Thread: To upgrade or not

Wayne,

Others will no doubt give you different advice, but here's my TBW.

I upgraded from the 2000 Triton WC direct to a Minimax CU 300 smart with a 2450 sliding stroke (plus scoring blade). The benefits in having this setup over a standard TS are immense - and your sheet capability lets you "pay-off" your investment.

I also use the CU 300 for solid timber work, ripping and cross-cutting to my heart's content.

So my thinking is - assuming you can afford - go bigger rather than smaller. The machine will pay itself off in time.

I also have a 10" Jet TS which, with appropriate blades and in-feed and out-feed support, would probably do the same job, albeit not so easily. The Jet doesn't have a scriber - a good option now on some saws.

The in between option is something like a Hammer combo - not sure of the price, but under $10K I would think. Sawing is one thing, but you need to be able to joint and thickness a fair whack of the time.

Jeff

Depends on your budget. If you have a lazy 10k to spend, then go for it.

I 'upgraded' from a WC2000 to a TSC-10HB, which is just your basic run of the mill 10" cabinet saw. Reasons for upgrading:

1. Tiltable blade
2. Can take a dado blade

The rest, as far as I'm concerned, just makes it nicer to use - Beisemeyer-style fence, cast iron table, proper mitre slots, quieter, more power (depends on the saw you buy vs. the saw you have in the WC2000 now).

For under 2k you could have a tablesaw and a 6" jointer. Combined with the thicknesser and bandsaw you already have, you can do anything you need to with regard to dimensioning timber. You don't need to spend thousands to improve on your current set up, unless you really want to.

All the reasons Silent gave you, wish I had done it a long time ago. There really is no comparison between a decent tablesaw and a Triton WC.

Not knocking the Triton WC, but after you have used a good tablesaw you won't want to go back.

I know I don't.

Have just taken some pictures to put both my WC and Triton Router table on Ebay.

the same as silent and big shed. I have the same machine as silent and you have trouble keeping the smile off your face every time you use it.

les

Originally Posted by silentC

.....For under 2k you could have a tablesaw and a 6" jointer..........

That's what I did. Not one regret... though, if I had space I might have gone for the long bed jointer.... well, maybe not 'cos it was quite a bit more $$$

Now I am not about to let you guys talk the wife out of buying me a new Felder TS.

Of course, I tell her that the Jet is just tooo light. (It falls over). I also probably need a spindle moulder included, with router head to run at 15000 rpm. To replace the Triton router table of course.

But the idea of a beefy TS like those referred to has its merit. Has anyone stuck say a 2 m by 600 bench top over it and made a rip? That's the kind of beef I want.

The one TS I like - a Laguna - isn't even on offer over here in Oz, so I guess I keep listening and looking.

Jeff

I've split plenty of 2400x1200 sheets of ply and chipboard on mine. The fence goes out to 700 odd, so ripping at 600 is no problem at all.

Originally Posted by silentC

I 'upgraded' from a WC2000 to a TSC-10HB,

Silent! is that 15 amp ?

Yes it has a 15 amp plug. I've never put a meter on it, so not sure what it actually draws. It used to dim the lights in my old shed but not in the new one.

Originally Posted by silentC

Yes it has a 15 amp plug. I've never put a meter on it, so not sure what it actually draws. It used to dim the lights in my old shed but not in the new one.

You got 15amp in your shed ? I would love one of those but have been a bit concerned about the power thing. I only got 10amp.

It's no big deal, they just put in a 15 amp circuit breaker and no other points on the circuit. I got two put in when I built the shed - one for the saw and one for the welder. I had him run cables for 3 phase so that's there should I ever need it too.

In the old place, the sparky just ran a new cable from the metre box to the shed (under the house) on a 15 amp breaker. Cost me a couple of hundred for that and a couple of other things he did at the same time.

Thanks for that Silent. I might have to give it more thought I had almost decided to buy the KS-12K but put it off cos I broke my arm 9 weeks ago so haven't been able to do much but getting some use back in the arm now so will have another think about it.

No problem ripping 2400 x 600 and 40mm MDF won't slow it down so's you'd notice. Unless I'm missing something though, there is a problem cross-cutting anything a lot wider than about 450/500 because the mitre gauge isn't much good if it is well back in the slot. This is a general limitation with all such saws unless you have a big (big, big) sliding table.

Originally Posted by silentC

It's no big deal, they just put in a 15 amp circuit breaker and no other points on the circuit. I got two put in when I built the shed - one for the saw and one for the welder. I had him run cables for 3 phase so that's there should I ever need it too.

In the old place, the sparky just ran a new cable from the metre box to the shed (under the house) on a 15 amp breaker. Cost me a couple of hundred for that and a couple of other things he did at the same time.

Handy tip: You can save money by doing electrical work yourself!