Thread: Setting up WC2000

Hi,
May be it's not you, it could be a dodgy splitter/knife. I had been working happily for years with my WC2000 until I broke the clamp on the splitter and had to replace it. the re placement has been nothing but a pain in the proverbial. The first time I used it I had the same problem as you and it took me by surprise, as I say I'd been using the 2000 for years. It does not fill the depth of the grove and wobbles about. It could be the reason the previous owner gave up and sold a hardly used item. I bought the replacement during the GMC time and too late to return it before they went belly up. I be leave it was one of the items manufactured off shore during that period.
Hope this might help.
Regards

The knife/splitter seems solid and central
I did think about just grinding it down as a quick fix
But because the zero-ed fence sets the blade way right in the slot it seems to me that the problem is there somewhere.
I could just move the saw across but then the measurements on the scale would always be a couple of mms out - and I would not always remember to add/subtract the difference
To get everything right I would have to move the fence a couple of mms to the left i.e. take the shiny aluminium fence off the yellow calibrated rails and refix it.
Does that make sense?
Or is that just compensating for a problem I can't see?

Hi,
It may be easier to move the table over the required amount than re calibrate every thing. Ether file the locking pins or the slot they lock into and put some thing on the other side to make sure you lock it in the right place each time and it does not move about.
Regards

I had the same problem as the Duke with a dodgy splitter. Once it was replaced the problem was better, but not perfect.

There is nothing to say that the scale rulers are in the correct place either.

A down and dirty fix could be to centre the blade on the splitter and then attach a piece of 3mm mdf to the fence to zero it again.

Or do what most of us did, sell our Tritons to someone else and get a "proper" table saw.

Originally Posted by A Duke

Hi,
It may be easier to move the table over the required amount than re calibrate every thing. Ether file the locking pins or the slot they lock into and put some thing on the other side to make sure you lock it in the right place each time and it does not move about.
Regards

It sounds as if Duke is right and the latches are mispositioned. But I was just peering under mine and wondered if the latches, or their metal guides, could have become bent somehow, that could perhaps happen if the Triton was dropped on its side.

I looked again at mine again this morning. There are punched arrows on the table that should line up exactly with the notches on the scales. I wondered if yours line up or are offset by your problem amount.

Originally Posted by GrahameS

The knife/splitter seems solid and central
I did think about just grinding it down as a quick fix

good decision grahame, grinding something down when you cant see where the actual problem is, will likely lead to problems down the track when the real source of the problem inevitably manifests itself.

my advice as a triton owner of many years is to go over it carefully looking for signs of damage at every interface and join. look at every point where two components meet, every bolt and the holes they go into; if the machine has been dropped or abused there should be some sign you can see if you look closely. something would be bent or a hole will be elongated.

While you are going over it to inspect it, you might as well loosen off every bolt so you can see whether it is all fitting together as it should, then shake the $h!t out of it on a flat surface before tightening it up again. As you tighten it up, measure the diagonals to check for square. It is worth spending a little time on making sure its exactly square and it is possible to make some very fine adjustments with some shims to achieve this.

If after doing this, you cant find the problem, then I guess you now know why the original owner sold it on ebay. at that point the best thing you can do is sell it on ebay and see if you can get your money back.

The Triton is a good product but even the best have their failures and there may well be as dud component in this workcentre. If you follow the advice above you may find it and fix it. I hope you can as my triton has provided me a lot of pleasure over the years, and i hope you can enjoy the same.

Doug

Hi Grahame
I had a similar problem a few years back when I first set up my WC 2000. After many frustrating attempts I eventually contacted Triton direct (it was possible then). They were extremely helpful and suggested there could be a problem with the callibrated arms on the rip fence. This was confirmed when at their request I measured the distance on each arm from the fence to the '0' reading. In my case the measurements were not the same on each arm. Also the measurement was different to what they said they should be. As a result Triton sent me replacement arms. Problem fixed and have been more than happy with my WC ever since. Sorry I can't remember the exact specifications they gave me ( think it was 60mm) .. but I may have a record in the shed, I will look tomorrow and post again if I can find them. BTW subsequently I heard of others with this same problem - some on this forum - and resolved by getting new arms.
Hope this might help
Cheers Barry

Thanks all

I've had a long careful look at things today.
I started off by again checking the main box frame for squareness and it was spot on according to the diagonals.
The tapered latches always seemed a bit unwilling to go the last couple of mms and I think it was because the metal edges of the "mortice" side were a bit mis-shapen - so I filed them off and then the top slotted in easier and the arrows lined up fine.
I think Barry confirmed my original suspicions about the fence rails.
I took them off, made the two holes in each slightly elongated with round files and reset the fence on the rails @ 60mm to the scale zero. This let me bring the blade back across to the centre of the slot.
Also the fence was not perpendicular. Don't know if that is also because of the rails or because the fence has a slight end-to-end twist. I didn't have anything long and straight enough to check the fence against.
Anyway I squared it up with with a paper shim at one end.
The fence is good now but the rails are a bit stiff in sliding.
I'll try some PTFE and probably live with it.
Tomorrow I'll try sawing some wood!

Grame

Just saw your post and thought i would comment. I am an ex demonstrator for Triton. The problem is with the knife. If you remove it from the slot you will see that it has a small grove the centres the knife if the slot. File/ grind this off and the knife will now sit perfectly behind the blade.

I went through all this before with replacing the arms and looking at the printed markings. Went through it all with the engineers and that is what the solution was.

I hope this helps.

Mick

Hi Mick

I don't think it was the knife in my case
It was always pretty central but the blade was too far left - about 1mm clearance - when set to the fence at zero.
Problem solved when I "recalibrated" the fence
I also later found another thread here detailing many users' grief with the same problem who had the rails replaced under warranty

But can I seek advice on something else....?
Is it possible to replace the central track insert with a home-made zero clearance strip? I know I'll have to devise a way to fix the knife. But will it help to stop dust escape on the top? The bag underneath is just about OK and I think I can improve that with a bigger outlet and decent suction

Originally Posted by GrahameS

Hi Mick

But can I seek advice on something else....?
Is it possible to replace the central track insert with a home-made zero clearance strip? I know I'll have to devise a way to fix the knife. But will it help to stop dust escape on the top? The bag underneath is just about OK and I think I can improve that with a bigger outlet and decent suction

This is my dust extraction system. The suction from the bag stops a lot of dust escaping from the top, plus modifying the dust extractor on the knife so it has a bigger hole and duct. So now the amount of dust escaping is reasonably small.

The big paint can is just the right size to replace the lower part of the bag (somebody pointed that out a couple of years ago). The connection on the side is so I can move the duct out of the way when I'm cutting big sheets.

Hi,
There is a short piece of red plastic that comes with the 2000 to close the groove for that reason. Yours may have gone walk about before you acquired it, mine got butchered when I forgot to remove it when using the saw in over head mode.
Regaerds

Graeme

I to toyed with the idea of doing a zero tolerance plate but in the end it was not easy to do.

The adjustment to the knife is what all the demonstrator did because as you stated the blade when aligned was on one side. I myself went through 3 sets of new arms that were sent to me and still had the same problem. Spent hours on the phone to help the design engineers figure out what the problem was and was a simple as the little lip on the knife that caused it all.

I agree with Hugh. There is a little piece of red plastic that goes into the track and is positioned close the the front of the blande. the knife is adjusted up close to rear of the blade. Doing this will mean minimal dust on the top of the table.

Mick