Recommended Triton Items

[collector]

Hi everyone. My first New Thread!!

I have really enjoyed reading this forum and while I am new and haven't been able to contribute to the level of more experienced members, am certainly learning a lot!

I posted a question in the recent "dust collector" thread, but thought I should instead put forward my questions for everyone to see and answer.

I have recently acquired a Triton MK3 workbench from a neighbour, have attached a circular saw to it and have really enjoyed testing out everything. But I would like to do (and purchase) more.

My question is simple -
What items from Triton do you recommend I look at purchasing? I have looked at the website, but was looking for accounts from those in the know...
I guess I need a dust collector and bag?
Superjaws?
Multistand?
Router mounting plate?
Extension table?
Training DVD and projects - Are these useful?
Other?

I apologise if this info is somewhere else. If so, please let me know and I won't waste anyone's time.
Thanks.:roll::U:roll:

[Aberdeen]

Mate - Welcome to the world of Orange ! :D
Apart from everything they sell the first question is one I'd ask myself:
"What do I want to do, or more aptly what do I think I want to do?"

If it is just to cut up bits of wood and make sawdust or matchsticks then the saw table and saw is probably all you need.

If you want to make intricate designed objects/furniture etc with inlay features, fancy angles or whatever then the result is different.......

Ponder your ambitions...... and keep reading this forum.... lots of knowledge and guidance out there - but remember as you develop and get the bug the needs grow.

I started out with the router table and an old makita router.
Then added the Triton 2400w router, biscuit cutter, jigsaw attachment and something else I can't recall at the moment. Ah yes, then the dust bucket.

Then came the Triton 2000 workcentre, then the big circular saw, then the wheel kit, then the dust bag..... Will add the large extension table and bevel ripping guide in the next month or so.... have the 1999 6 hour video and it is a gold mine of information and techniques to my thinking.

Some other bit also along the way.....but you probably get the idea by now. As you grow in skill and demand more challenges you will want another bit, then another bit etc etc.... At least the Triton range all seem to compliment each other..... and more new toys... err... more new machine coming available this year....

Recap: what do you want to do ? Check the bank balance and if necessary start stashing a bit away each payday.... :)

[blackhole]

Buying Super Jaws and multi stand is money that you will never regret spending.

[HotChips]

Buying Super Jaws and multi stand is money that you will never regret spending.

Um, I disasgree, the triton stinkyjaws is the biggest paperweight and unused load of..in my shed. But the extension table is well worth it, and it has the advantage of when/if you upgrade later it can be bolted on to other table saws too with just a few bolts. Save for a (festool if you can afford it!) biscuit joiner, the triton one is "ok" but like most things triton you may find their limitations quickly and trade up. The router is awesome so highly recommended. Get a smaller one for outside of a router table though as its too big to lug around easily. The router table is ok for small jobs but once again has its limitations. better making your own or get a model that suits your needs. The dust bag is ok, but the bucket -well I think a dedicated dust unit is a much better option.. I still use my triton WK2000 regularly and the triton saw in it is powerful for all your needs, well mine anyways. Skip the finger joiner. Skip the Planer attachment kit, skip the drill, (discontinued I believe), I also use and recommend the multistand/s. The height winder kit is so useful as are the wheels for the 2000. Hope this helps and may shed a little light on what you want in your shed.
:)

[Stuart]

I dunno HotChips, you are the first person I've ever come across who's really complained about the SuperJaws. I currently have 3, and you have to wonder why just so many displayers at the woodshows use them on their stands.

Most love it, so you have to wonder why you are the odd one out?

[Aberdeen]

Super Jaws are on my shopping list..... have a few mates with them and have proven to me how versatile they are.... I can do without them (can always borrow some of course) but once my next few more expensive orange purchases are done I'll be tracking down a new one......

[Stuart]

http://stusshed.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/pict7491.jpg?w=400&h=266
My latest use of these 'paperweights' - putting a fold into some roofing sheet steel. Had to use much of the 1000kg pressure because of the ridges in the tin, and wanted them flat.

Photo was taken after I had literally pounded the **** out of it with a sledgehammer. These 'paperweights' can take an absolute beating (sic) without missing a beat.

[Aberdeen]

Stu - I reckon ya gunna needa bigga shed soon :D

[Stuart]

Need to move to the country!

[Aberdeen]

Great idea !
LESS THAN 6.5 yrs til retirement this way... have already started to identify potential locations of a semi-rural nature to get away from the big smoke.

BTW - The domestic government has approved on retirement:
1. Smaller house
2. Smaller block (this one is about 1,000 square metres)
3. Larger shed !!! as big as I need providing it leaves room for a clothes line.
4. Somewhere other than Adelaide is okay (with limitations of course)

Stu GO COUNTRY !

[collector]

Thanks for the replies. You've given me some great advice!

[HotChips]

I dunno HotChips, you are the first person I've ever come across who's really complained about the SuperJaws. I currently have 3, and you have to wonder why just so many displayers at the woodshows use them on their stands.

Most love it, so you have to wonder why you are the odd one out?

Stu.....
Maybe triton themselves could answer..they obviously had to re-engineer the locking design at least twice I know of, since it couldn't do what it supposed to without failing. I now note there is yet another newer design out that supercedes the version I have, so perhaps they have finally realised its flaws and come up with a design that works properly. Why then the changes? One doesn't change a "successful" design unless it has inherent problems which one tries to overcome with later models. Until I see and test one for myself, I still say steer clear! but that's just my experience, and if you are lucky and haven't had the thing fail, perhaps as you imply I have the "only" lemon, anythings possible. Hard to believe that Triton changed the design if no-one complained!...but hey it's still a good paperweight!:D

[Aberdeen]

The latest (until later this year all going well) version with the little red lever at the front seems to be an improvement and not a reaction to a bad design... IMOP.....

The Triton of old was continually updating, improving, fine tuning their products as ideas and suggestion presented themselves.... seems the new owners are doing a little of that also ....

Things evolve and thank heavens for that... I'd still hate to be swinging in the trees...... :D

[Stuart]

Twice? - there are at least 5 improvements that have occurred that I know of - most able to be retrofitted - ie you can get an upgrade from Triton (except the latest obviously)

All minor (again excluding the last) and focused around the connection between the locking bar and the foot pedal. As they always state - design is subject to change without notice, and what they were doing was identifying issues people were having and improving. Doesn't make any of them a bad design. A lot of it came about from people not packing the unit up correctly - there is a specific order to avoid the locking bar coming free of the foot pedal on the older units (fixed in the final 2 OZ built ones).

I have owned 4 Superjaws, each was a different version to the other (and still have 3, including the latest). I have had to reassemble one a few times, until I decided to retrofit the upgrade (at nominal cost).

Every version is fundamentally the same (although the latest has pretty much been redesigned from the ground up, given the tooling etc is now in China), so the re-engineering is been only minor - adding a split pin to one, a nut to the next, adding a doohickey to stop the running clamp falling off when the unit it picked up folded etc.

If you look around the woodshows, you will see plenty of the earliest models still going strong, and I daresay they are the most-used and abused Superjaws out there (other than the ones I own!!!)

[Stuart]

Unfortunately, and this may seem like I'm having a direct go at HotChips, but I'm not meaning to, the general Oz attitude that an improvement is "an admission of fault in the previous models" is one of the primary reasons Triton have not, and probably never will release the upgrade to the collet on the Triton router. It was upgraded in the States 3 years ago.

It was considered, (and there is considerable evidence on these forums that it isn't an isolated case), that if they changed the collet, whether or not they made it available for existing owners that they would have endless demands for the upgrade for free as it is "admission that the existing collet is somehow faulty"

I've been trying for ages to get a number to be available for the forum, but have pretty much given it away as an impossible battle.

So I lament that because of the fear of that backlash, Oz Triton router owners will not get to enjoy the other collet design (very similar to the Festool collet) that I have on my routers, and the Americans have on theirs.

[Aberdeen]

Stuart, I'd applaude any improvement ! :2tsup:
So what is different about the one in the old USofA ?
If they are loads better could one be purchased from over there and shipped (back) here?

If you ever get hold of some feel free to let me know.......

[Stuart]

Hi everyone. My first New Thread!!

I have really enjoyed reading this forum and while I am new and haven't been able to contribute to the level of more experienced members, am certainly learning a lot!

I posted a question in the recent "dust collector" thread, but thought I should instead put forward my questions for everyone to see and answer.

I have recently acquired a Triton MK3 workbench from a neighbour, have attached a circular saw to it and have really enjoyed testing out everything. But I would like to do (and purchase) more.

My question is simple -
What items from Triton do you recommend I look at purchasing? I have looked at the website, but was looking for accounts from those in the know...
I guess I need a dust collector and bag?
Superjaws?
Multistand?
Router mounting plate?
Extension table?
Training DVD and projects - Are these useful?
Other?

I apologise if this info is somewhere else. If so, please let me know and I won't waste anyone's time.
Thanks.:roll::U:roll:Sorry Collector - didn't mean to hijack your first thread!

Your question is hard to answer - almost easier to say what not to buy (the list is much much shorter!!)

So my top choices are (and in the order that I think of them, not for any other reason)

Superjaws
Multistand x 2
Router!! and 2400W saw!!
Sharpener
Spindle Sander
Extension table
Height winder


As to the ones you mentioned - Route mounting plate - only if you have a specific need, Projects - I found I learned quite a bit from them early on just by reading them. Same holds for the DVD.

I'm sure there are others I've forgotten, but we've probably emptied your wallet 3 times over already.:2tsup:

[Stuart]

Stuart, I'd applaude any improvement ! :2tsup:
So what is different about the one in the old USofA ?
If they are loads better could one be purchased from over there and shipped (back) here?

If you ever get hold of some feel free to let me know.......The new one is an amazing collet, without exaggeration. Anyone who knows the Festool one will know what I'm saying. You can almost (but never would) use the router after hand-tightening the collet - it grips that well! Dedicated 1/2" and 1/4" collets, (interchangable) - no reducers!

Think it is seen in my video on the Router Table.

Dunno about shipping any back. Seems stupid sending them to the States from here only to ship them back again. May be the only way. (I've probably annoyed someone intensely at Triton/GMC by mentioning them (again), but I REALLY like the new collet!)

[Aberdeen]

Thanks for that little bit of knowledge.
Gordon H. from over there is supposed to be over here at the end of the month for a special 'by invitation' night at one of our hardware stores..... if it goes ahead I will try and corner him on that one.....

Met him a few months back at the Southern Triton Woodworkers club - was quite impressed with his thougths, attitude etc.... Must be a Scotsman :)

[HotChips]

Quote..."Twice? - there are at least 5 improvements that have occurred that I know of - most able to be retrofitted - ie you can get an upgrade from Triton (except the latest obviously)
All minor (again excluding the last) and focused around the connection between the locking bar and the foot pedal....."

Stu, glad to know there are continual improvements, good to see Triton/GMC are continuing developments, just goes to show once again, the first versions aren't generally the ones to buy! But I don't think it "minor" when a vital part fails to do it's job. :no: It would be prudent therefore to buy the later model - in this case at least.
Anyway this is but a side issue: I hope the "collector" is now aware of potential issues when choosing his own products. I stand by my list of recommended items, and believe the other triton gear is worthwhile for its price. :)
No matter what you choose Collector, welcome to the fun world of making sawdust and more.

[jmk89]

My 2 cents

For the Workcentre (in order, but I have a 2000 and I am not sure all of these can be retro-fitted to the Mk3, altho' ISTR that most can):

Height winder - an absolute must
Saw stabiliser - necessary if you use a big saw other than the Triton
Wheels - very useful
Extension table
Multistands x 2 (last 2 equal)
Best circular saw you can afford

Other stuff

Superjaws
Big router
Little router

I haven't tried the rest (Stu has) but to be frank, most of it looks like stuff I can do without.....

[collector]

Thanks again to those recent postees...Much appreciated and I'm certainly learning alot.
What I do know is that I will definitely be going to the Sydney show and will need to prioritise my purchases!!!

[bpj1968]

, but I have a 2000 and I am not sure all of these can be retro-fitted to the Mk3, altho' ISTR that most can):
.

Height winder - Mk 3 has a different saws chasis. But can be upgraded to the new one to fit the height winder. But then both would cost over $100
Wheels - Mk3 had its own style, but just as good
Extension table - Mk3 had its own style, not as good as the maxi, by all reports