Circular saw for standalone and Triton Workcentre use

[matthew]

Need to get some kind of ripping facility next - don't really have the space for a 'proper' TS but after reading comments here the Triton looks like a viable alternative.

Can't afford it yet but meantime am thinking about getting the CS so that I can at least rip stuff, eg with a home-made guide - with a view to using it in a Triton later on.

Any recommendations? Triton folk, what do you use? Ideally want to spend about £100 so maybe the Triton saw is out of my range. (As is, alas, the Festool which I have used before).

Was looking at Hitachi C7SB2 on D&M - Hitachi seem to have a good reputation but it has no riving knife, presume this is a no-no? How about Metabo KS66 which is currently on offer at Axminster? Any others?

MTIA, Matthew

 

[George_N]

Need to get some kind of ripping facility next - don't really have the space for a 'proper' TS but after reading comments here the Triton looks like a viable alternative.

Can't afford it yet but meantime am thinking about getting the CS so that I can at least rip stuff, eg with a home-made guide - with a view to using it in a Triton later on.

Any recommendations? Triton folk, what do you use? Ideally want to spend about £100 so maybe the Triton saw is out of my range. (As is, alas, the Festool which I have used before).

Was looking at Hitachi C7SB2 on D&M - Hitachi seem to have a good reputation but it has no riving knife, presume this is a no-no? How about Metabo KS66 which is currently on offer at Axminster? Any others?

MTIA, Matthew

I currently use a Makita 5704 in my Triton Workcentre, which comes in at around the £100 mark. The blade diameter is only 190 mm so depth of cut is not great but fine for ripping sheet goods. The WC2000 probably takes up as much space as a regular TS, although the legs fold for storage. If you set it up carefully the Triton Workcentre is capable of very accurate work, at least as good as equivalent priced table saws in my opinion, especially if you use a good quality saw with minimal end float (makes the blade wobble in operation). Triton tools are selling the TSB001 for £180 but it is a huge saw for hand held use. The Triton Workcentre blade guard has a built-in splitter/riving knife so for table use that wouldn't be an issue.

cheers

George

 

[devonwoody]

I'm a Triton user (4 years) and have returned two other tablesaw brands for being unsatisfactory to me.

So, my advice is go for the triton and a bandsaw.

 

[smiffy]

I initially used a Hitachi and even tried a Proline in my Triton table before I eventually got a Triton saw.
The one thing I would say is that the Triton far out performs the others in the power stakes. I did pay £200 for it though and I did have some quality issues which were ironed out by Tritons brilliant customer support, but it definately is a good investment.
The saw is well designed for the table and they work well.

Triton have some serious special offers on at the moment at thier UK site.

http://www.tritontools.co.uk/

 

[matthew]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

If you set it up carefully the Triton Workcentre is capable of very accurate work, at least as good as equivalent priced table saws in my opinion,

That's the impression I'm getting - I wouldn't have thought so if I'd just seen the table in a shop or something, but the comments I've read here about it are encouraging.

The WC2000 probably takes up as much space as a regular TS, although the legs fold for storage.

That's what I thought - but being able to move it and store it should make for a more flexible workshop layout (I seem to make big things which need assembly space!)

I initially used a Hitachi and even tried a Proline in my Triton table before I eventually got a Triton saw.

Sounds like the Triton saw is a good bet... but apart from the price, as George said, it's a bit of a monster (8Kg!) and for a while at least I'd be using it hand-held. I think I might have to compromise with a 190mm saw, at least for the time being.

The blade diameter is only 190 mm so depth of cut is not great but fine for ripping sheet goods.

With a saw this size, what's the effective depth of cut in the table?

The Triton Workcentre blade guard has a built-in splitter/riving knife so for table use that wouldn't be an issue.

That's interesting... but for hand-held use, presumably the riving knife is a must to prevent kickback? Why do some saws not have them?

Thanks again...

Matthew

 

[George_N]

That's interesting... but for hand-held use, presumably the riving knife is a must to prevent kickback? Why do some saws not have them?

Thanks again...

Matthew

For handheld use kickback isn't such an issue because you are controlling the saw and the wood is often clamped to saw horses of held down by your weight etc. That dosen't mean the kerf can't close up behind the blade and cause it to bind. I haven't used a saw without a riving knife so I don't know how the design differs from those that do, if at all.
Hitachi power tools generally have a good reputation and I can recommend the Makita although I am very tempted to get a Triton saw as I have a kitchen refit to do over the summer.

cheers

George

 

[smiffy]

You are right about the Triton saw being a bit too heavy for hand held use. I also find it a bit scary, as it just feels like a noisy, super powerful beast thats just under your control and no more. Maybe thats just me

That is why I also have a much lighter Hitachi 7u for doing the hand held jobs. You would not want to only have one saw anyway that always needs to be removed from the table mount when you need to do it this way.

Seriously though, if you want a good powerful saw with excellent depth of cut that will cut through 80mm solid oak with hardly a slow down, then the Triton is worth the extra dosh. It is also the most solid and chunky saw that I have used, so it should last for ages.

 

[Tony Spear]

One thing you need to remember when buying a saw for the Triton table is the amount of depth of cut you lose when it's in TS mode. I can't remember how much without looking it up but I seem to remember that I struggled to cut 2" with my Makita 5703.

I quickly replaced that with a Makita 5903 with which I'm very happy, although I'm glad that i kept the 5703 c'os I wouldn't want to be using the 5903 for a lot of hand-held use!

I certaily agree that the Triton is an excellent piece of kit PROVIDING YOU SET IT UP VERY CAREFULLY. It certainly saves a lot of space when you think of the space needed for a Table Saw together with a separate Crosscut.Conversion frim Rip to Cross-Cut is a piece of cake particularly as I now have the dedicated saw, and it's also quite quick to stick the Router table on (which is also a good piece of kit and saves yet more space) I'm now thinking about getting the overhead router fitting for it to speed up Dado cotting.

 

[matthew]

Thanks for everyone's comments! Sounds like I have a plan:

* Buy a 190mm saw now for handheld use
* When I can afford it, buy the Triton and manage with the saw
* When I can afford it, buy a 235mm saw (eg Triton) dedicated to the table

Now just have to decide which saw...

Regards, Matthew

 

[devonwoody]

To Tony Spear.

Triton overhead router plate.

I've got the overhead router plate and its a really useful bit of kit for those dado cuts (stopped or otherwise).

However remember to reverse the cut when doing the matching side piece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise you finish up with two left or right hand sides.

 

[George_N]

One thing you need to remember when buying a saw for the Triton table is the amount of depth of cut you lose when it's in TS mode. I can't remember how much without looking it up but I seem to remember that I struggled to cut 2" with my Makita 5703.

With my Makita fitted to the table (190 mm blade) with the height winder installed I only get a max depth of cut of about 40 mm. That's fine for the vast majority of what I want to do, mainly ripping plywood, MDF and MFC but it can be a bit restricting. That's why I'm thinking about getting the Triton saw for the table.

cheers

George

 

[devonwoody]

With the height winder fitted you get around 57mm depth which can be doubled to 0ver 100mm by running the timber through again on the other edge.

 

[Tony Spear]

Devonwoody,

Thanks for the info and the advice - I'll definitely remember that!

Having seen how little it costs I'm sending off for one this week.

I've got a little job coming up which will involve about 30 housings (or sliding dovetails if I'm feeling frisky) so it should be really useful for that!