Thanks Thanks:  0
Needs Pictures Needs Pictures:  0
Picture(s) thanks Picture(s) thanks:  0
Results 1 to 13 of 13
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    8

    Default Triton Sliding Compound Mitre Saw

    I am considering buying a sliding compound mitre saw forbasic cutting jobs.
    Is the Triton 2000W 255mm XT Double Bevel Sliding Mitre Sawat $289 (Masters) a good deal or are their better sliding compound saws outthere.
    I want to use it to cut weatherboards and mitre edges forwindow and door trims mostly.
    Up until know I’ve always just used a hand sawand a set square, but thought it might be time to go electric as I’m planning acouple of serious jobs at my new place.

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia.
    Posts
    1,268

    Default

    This one is a brushless induction motor unit, extremely quiet and based on a now old German designed machine. So quiet you can run it (within reason) at night in your garage.

    https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...aw-1200w-motor

    This one is their trade version, meaning reasonable value for money and capable of doing what a contractor would do day in and day out.

    https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...00w-contractor

    My Men’s Shed has one of these Makita units, to say it is built like a rock and capable of super fine and super smooth cutting, would be an understatement.

    https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...itre-saw-1010w

    This mob are in your back yard, they did have a shop in Victoria, but that folded. Due to their position, timing and reasonably fierce local competition.

    I do not know much about the Triton saw you referrred to, so I cannot comment on it.

    You can of course go lower in price and you will not be that badly off, but you are starting to get a bit iffy with super fine quality cutting ability. My own sliding compound mitre saw is from Aldi, things don’t get much lower in price than that unit. However it does the job and with care is capable of very good stuff.

    But that Makita I use at my Men’s Shed…………………………………. Drool.

    Mick.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Somerset Region, Qld, AU.
    Age
    66
    Posts
    602

    Default

    I've got a range of other Triton stuff bought over the years, and have been overall happy with the quality and reliability of the Triton tools that I've bought in the past - i.e. bought between 4 years and 1 year ago. So, when Triton bought out their Triton 2000W 255mm XT Double Bevel Sliding Mitre Saw, I decided to go and have a look.

    Quick summary - After inspecting this saw at Masters, I was very disappointed.

    This saw, along with some of the other tools recently released under the Triton brand, are not of the same high quality as other tools historically released under the Triton brand.. The structure of this saw includes a large amount of plastic and pressed sheet metal used in key parts of the SCMS structure. Overall the saw lacks rigidity, which I believe would make it difficult for the operator to make reliable cuts at specific angles, which is after all the purpose of a sliding compound mitre saw (SCMS).

    Roll forward about four months .........

    In November, a friend showed me his newly purchased Triton SCMS. He'd got it on special at $239..... I smiled nicely, and suppressed the groan. We got on with the job that he'd asked me to help out with, which was docking a big heap of 75 x 20 meter long Cypress Pine boards to be used as parts for some new verandah railings. Simple cuts - everything at 90 degrees, cut to accurate lengths using stop blocks. My mate was doing the setting up and cutting, while I was doing the donkey work moving the boards around.

    After making the first two cuts, my mate did some checks to make sure that the board length was correct, and that everything was square. Everything was OK.

    After working for about an hour, I started to notice when stacking the cut boards, that the ends on the cut boards had drifted out of square. Close examination of the saw revealed that the saw had developed some free play, and was no longer rigid. Measurements of the boards that had been cut last showed that the mitre angle was varying between about 89 and 91 degrees, depending on how you held the saw handle, and the bevel angle had moved to about 88 degrees instead of 90 degrees. He took the saw back that afternoon, and was offered a replacement. The replacement was unpacked in the car park and was almost worse than the saw that had already done an hour or so's work. So the replacement saw was taken back. After much negotiating, a refund was eventually provided.

    When you're looking for a suitable SCMS, look for designs where the major parts are solid metal, or heavy gauge sheet metal. If you can feel any lack of rigidity in the display saw, don't touch that model.

    I won't bother recommending a particular brand, as many of the brands that have previously held excellent reputations, are now buying generic tools from China (and other low cost manufacturing countries), and having the tools "brand identified" on the generic production line in China. Based on your description of the type and quantity of work that you expect to do with the saw, a professional or trade quality saw which would probably cost about $1000 and upwards should be of excellent quality and be reliable over a very long period of commercial use - but that would be an overkill for you, unless you've got plenty of money in your pockets.

    If I were you, I'd look at the tools that sit about midway in the price range - say around the $500 to $700 mark. With careful selection, you should be able to find a good saw that will last you for years of DIY type occasional usage.

    Hope that info helps,

    RoyG
    Manufacturer of the Finest Quality Off-Cuts.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    8

    Default

    Thank you for such educational answers. Glad I asked here first before putting any money down. Any other issues I should know about.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    8

    Default

    I went down to Trade Tools to have a look at sliding mitre saws. The guy recommended me this as well as the two Renegades recommended by Optimark
    https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...&PageProduct=1

    Any thoughts on it, its only $62 more but does it have any real advantage over the renegades .

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia.
    Posts
    1,268

    Default

    Your link goes to a line up of mitre saws, not a specific one. However I think if you carefully read Roy G's posting, most if not all the information you require is there. I do realise that you are not that knowledgeable with regard to mitre saws, generally, neither are we, as most of us only have a small sample of one or two that we use or have used.

    If you go back to the Trade Tools shop, ask about saw blades, they have a great range of reasonable stuff. Also ask them about neutral kerf saw blades, I know they have them and you will probably find a staff member who is knowledgeable about them. They have quite a range of stuff that is not on their website.

    You can do a search on this forum for negative or neutral kerf on circular blades, you should get some interesting threads. Essentially the idea is to have a blade with little or no blade point (edge) sticking out in the order of one sticking out on the left, the next sticking out on the right, and so on. Blades with neutral or very slight negative kerf will make cleaner cuts through most timbers, the downside is you will take more time as cutting is slower, but this is not an issue generally for someone at home.

    Kerf, is the width of the blade points that stick out from the blade. You can notice this if you look directly at a saw blade towards the teeth, instead of side on and reading the name plate etcetera.

    I have a few blades for my 250mm mitre saw, one is for rough stuff and has taken at least one hit with a nail, but for what it's used for, perfect. One has 40 teeth, with another 60 teeth, my other blade is 100 teeth (I think) this is for aluminium, the last one is a neutral kerf blade for fine cutting where keeping splintering and smoothness of cut, both over and under, is paramount. This blade I use for picture frame mitres and the replacement of one damaged door architrave some time ago.

    Mick.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Crowborough, East Sussex, UK
    Posts
    820

    Talking

    The Triton saw, like many others at the "budget" end of the market, is built down to a price. It does not live up to the minimum expectations of such a saw, RoyG's post above clearly shows the result of that and I winced when I read it. It's actually doing woodworkers a dis-service to market such a poor-quality product, as not only does it waste both time and money, but it gives a very poor experience when using the saw.

    I had a couple of cheap budget-end saws when I started, before I realised how unlikely it was that I would ever be satisfied or happy with them, so I saved up and bought a Makita LS1013. WOW! What a FABULOUS saw the Makita brand produces. They are spot-on accurate, straight out of the box and - after many years of very pleasurable use, mine still is. It's a wonderful thing to be able to get beautiful, repeatable, accurate, smooth cuts, time after time, as well as being an absolute delight to use.

    I have bought one additional blade to that supplied with the saw and I can cut just about anything at just about any angle with supreme accuracy and confidence. Can you tell I like it yet? Is there a better saw? Well, the Festool 581265 may be a little easier to adjust, but have you seen the price?!

    You really do get what you pay for.

    Ray

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Victoria
    Posts
    731

    Default

    The non workcentre triton range appears to have replaced 909 brand at Masters and some of the products are very close looking to 909/gmc.....mmm.
    If a set square and hand saw has worked in the past dont discount it count it now, sure day in day out tradies couldnt afford the extra time but as a diyer the extra time spent marking cuts might soon be swallowed by faffing around with an inaccurate mitre saw.
    For 90 degree cuts on a pergola for example a speed square and circular saw work well.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    8

    Default

    Thanks very much for all the experienced input, and I apologise for the incorrect link to the Trade Tools Makita LS1018L 260mm slide compound mitre saw
    here is a better link: https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...th-laser-1430w

  11. #10
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    73
    Posts
    656

    Default

    Mate, it is hard to go past the Makita brand on these things if you can stump up the extra dough. I bought the 305mm Makita SCMS a few years ago and could not be happier that I did. I have never used anything other than the standard blade that comes with the saw and that has cut a wide range of hardwoods and softwoods with a lovely cut. Included in my list of hobby projects are ornamental boxes and the Makita's cut is very accurate and the standard blade is fine enough for this work.

    I played the Bunnings 10% price guarantee game for mine insofar as when a competitor published a sale brochure with a discount price on the machine, I rushed into Bunnings to get them to do the price guarantee gig. You need to be quick in doing this as if they see the competitor's sale price first, they will drop their own prices to be $5 less than the competitor's price so you cannot then ask them to go 10% below the competitor's price. They are always cheerful when they exercise the guarantee, BTW.

    Anyway, you won't need the 305 mm version for your projects but the smaller blade Makitas can be guaranteed to give you much joy whereas the others only might do the same thing.

    I first got the idea of using a SCMS for fine box work from Roger Gifkins, the erstwhile dovetail jig manufacturer, who used a 10" Hitachi SCMS for his work.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    SE Melb
    Age
    64
    Posts
    1,277

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Maranoa View Post
    I am considering buying a sliding compound mitre saw forbasic cutting jobs.
    Is the Triton 2000W 255mm XT Double Bevel Sliding Mitre Sawat $289 (Masters) a good deal or are their better sliding compound saws outthere.
    I want to use it to cut weatherboards and mitre edges forwindow and door trims mostly.
    Up until know I’ve always just used a hand sawand a set square, but thought it might be time to go electric as I’m planning acouple of serious jobs at my new place.
    I noticed in another thread you intend to build a house in FNQ. In that case you will need a robust and accurate heavy duty saw and as others have noted, The Triton will struggle with that sort of workout. You will also consider the ability of cut left and right bevels which I notice a lot of 10" just won't do. I myself find it very useful if you want to cut from a single reference edge for consistency and accuracy. Spending a bit more to get a decent size 12" would be worth it considering the cost of building a house in total and the benefits you'll get.

    There have been a lot of discussions lately in the forums about saws for example, Compound mitre saw help needed and Looking for advice 12" SCMS provide plenty of discussion which could be relevant to you. You will note that I am not a fan of some of the cheaply made Makita mitre saws and found them real disappointments generally, but love the Japanese made Makita, particularly the LS-1013 but you can't buy that model any more.

    While I have my reservations about Makita, I have no problem recommending the Bosch 12" Glider. It is a strong, robust and accurate saw. The stand - not so much.

  13. #12
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    73
    Posts
    656

    Default

    [QUOTE=Optimark;1929251]This one is a brushless induction motor unit, extremely quiet and based on a now old German designed machine. So quiet you can run it (within reason) at night in your garage.

    https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...aw-1200w-motor

    [QUOTE]


    I should mention something that I read about these in a SCMS review that I read a few years ago before buying my Makita.

    The review gave the Trade Tools induction motor model a good thumbs up for accuracy and quietness. The only downside that they mentioned was that because it uses an induction motor, there is no natural braking of the motor when the 'operate' trigger is released. That means that the motor and therefore the blade just keeps spinning like a domestic fan does until friction does its job and the motor stops spinning. Apparently, that can be quite a while and therefore there may be a serious safety hazard to your fingers if you don't wait for the blade to fully stop before you do anything around it.

    I note that their webpage says that the machine has an automatic blade brake. That may be an innovation since the time of the review that I read but if you do look at one of these, it may be worth checking out that safety issue first.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Leopold, Victoria
    Age
    65
    Posts
    4,677

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Charleville View Post
    I played the Bunnings 10% price guarantee game for mine insofar as when a competitor published a sale brochure with a discount price on the machine, I rushed into Bunnings to get them to do the price guarantee gig. You need to be quick in doing this as if they see the competitor's sale price first, they will drop their own prices to be $5 less than the competitor's price so you cannot then ask them to go 10% below the competitor's price. They are always cheerful when they exercise the guarantee, BTW.
    Bunnings will only give you the 10% discount if the the competitor's price is below theirs. I though I was on a winner recently when I had seen a cordless saw advertised elsewhere at the same price as Bunnings. Armed with some gift cards I went in only to be told that they only do it if the other price is lower. When I stopped and thought about their slogan I quickly realised I was wrong. I would have got it from the smaller trader to support them, except I had the cards.

Similar Threads

  1. 909 Sliding Compound Mitre Saw
    By oldrose in forum PRODUCT REVIEWS
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 5th March 2015, 05:22 PM
  2. Triton 12" laser slide sliding compound mitre drop saw
    By Twisted Tenon in forum HAND TOOLS - POWERED
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 15th January 2013, 10:09 PM
  3. Compound Sliding mitre saw
    By redauxr6ii in forum HAND TOOLS - POWERED
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 12th June 2008, 11:40 AM
  4. Sliding Compound Mitre Saw
    By al2 in forum HAND TOOLS - POWERED
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 22nd November 2004, 09:10 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •