Thread: router table rta300 mounting bracket problems?

Hi, congratulations on your ebay haul!

The photo you show is the identical setup that gave me so much grief with both my Makita and my Triton routers. It has some mickey mouse clamps that do not allow you to exert any sort of pressure on the router. The Makita BR3600 router in particular has quite a high startup torque and has on occassion ripped straight out of this "clamping" setup. I then bought a Triton router and got the same results! Finished up having to send it in for repair. When I contacted Triton theyir response was " we have never had a problem", in the same breath they tried to sell me an "upgrade". When I politely pointed out that I was averse to parting with money to fix their design problem they were good enough to send me an upgrade kit for free. This was designed properly and worked. I have since also modified the old system by getting rid of the mickey mouse clamps and using some clamps/brackets from an old Triton router chassis (the diecast one!). This also works very weel for the Makita.

So get on to Triton and get the upgraded Triton router mounting kit, I'll try to find the original instructions to see what it is called.

Big Shed,
I now understand your original problem:eek:
Never seen one of those mounting plates before - not that I've seen a lot, but I guess I was fortunate enough to buy in after the improvement was made and I wasn't aware there had been an upgrade.

I am in the middle of making a bunch of mouldings at the moment and don't want to disturb the settings in the router table, otherwise I'd post a picture of the new improved version.

Maybe you, or somone else, could do so just to show the difference to any future buyers picking up an older version from ebay , trading post, etc.

Ian

Ok looked at the instructions that Triton shipped with the upgrade and they are actually the complete instructions available on their website now. The setup you have was superceded in July 2002.
There is also a special spacer ring they shipped and they leaflet for that is date 8/03.

The 2 mounting setups are as different as chalk and cheese. The main failing of your setup is that the knob and bolt that are supposed to exert pressure on the router base are self threaded into a nylon block and that thread jumps as soon as you exert pressure. Some of the other Triton products used similar self cutting threads into nylon, but all of them have now been superceded.

That is the type of mounting plate I have in mine and it has never given me one ounce of trouble over the four and half years that I have had it.

I have the Triton Router but I don't know how it goes with other brands.

I find it quick to take the router in and out and when it is set up properly I think it is fine.

The design of the router mounting plate had to be changed for patent reasons. Someone in the US managed to get a very broad patent.

I have never had problems from my customers in Japan with the old type of mounting bracket. Found it to be quick to clamp and release.

The upgrade kit that is for sale basically brings the old model to the same as the new, with the quick release slots for the Triton router and the 4 locating clamps.

I would suggest that Big Shed's was replaced because he was claiming his old one was slipping, not because it was upgraded.

If every upgrade that came out was free, we would all be driving the latest model cars, however they would be old, as there would be no new models available.

Steve

Unfortunately I can't show the new setup as I don't have the Triton router in the router table at present, I tend to use it for handheld work because of the soft start, the Makita's torque is not as hard to cope with in the table, but it does an "Auntie Jack" on your arms when handheld.

I have attached pictures of the offending clamps/nylon blocks, as well as my mod using clamps from an old router chassis.

I have also attached both the original instructions that came with my RTA300 purchased new in 2001, as well the ones that came with the upgrade kit. As you can see there is some difference!

Originally Posted by TritonJapan

The design of the router mounting plate had to be changed for patent reasons. Someone in the US managed to get a very broad patent.

I have never had problems from my customers in Japan with the old type of mounting bracket. Found it to be quick to clamp and release.

The upgrade kit that is for sale basically brings the old model to the same as the new, with the quick release slots for the Triton router and the 4 locating clamps.

I would suggest that Big Shed's was replaced because he was claiming his old one was slipping, not because it was upgraded.

If every upgrade that came out was free, we would all be driving the latest model cars, however they would be old, as there would be no new models available.

Steve

Steve, that is correct I never asked for a free upgrade, I requested a fix for what I perceived to be design fault. I own quite a lot of Triton stuff and most of it performs as advertised and is of good quality. I have however never gotten to the stage where I treat Triton as a religion, rather than the manufacturer of woodworking equipment.
I think we should be able to express criticism of Triton, just as there is criticism of GMC and other manufacturers. I have noticed on this forum that as soon as Triton gets criticised that there seem to be quite a few people that appear to take offence, but this does not happen when other manufacturers get criticised. I thought my story was balanced as I also stated that Triton came to the party as soon as I related my story, and they did so willingly and promptly.

big shed those instructions and photos were exactly what i needed to see how everything went together. I will try to put it together in the morning but i will probably buy the upgrade kit next week. thankyou

This forum is fantastic by the way, it is awesome that people can be so helpful and friendly to someone they don't even know. unfortunately a rarity in my generation, thanks again and i'll update with my progress!

col

just installed my router using the older mounting brackets, it sits in quite firm but i think when i upgade my router i might upgrade the mounting sytem.
cheers again
col

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Unfortunately I can't show the new setup as I don't have the Triton router in the router table at present, I tend to use it for handheld work because of the soft start, the Makita's torque is not as hard to cope with in the table, but it does an "Auntie Jack" on your arms when handheld.

I have attached pictures of the offending clamps/nylon blocks, as well as my mod using clamps from an old router chassis.

I have also attached both the original instructions that came with my RTA300 purchased new in 2001, as well the ones that came with the upgrade kit. As you can see there is some difference!

Hi Bigshed

I can appreciate how you would have had trouble with that set up because it is slightly different to mine.

The threaded bolt on yours seems to just screw into the plastic whereas mine has a captive nut imbedded in a little plastic block that the bolt screws into and when I tighten mine up there is no way it is going to let go, whereas with yours there would be a chance that the plastic would strip with excessive pressure applied to the big knob.

I am surprised that they didn't send you the modification that I had on mine. Maybe it was because of the patent issue that Steve from Triton Japan mentioned.

Barry, I don't know how many of the clamps that I had Triton made, but from day one I had real problems with them. As you said the problem is that they rely on a metal thread into a nylon block. At one stage they seemed to be completely in love with this idea, but I noticed on my 2000 Workcentre and a few other things that they now embed nuts into the nylon!
I have been flamed by quite a few on this forum for complaining about this, and demanding a replacement from Triton. It appears that most of these people actually didn't have what I was supplied by Triton. I never used excessive force on these, you couldn't, as soon as it was tight enough to start holding they would slip/jump.

Anyway I've said my bit and I now have clamps that work.

Triton didn't make too much fuss about sending a replacement, even though they tried to say they never had anyone complain, but then all manufacturers do that.

Hi Big Shed,

They had a least one other complaint about those rubbish plastic clamps/nuts.

I had some supplied with an upgraded saw mounting plate for the WC when I bought the height winder kit.
Just the slightest pressure on the "nut" and they would slip/strip. I complained to Triton and was given the answer that nobody else had a problem. I told them the "nuts" were dangerous and needed captive steel nuts embedding in them to make them safe.
They sent a replacement set of plastic nuts which were identical to the originals.
I measured the holes in the new nuts before fitting them and two of the four were oversize, you could push them onto the threaded bolt without even turning them.
I ended up making a modified set with Nyloc nuts embedded which have performed perfectly ever since. Some time after Triton produced the later type with the embedded nuts.

Originally Posted by Sprog

Hi Big Shed,

They had a least one other complaint about those rubbish plastic clamps/nuts.

I had some supplied with an upgraded saw mounting plate for the WC when I bought the height winder kit.
Just the slightest pressure on the "nut" and they would slip/strip. I complained to Triton and was given the answer that nobody else had a problem. I told them the "nuts" were dangerous and needed captive steel nuts embedding in them to make them safe.
They sent a replacement set of plastic nuts which were identical to the originals.
I measured the holes in the new nuts before fitting them and two of the four were oversize, you could push them onto the threaded bolt without even turning them.
I ended up making a modified set with Nyloc nuts embedded which have performed perfectly ever since. Some time after Triton produced the later type with the embedded nuts.

Hi Sprog,

I'm glad that someone else also experienced this and got the same reply from Triton. There is nothing worse than a manufacturer making a bad design decision (patent infringement indeed!) and then not owning up to a stuff up. It is only that I tend to be persistent when I feel that I am right that I finished up with the replacement.
I have had a closer look at the replacement, and they have also embedded nuts in the locking knobs that lock the insert into the table. The 4 red locking knobs on the old version also depended on a metal thread in nylon, the new ones have embedded nuts.

Thanks for replying Sprog, I was starting to think that I was imagining things with so many people telling me that I couldn't possibly be right!

Cheers

Fred

Slippage was fixed by captive nuts.

Design was changed due to patent.