then post some designs.

Thanks again.

 

[DiscoStu]

I bought an axminster table saw with sliding table and extension and it requires so much space especially with larger boards. I now have a festool tracksaw and it's simply brilliant and saves loads of space. I also don't get any issues with tear out on ply. I am very impressed with it. I think I will still use my table saw for relative cuts on smaller cuts IE on rails and stiles, but if I had to keep one of them, I'd keep the tracksaw.

 

[Geofract]

Just leaving aside the track saw for minute, if I wanted to make cross cuts of any significant length, say 800mm, i presume that will be a problem with the Makita 2704 or MLT100, but will work with the WC 2000, as it can be switched to cross cut mode? I just wanted to check I understand the difference between the machines in this respect?

Sorry the thread has deviated from the original question a wee bit.

Track saw wise, I sort of like the idea, but not sure it will offer me enough flexibility vs cost... not seen many secondhand - might need to look harder.

 

[Geofract]

.... for example, if I am cutting the side of a bookcase, its 800mm tall, 400mm wide. I've ripped the ply to 400 wide, now i need to cross cut each end, to make it 800 long, e.g. shorten a board 400x1200. With the WC I imagine its relatively easy to clamp the piece down, and run the saw across in CC mode, and it claims to cut upto 700mm.

For the Makita, I think I could build a sled, and run it in the rail slots, but with a 1200mm piece, there's going to an awful lot of material hanging off the table, so presumably I will need to build some kind of support for the piece. I wonder how square it would cut too? I guess the sled would do great for not so wide pieces, but maybe less accurate for 400mm pieces, or even 600mm cross cuts?

 

[rafezetter]

Not quite the answer you were looking for, but for the crosscut you could either cut by hand then clean up with a belt sander to a mark, a fairly painless process - or a bit more involved, with a plane. Planing plywood isn't too bad and you can get good results from a simple block plane, as long as the blade is good and sharp.

A different approach might be this idea I saw only a few days ago and it might be worth investigating - it's essentially a framework to turn a regular CS into a panel saw like the large ones in DIY sheds (B&Q etc) - with some ingenuity you may even be able to make a version that fits inside a shed (if you have no garage), but still stows away when not used.

http://www.americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2010/01/14/fold-down-cutting-rack.aspx

 

[Geofract]

Thanks for the reply rafezetter.

Can't say I am too sure about cross cuts by hand, only because I doubt my ability to get a nice clean straight edge, but hey might be worth a go.

I kinda like the CS panel saw idea though! Could be really useful too, as long as I can build it accurately enough. Good thinking though imo. I found myself browsing another thread earlier today along similar lines combined-crosscut-trim-slot-jig-long-but-lots-of-pics-t32019.html

 

[HexusOdy]

Or you can crosscut with a circular saw, a straight edge and a couple of trestles.

You won't be crosscutting big pieces on the Triton. The space between the mitre gauge and the blade is limited and you don't have much table to support longer pieces. You also can't clamp to the mitre gauge.

 

[skronk]

.... for example, if I am cutting the side of a bookcase, its 800mm tall, 400mm wide. I've ripped the ply to 400 wide, now i need to cross cut each end, to make it 800 long, e.g. shorten a board 400x1200. With the WC I imagine its relatively easy to clamp the piece down, and run the saw across in CC mode, and it claims to cut upto 700mm.

For the Makita, I think I could build a sled, and run it in the rail slots, but with a 1200mm piece, there's going to an awful lot of material hanging off the table, so presumably I will need to build some kind of support for the piece. I wonder how square it would cut too? I guess the sled would do great for not so wide pieces, but maybe less accurate for 400mm pieces, or even 600mm cross cuts?

Geofract,

I have the Makita table saw you mention above. Bought it for house build. Its been great.

After a wee but adjusting it cuts straight, true and square. Had it about 4 years. Apart from house build it has had light use only....planters etc. I built sled and a with a couple of roller stands you can manage most cuts.....wife is handy at times though !!

All in all the saw has been a credit to its maker. Be aware slots are not standard.

It also has a sliding table.

 

[Geofract]

Thanks Skronk, that's good to know.

I was reading about the MLT100 again yesterday, and apprently you can make crosscuts of around 50cm with the help of the sliding table, which sounds useful.

In theory I could have picked up a 2nd hand Triton 2k for around £150 via fleabay recently, but passed it by. Whilst by most accounts they work, I do get the impression there's a lot of fettling and tweaking required to keep it in tune. And I read sometimes an extra bracket is needed to keep the CS from sagging (more expense).

I'm still not 100% decided, but suspect I will go for something along the lines of the Makita.

 

[Geofract]

Or you can crosscut with a circular saw, a straight edge and a couple of trestles.

You won't be crosscutting big pieces on the Triton. The space between the mitre gauge and the blade is limited and you don't have much table to support longer pieces. You also can't clamp to the mitre gauge.

Thanks for the reply Hexus.

I might have been mistaken then, but I thought the Triton could cross cut up to 700mm when the saw and table are flipped upside down? I'm not really sure I want the Triton, but wouldn't mind knowing the answer anyway if you happen to know?

Thanks.

 

[Geofract]

This is what I'd really like to make, but not sure I would have the precision without a cast iron TS... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/25262447881241464/

and more fine examples on the Tongue and Groove website... http://tongueandgroove.publishpath.com/furniture

 

[Geofract]

 

[Student]

FWIW I have had a Triton Workcentre for about 8 years. In retrospect, I might have been better off getting a tablesaw but the flexibility of using the stand with a router table has proved worthwhile. With regard to the maximum cross cutting capacity, the manual quotes 680mm BUT to do this you have to remove the cross cut fence and use the rear rail as a stop and plunge cut at the start. Then, when you get to the end of the that cut, you lift the saw, replace the crosscut fence and finish the cut. Hence it's not an ideal solution and getting a straight cut can be problematical.

Martin