AJB Temple
Finely figured
For your delectation and delight I thought I would do a review of the Triton unlimited rebate planer. There are bits and pieces on the net about this, but this is a real world review.
It has the Custard no-no of I only unboxed it a week ago but am still reviewing it anyway.
I bought this specifically to clean up a lot of tenons right into the shoulders on green(ish) oak and some of the worst surface roughage. Most of the oak is 9”, 7”m 6” and 4 inch square section beams and I am doing a hell of a lot of joints. I am working in my own and so look for speed, so I opted for this rather than hand plane. The worst stuff is whipped off with slicks.
The tenons (and beam lengths) are all cut with a circular saw. This is a big Hilti but even so is not deep enough to get through a beam in one cut – some need four. Tens take a cross cut on each side and two rip cuts, then the slick cuts the waste off and trims, and if I want to clean up more of chamfer, I will chisel or plane.
Anyway, I bought the thing for £9O delivered from Amazon. The attraction was:
• Cheap
• You can get right up to the shoulder of a rebate and cut to any depth as the blade guard flips up
• It has a three blade drum (which you can switch out for a supplied sander drum that I have not used as I have heavy duty belt sander)
• Plenty of adjustment right down to 0.2mm and up to 3mm. I have no intention of taking off 3mm – my cutting is not that bad.
The first one they sent broke within ten minutes. This is because the guard which flips up to allow the blade drum to get right up against the work, is operated by a plastic knob which itself operates a sprung ratchet inside the casing. This broke straight away and may have been faulty from the off. I took it apart to see if it was just dislodged, but the ratchet is frankly carp. So I emailed Amazon and they had a new machine in my hands by 10am the next day, which was bank holiday Sunday. Fab service methinks.
This one has not broken. I think to be fair, these things are made for the DIY / light pro market, not blokes knocking up timber framed buildings.
Thoughts:
It looks sturdier in the pictures than it actually is. The silver casing parts look like aluminium castings. They are in fact plastic in special drag to look like alloy. £90 remember. I would pay more for a tougher tool though.
The cut quality with the triple high speed blade is excellent. It is a fast and easy tool to use.
The rebate system really does allow you to go any depth. My tenon shoulders are two or three inches deep and this trims right into the corners.
It will be easy to change blades as the blade drum pops out dead easy.
Rebate safety mechanism is a good idea but badly executed. Needs to be made of “proper metal”.
Used freehand in strictly unapproved method of cleaning up end cuts on big beams where circular saw overlaps are inevitable, it is quite easy to get a blade hollow where the drum digs in. It really needs a longer sole plate.
Depth adjustment is excellent. Very positive.
Bed width is only about 3”. However, Triton also do a hand held planer with a 7” bed that I might also get. (You can forget putting this stuff across a PT – each beam weighs at least 150kg.
You can choose easily which side chippings eject. Has a bag too, but I have not bothered with that as I am working outside and if you have any idea of the amount of chippings I produce….
Summary
if you want a rebate planer for workshop use and don’t fancy using hand tools, this is a good tool at a very good price. Some people might find the sanding drum useful. It is light enough and small enough to do surprisingly delicate work. Be careful not to be too heavy handed with the rebate lever. Guardedly recommended, but not for day in day out trade use.
It has the Custard no-no of I only unboxed it a week ago but am still reviewing it anyway.
I bought this specifically to clean up a lot of tenons right into the shoulders on green(ish) oak and some of the worst surface roughage. Most of the oak is 9”, 7”m 6” and 4 inch square section beams and I am doing a hell of a lot of joints. I am working in my own and so look for speed, so I opted for this rather than hand plane. The worst stuff is whipped off with slicks.
The tenons (and beam lengths) are all cut with a circular saw. This is a big Hilti but even so is not deep enough to get through a beam in one cut – some need four. Tens take a cross cut on each side and two rip cuts, then the slick cuts the waste off and trims, and if I want to clean up more of chamfer, I will chisel or plane.
Anyway, I bought the thing for £9O delivered from Amazon. The attraction was:
• Cheap
• You can get right up to the shoulder of a rebate and cut to any depth as the blade guard flips up
• It has a three blade drum (which you can switch out for a supplied sander drum that I have not used as I have heavy duty belt sander)
• Plenty of adjustment right down to 0.2mm and up to 3mm. I have no intention of taking off 3mm – my cutting is not that bad.
The first one they sent broke within ten minutes. This is because the guard which flips up to allow the blade drum to get right up against the work, is operated by a plastic knob which itself operates a sprung ratchet inside the casing. This broke straight away and may have been faulty from the off. I took it apart to see if it was just dislodged, but the ratchet is frankly carp. So I emailed Amazon and they had a new machine in my hands by 10am the next day, which was bank holiday Sunday. Fab service methinks.
This one has not broken. I think to be fair, these things are made for the DIY / light pro market, not blokes knocking up timber framed buildings.
Thoughts:
It looks sturdier in the pictures than it actually is. The silver casing parts look like aluminium castings. They are in fact plastic in special drag to look like alloy. £90 remember. I would pay more for a tougher tool though.
The cut quality with the triple high speed blade is excellent. It is a fast and easy tool to use.
The rebate system really does allow you to go any depth. My tenon shoulders are two or three inches deep and this trims right into the corners.
It will be easy to change blades as the blade drum pops out dead easy.
Rebate safety mechanism is a good idea but badly executed. Needs to be made of “proper metal”.
Used freehand in strictly unapproved method of cleaning up end cuts on big beams where circular saw overlaps are inevitable, it is quite easy to get a blade hollow where the drum digs in. It really needs a longer sole plate.
Depth adjustment is excellent. Very positive.
Bed width is only about 3”. However, Triton also do a hand held planer with a 7” bed that I might also get. (You can forget putting this stuff across a PT – each beam weighs at least 150kg.
You can choose easily which side chippings eject. Has a bag too, but I have not bothered with that as I am working outside and if you have any idea of the amount of chippings I produce….
Summary
if you want a rebate planer for workshop use and don’t fancy using hand tools, this is a good tool at a very good price. Some people might find the sanding drum useful. It is light enough and small enough to do surprisingly delicate work. Be careful not to be too heavy handed with the rebate lever. Guardedly recommended, but not for day in day out trade use.
