Another Table saw question

[John_P]

I dont own a table saw and suffer from a chronic shortage of funds. I have always admired the Triton equipment at the Hardware store but have recently found a Ryobi that is cheaper (and includes the saw!). The ryobi is a 10inch on legs (appear a bit light) for NZ$400 while the triton is about NZ$700 for the series 2000. The ryobi HBT250 also has a slot to attach a router or jigsaw where the triton router table is another NZ$300.

Is a light weight table saw going to be any good or should I wait and buy somthing better?

Are the triton benches as good as the triton forum say? and would it work given my little B&D saw doesnt have a very large blade?

Any thoughts would be helpful. To date I have been using the B&D with a clamped on piece of timber as a guide but would like to do more work and have a few projects lined up.
John

[kenmil]

John,

Before you jump into a Triton, have a look at the Torquata Woodworking Station which Timbecon sell. Does everything that the Triton does, but with a much more solid table and you can tilt the saw blade.
Just go to Timbecon.com.au and search for it.:D

[Wayne Davy]

Actually, I'd look at the Timbecon 10 economy saw
http://www.timbecon.com.au/productsdetail.asp?sectid=12508&parentid=12471&prodid=27567

I have one (over a year now) and it is a nice little 10" saw for the money ($379). Induction motor, proper tilting mechanism, etc. The fence is pretty cheap but does the job so long as you check its aligned correctly. (worse on the Ryobi - see below)

Carbatec now also sell one that looks identical for the same $. These are probably twice the weight and 50% bigger than the Ryobi.

A mate of mine just bought one of those little Ryobi saws and I helped him put it together - I was not very impressed. Fence was all over the place - saw blade hole is way to big particularly at the front of the blade!! which is dangerous. (and could not be easily fixed). The first piece of wood we ripped snagged on three different places on the way through!!! more danger Will Robinson!! Very, very light construction. Anyway, check it out really well before you lay down your dough.

[Justin]

Hi John,

Maybe you should consider buying a seconhand Triton ? I got a lot of use out the the earlier MK3 version, then upgraded to a 2000 series and used that for a while before finally buying the tablesaw that I've always wanted.

I don't know what the situation's like over in NZ, but there's a publication here in Melbourne called The Trading Post which has a tools section. Mk3's and 2000's are regularly advertised for sale (in fact I sold my two Tritons through it).

I think the Tritons are extremely good value for what they are, and they give you some pretty reasonable accuracy. I reckon you could do a lot worse than picking up a secondhand unit that has been looked after and not dinged about too much.

Cheers,


Justin.

[Dan]

John,

As much as I hate to admit it, I did buy a Ryobi table saw some years back. It now resides on a shelf in the shed and I really don't even want to give it away because I know who ever gets it will probably curse the day they met me.

At a minimum you should look at saws with induction motors (like Waynes), they are much quieter and need very little maintenance. Steer clear of anything described as having a "universal" or "brush" motor. I would also be tempted to go for a cast iron table over alloy. The trouble is, saws with these features tend to be up around the $1K mark which is why I don't have one yet.

In answer to your question, waiting till you can afford it will be worth while. I am doing just that at the moment. Also it might be a good idea to factor in the cost of a couple of good blades with your purchase, the factory supplied blade might not be of the highest quality.

Dan

[GeoffS]

John

If funds are short (very short!) a secondhand Triton would be the way to go. I used a Mk 1 for years. When I bought the 2000 I could have sold the Mk 1 half a dozen times, even in small town like ours.
The most important thing is a half decent saw to put in it. However any saw will do more useful work in the bench than out of it.
I suppose what I am saying is that I would think it better to buy a secondhand Triton and use any spare cash to upgrade your saw.

Now - loads of contradictory advice always helps!!!!

[journeyman Mick]

If you're short of funds you may need to ask yourself whether you really need a table saw and what you are going to do with it, you might be better off spending the money on more timber. I operated for years without one and while things are easier now that I have one, nothing was impossible. If you are cutting sheets or panels you can make a saw guide that I find faster and more accurate than a table saw (unless it is a sliding panel saw). Take an aluminium straight edge, fix it to a strip of melamine board (more stable than ply), butt the left edge of your saw's baseplate against the edge of the straight edge and rip thru the melamine. To use, make two marks on your panel for your cut, place the cut edge of the melamine on your marks, clamp in position and cut away, usually on top of a few lengths of stud on either the ground or some saw stools. You can refine this by glueing some of that miracle table cloth stuff on the bottom, you know that grippy open "weave" rubber matting. With this in place clamps aren't neccesary, but I still use a couple of those big clothes peg type spring clamps. You can use the same idea to make a jig for cutting the ends of sheets square. Hope this helps.

Mick

[julianx]

somtimes when I'm working on site I build a table saw by cutting a slot in a piece of white board or similar and bolting my power saw to it with the blade poking through. Then I clamp a straight edge to it for a fence "Hey Presto instant table saw" (cheap too)

[John_P]

Thanks heaps. These responses have saved me a lot of $$. I dont think either the ryobi or triton are what I am after now. I have a collection of old and recycled timber to use for projects and need to rip it down to size to build some built in bookshelves and cabinets and a decorative display box. After reading your posts and some in the triton forum i think what I need is the DYCO woodworker http://www.cws.au.com/ but at $1645 its a case of champagne tastes on a beer budget. The torquata looks great but delivery to NZ could add too much to the price, same with the economy saw. To date I have used an old melamine shelf as a guide but micks idea of adding a peice of aluminim angle souds great and is within budget. And it gets rid of the hassle of the offset from the guide to the cut. Also I have been thinking about making table for my router and with that and the melamine guide I should be able to rip and then clean up the timber more acurately than with a cheap table saw.

Thanks for your help.

[DPB]

John, I've looked at this machine and am disapointed by its inability to rip a bevel cut. If I am correct on this, it shares this deficiency with the Triton.

For just a little more one can purchase a fairly serious 10" saw from Carba-Tec for $1795 (Cat. #TSC-10HB). This is a 3hp model with max depth of cut at 90 degrees of 75mm,at 45 degrees 69mm and a good Biesemyer type fence. The weight of this unit at 170kg gives some indication of its build.

Mind you, it is only a saw without combo features.

[Wayne Davy]

John,

Do you know that Carbatec are now in NZ! Give them a call and see if they have the Carbatec economy table saw (same as the Timbecon one). Should be around the $410 NZD on a straight AUD conversion. They might want a bit for freight but it would not be anything like what you would be charged to get one from Oz.

Address is:
104 Harris Road, East Tamaki
PO Box 62 595 Kalmia St
Auckland
Ph 09 2749454
Fax 09 2749455
email: [email protected]
freecall (orders only): 0800 444 329

I think the item is:
MT-250
Price: $379.00 AUD
Table Saw 10 Site Saw
(Found this by searching the Carbatec bris site)