New Triton Setup - First Impressions

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xraymtb

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Hi all,

Seeing as how I had to ask the question recently about Triton gear I thought it was time to share my first impressions of my new kit for others who may be considering it...

I decided to go for the Triton due to space constraints - with having no permanent workshop, it was vital for me that my table saw and router table could be packed away when not in use. That led me to the Triton and I ordered a Triton Workcentre 2000 (with Blade Height Winder) and Router Table.

First things first when it arrived...this thing comes flat packed. And not flat packed in a 'fit the fence and legs yourself' type of way...more a 'Swedish furniture superstore' way...

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The workcentre comes in two boxes - one for the long rails and legs - and the other for the flat sheet metal parts and the odds and ends. Unpacking it all and my initial impressions (help...I failed high school metalwork!!) gave way to a feeling that all wasn't so bad...

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The Triton doesn't actually need that much assembly. The first stage is fairly quick (around fifteen minutes) and involves fitting the legs (one bolt each and a spring loading pin), fitting the lower rails (four bolts in total) and fitting the upper bearing rails (another four bolts) - so twelve bolts and you have this...

2438656453_5999b12773.jpg


Now, I would say if you had struggled to this point that perhaps making your own furniture is best left to the professionals. :lol:

Surging ahead with renewed confidence and I hit my first major stumbling block - the saw carriage (or more importantly - the blade height winder). For the uninitiated - the Triton as standard only allows blade height changes through your circular saws standard mechanism - that means fiddling under the table and struggling against the weight of the saw to make your adjustments. The Blade Height Winder Kit adds a metal frame that moves the entire carriage (thereby adjusted blade height) through the turning of a removable handle from above the table).

As an add-on, the kit is great, but to build it into a new kit requires reading both sets of instructions carefully, then removing the original parts and fitting the new ones. I took the cowards way out and built the workcentre without first - then went back and fitted it afterwards - just to be sure :) . Around an hour later...

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I would say that the job would take a lot less time had I been confident and just gone for it in the first place but I wanted to be sure. So, saw in place and height winder fitted - time to get the table top and fence on and start making adjustments. :?

Adjusting the saw is surprisingly easy - two small cams move the front and back to one side or the other, and four plastic locators lock it in place (and keep the correct position for the future). Angle (in relation to the table top) is dealt with by the saws own adjuster - great with the Triton saw - not so good with some others. All told, adjusting only took a few moments - now for the bad news. By the manual, the saw blade should be adjusted until it is at the same vertical angle to the table as the fence (90 degrees). My square shows this as being out by a tiny amount and hence my blade is not 90 degrees square to the table surface - I'm going to test cut and adjust it with my square when I can.

As for the fence being parallel to the blade - this can always be achieved as the fence can be moved independently at each end. Alternatively, you can follow the manual, set both ends to 0mm, and adjust the saw to the same angle - and my test rips have been perfect (and within 1mm of the fence guage reading). Crosscuts were likewise perfectly square using the miter guage.

So the finished unit looks like this...

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Then rain stopped play. :( Due to the outdoor nature of my workshop I had to give in for the day - more testing to follow.

In summary:

Assembly takes about an hour and a half - adjusting took me around fifteen minutes but it could take a lot longer.

The saw seems to be accurate so far (the vertical alignment issue will be easy to resolve). The fence is straight and parallel to the blade - vertically it appears to be out by a few degrees.

The whole unit, although the legs fold for space saving, is still heavy and removing the saw is really a necessity if you want to move it a distance.

Overall, very happy so far - the router table is also built...

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but not yet tested. Assembly involves a lot more small parts with very few large pieces - probably took about and hour in total.

More to follow once the rain gives in...

**UPDATE**

So after a week, and jolted into action by posts to this topic, I set myself to test out the saw again.

I had agreed to make some chopping boards for a friend and figured this would be a good test of the Triton - my first task being to make one with standard B&Q pine as a trial run.

First of all, I have to note that my vertical alignment issue above was easily resolved with the use of an engineers square. The blade is now exactly perpendicular to the table surface as are all cuts. The blade does not however line up perfectly with the fence (vertically - it is parallel in terms of ripping) in the manner suggested by Triton (although I have yet to look into a solution to this).

As the saw had been dragged in the back of a van to my new home, then manhandled up a tight spiral staircase and into my new 'workshop' (comprising of a 20ft by 10ft room that was never turned into a proper bedroom due to planning issues) I made a few test cuts to check the alignment. Pleasantly surprised I found the saw to have remained vertically aligned and at an exact 90 degrees to the mitre fence (set at 0).

A few crosscuts (in crosscut mode) then a few rips and the first stage was done, with the boards gluing up straight from the saw with no further preparation required - a good result. After the glue up and subsequent planing, I then took a series of crosscuts across the grain of the assembled sections. This time the finish was not so great, requiring a reasonable bit of work to get each face smooth although the cuts were square.

Overall, I would say the Triton has exceeded my expectations with none of the problems I have read about in other posts/forums. The saw is very accurate and cuts perfectly square (providing the blade alignment is checked with a square/test cuts). Assembly and disassembly (for storage) is straightforward and quick and does not appear to have much of an impact on the saws alignment.

My only concern at the moment is the finish of the cuts. Whether this was down to the timber used, the blade, or my technique, I have yet to uncover although further tests with some maple and sycamore will give a better indication.

For those needing a portable (or space saving) table saw that can be had for around £300-350, I would happily recommend the Triton.
 
Good pics and comments Mike. I've got the same gear as you, picked up about a month ago.

Take the riving knife off the saw though, as I understand it (I asked not long ago and Argee confirmed), you don't use the saws riving knife in table mode when you have the tables guard and support fitted.
 
I don't know if you guys know about the Aussie Woodwork Forumswhere there is a Triton owners/users forum. Well worth a browse and of course our resident Triton expert Argee always seems only too willing to help out. If you search the Aussie forum there are a number of really good posts on optimising the setup of your Workcentre. Apologies if you already know about this.
 
Take the riving knife off the saw though

I actually forgot to do that when I assembled the unit for the first time - I did remove it later when I realised. A point I would like to make here though - Triton design the 235mm circular saw for use in the workcentre - yet there is no easy way to fit and remove the riving knife - meaning most people are likely to take it off and leave it off, affecting the safety of the unit when the overhead guard is removed.

I don't know if you guys know about the Aussie Woodwork Forums where there is a Triton owners/users forum

Yes, I have been there and found it a good source of info (particularly if you search back for things). I also found Argee very helpful so far and would like to thank him for his help in getting the right setup.

**EDIT**

As Argee rightly pointed out to me, the overhead guard can be left fitted for all cuts other than non-through cuts, where a riving knife is not required and so its removal does NOT affect the saw safety.

Thanks to Argee for correcting my mistake.
 
Thanks for the detailed posts. This looks like an excellent compact setup and your description was very informative.

Will you keep us posted when you start to use both tools in anger?
 
Yes, my chances to use them properly have disappeared recently with an unplanned move down to Hawick in the sunny Scottish Borders. I plan to update this post when I get the chance.
 
Mike Bremner":94s8j3ph said:
First of all, I have to note that my vertical alignment issue above was easily resolved with the use of an engineers square. The blade is now exactly perpendicular to the table surface as are all cuts. The blade does not however line up perfectly with the fence (vertically - it is parallel in terms of ripping) in the manner suggested by Triton (although I have yet to look into a solution to this).

If the blade is square to the table and parallel to the fence are you saying that the fence face is not square to the table?
 
It would appear so. I don't have time to have another check now but setting up the blade (vertically) in the manner suggested by Triton (i.e. against the rip fence when set at 0mm) left the blade not cutting square to the table (as confirmed when I checked the blade using an engineers square).

I haven't actually checked the rip fence against the table with a square yet.
 

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