Thread: from a newbie probably to Stuart Lees saw advice

in the meantime I took the liberty of privately emailing Stuart the only contact I could make, my appologies Stuart

Don't apologise DD he's probably rapt that someone gave him positive attention for once

Seriously, welcome and hope to see you post here again.

With the saw, buy the best that you can afford and if that is GMC then buy it, use it and hope that if it dies that is dies within two years so you can get it replaced for free. Or if it dies after two years be thankful that you got your moneys worth and a bit out of it!

Hey DD

Its me stuart....

See;

You ####### leave triton alone you ######## I love Tritons I kiss my triton now you get ######### you triton baggers your ###### I lick my triton and kiss him and mmmmm

Now to your question.

Whichever saw you choose check the arbor float (saw blade moving in and out on shaft) by holding the saw steady and seeing if you can move the sawblade side to side. Dont wont any side to side

Now lock the saw body about mid height and hold it upside down by the saw plate (bottom) and see if there is any movement of the body up and down relative to the plate. This is saw slump if the body moves seperate to the plate. Dont want this.

If it doesnt have any of these then go for it.....The triton saw is very very good but IMO a bit of a waste if its only gunna be in the WC. It does have the advantage of being an easy slip in install into the WC but the others will still fit and if its saves $200 then cool

cheers


Studazzler

Originally Posted by glynhouse

... can I get by for a while with a GMC 235 platinum ($89.00) rather than the Triton 235 saw ($299.00),

mate, you can get by with that, the gmc saw, or any other saw for that matter, in the wc2000 is better than handheld for most purposes. go with what you can afford, upgrade later if you so desire.

these days there are so many affordable tools on the market that you can really buy a cheap one of everything and see how it goes then upgrade the tools that you need better performance out of as you can afford it.

I have the GMC. was 99 when i bought it a month or so back (ripped off). I replaced an old saw which had a large arbor 30 or 35 mm. The blades were hard to get and expensive and thought it cheaper/easier to get a new saw. Does need another blade though 20 tooth is too rough, will probably get a 40 tooth as a fair compromise. The saw will live in the table, so once squared I don't need the fine adjustment of the Triton.

When buying tools I always consider price and use. For example I bought an angle grinder to cut a lot of concrete and pavers. I thought concrete dust and bearings don't like each other so went the cheap option, of a Ozito, funnily enough still works after a lot of abuse and been dropped several times.

Originally Posted by glynhouse

Hi all, I'm new on here, been on the side while I aquired a workcentre 2000 with dust control and a planer attachment & GMC planer and a cordless plunge drill.
Now I need a saw for same, can I get by for a while with a GMC 235 platinum ($89.00) rather than the Triton 235 saw ($299.00), dont know how much use it will get, not a lot after I do a new set of cupboards for the kitchen- yes I have looked at flatpacks but this kitchen is a weird shape really needs to be built on site, and I know have plenty of time.
Been trying to post this for a couple of days just worked out how, in the meantime I took the liberty of privately emailing Stuart the only contact I could make, my appologies Stuart I should have persevered longer on this site.
Cheers
DD

DD,

You are not going to get a saw of the Triton quality, for $89.

Having said that, I have an inexpensive 235mm saw fitted to my MK3, and it is doing everything I need quite well. However, I had had to fit it with the Triton saw stabilising bracket to remove the saw slump, and get consistent accuracy.

The Triton saw has been designed to be able to hang upside down, and I strongly reccomend the staabilising bracket for any of the cheaper saws.

I would also suggest that you leave the Triton in rip mode, and make up a crosscut sled for crosscutting. It's covered in this thread http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...light=crosscut it's about the best jig you can build for the Triton, and cost very little to make.

AAARGH! I don't believe it! :eek::confused:

<table class="tborder" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="1" border="0" width="70%" align="center"><tr><td class="tcat">vBulletin Message</td></tr><tr><td class="panelsurround" align="center"><div class="panel"><div align="left">
<blockquote><p>You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to doug the slug again.</p></blockquote></div></div></td></tr></table>

Anyway, DD... when first setting up the WC2000 any saw will do. Really. But if/when you progress to the stage that it's just not accurate enough for what you want to do then consider buying the Triton saw instead of stabilising brackets, etc. and use the GMC as a handheld to save swapping in'n'out of the WC.

The Triton is the bees' knees in the WC (it was designed for the job after all) but IMHO is too bloody heavy for any prolonged hand-held work. Try trimming a few 6' fences with one and I know you'll agree.

Originally Posted by dazzler

Hey DD

Its me stuart....

See;

You ####### leave triton alone you ######## I love Tritons I kiss my triton now you get ######### you triton baggers your ###### I lick my triton and kiss him and mmmmm

..........

cheers


Studazzler

Well my work here is done. The new breed of clones is near complete, and ready to be released upon the world. My secret weapon is so secret, even he doesn't know the conversion process is in its final stages, and when it is released, its power will be beyond belief. I bring you Stuzed!

Gday
I started with the non platnum 235 GMC saw and it worked quite well but i did fit the stabilising bracket as the saw moved a lot. I have upgraded to the triton 235 and i couldnt be happier. When i was looking at saws to upgrade to there was really only two that didnt have any arbour float and they were the triton and the dewalt, but this was only on the ones i saw at bunnies. I love the triton but it stays in the table. I use the GMC for the rough hand held use. Of course this is only my opinoin but if you can afford it get the triton.

I have the platinum saw and am happy with it, it was an upgrade over a tired Makita 5900B. Arbor float when new was half the amount of the tired Mak.

I'm happy with the GMC for the money. Would love the Triton saw in the WC but couldn't justify the cost.

I have the stabiliser bracket fitted, but only because I already had it for the Mak. It is a good thing, and does the job well; but if you follow Chris' advice and make up a crosscut sled, you could get away without it.


Cheers................Sean

The workcentre is only as good as the tools fitted to it. The GMC will serve you well but at a skight sacrifice in accuracy. To get the full potential out ofyour workcentre you need to spend the big bucks and go for the Triton. It;s fully adjustable so the ability to maintain accuracy with age whill be maintained. We all have to start somewhere based on how thick our wallet is

Originally Posted by woody62

The workcentre is only as good as the tools fitted to it. The GMC will serve you well but at a skight sacrifice in accuracy. To get the full potential out ofyour workcentre you need to spend the big bucks and go for the Triton. It;s fully adjustable so the ability to maintain accuracy with age whill be maintained. We all have to start somewhere based on how thick our wallet is

Whilst that is true, you must also take into account the fact that a new workcentre, Triton 9 1/4 saw, the height winding kit and the bevel ripping guide equals the cost of an entry level TS.

Triton has it's advantages, but cost is no longer the main factor, so if spending big bucks is possible go for a real TS.

After many years I did and I haven't regretted the upgrade.


Peter.

Without wanting to go down the well worn path again, if a Table saw is what you want, you are probably better off buying a table saw.

Triton, like a swiss army knife offers the features of a number of tools, each with acceptable performance to the majority of home handy men, withouth requiring a dedicated workshop.

Over the past week I have been using a Hitachi SCMS and found it to be a fantastic unit. At over $1000 retail, I will not buy one because I have been able to do everything I need to on my Triton. When I stop living out of a suitcase and spend more time with my kids making things, I will probably then get some tools that are overengineered for what I need, just because I want them.

At around $1000 AU with the Triton you end up with a fairly large and safe Table saw, A good, if heavy circular saw, the ability to do what a SCMS can do, with a bit of play and you are half way to the rest of the options. You still can use the space you wood work in to park your car, brew your beer or have your BBQ as you can fairly easily put the Triton away.

Sturdee, if you came to one of my demonstrations, with your background and level of ability, I would probably recommend a Table saw. I do this on a number of occassions. If you come to a demonstration, just wanting to start out and have a handful of powertools and no substantial workshop to speak of I would still recomment a Triton over a dedicated table saw.

As with every tool. "What do you want to do?" is the most important question to consider when choosing between options. Others are price, space, prerequsite tools or knowledge, quality, accuracy, service spares and a stack more.

Because we as woodworkers are all differrent, there will never be a tool to suit all of us.

I sincerely hope that this forum goes some way toward clarifying for its readers whether or not a Triton is more suited to their needs than another alternative is. As much as I enjoy using my Triton (Still after all these years) I would rather not recommend one to a woodworker who would be better served by another alternative. Similarly, I would hope that we do not talk someone into a tablesaw who would be better served by a Triton.

Un biased, quantifaible information, flavoured with personal experiences are what I look for.

Tablesaws can offer greater depth of cut, quieter (induction) motors, tilting blades and a solid, flat top. If these features are more important to you than portability, versatility and compatability with your existing tools a Tablesaw may be worth considering.

Steve

Hear hear.

Originally Posted by stuart_lees

Hear hear.

stop that ~!!!! :mad: