Thread: Workcentre 2000 any good?

The Triton spares are.................all over in the UK

I bought all the bits required to get my broken Triton router running again (plus a few extras) from here:

Triton woodworking tools from The Woodworking Centre

Very helpful chap, knows his stuff, and shipping to Oz is relatively cheap for small bits.

However, thanks to the lack of local support/spares, add me to the list of people that will NEVER buy Triton again. I think Carbatec may have underestimated just how off many (formerly loyal) Triton owners have become after all the promises and false starts over the past 18 months or so. They may be selling some new Triton stock (don't know if they have any spares yet ), but unless the volumes are worthwhile I wouldn't be surprised to see them quietly ditch Triton again.

Originally Posted by bpj1968

Triton has a light frame, like many contractor saws, but it is stable.

I just upgraded to a Ryobi contractor saw and there is no way this beast is portable. The two are like chalk and cheese in terms of mass and stability but I liked my Triton WC.

Apart from the tilting issue as I mentioned in an earlier post, the other deal breaker for me was the availability of the TSA001 circular saw blades.

Here in South Africa the circular saw/mitre saw blade arbors measure 16mm whereas I think the TSA001 was 25mm. Yes I could have just bought another circ saw but decided to move up.

Nice kit the Triton and I don't think people fully appreciated the thought process that went into all the nifty ideas and ways to do things.

I am also thinking about buying the workcentre in the next couple of months.
It may be fine to criticize Triton for what it has done in the past But when you look at ebay the product still seems to sell very well
I would love to have a workshop and a dedicated saw but I rent and that is not possible.
I also need the portability as I only have a single garage to use.
Surely the workcentre cannot be that bad especially for the diy market.

Originally Posted by cundletown

Surely the workcentre cannot be that bad especially for the diy market.

No, it isn't, you're absolutely correct. Like most every other piece of machinery, it's designed to do a range of things and it does them as well as the initial setup and the operator permit. Critics moan about the lack of a tilting blade - if a tilting blade is critical to what you want to regularly do, then don't buy a Workcentre. If you can get by with occasionally using the crosscut mode, then you can achieve a bevelled cut, but it takes significantly more effort than just winding a tilt handle. The fence has a 45° bevel side and there is an adjustable bevel ripping guide that does bevels > 15°, but it's a fairly shaky operation and one I was never totally comfortable with, even during my demonstrating years.

On its own, it's a metal frame and table top. It can't work without a circular saw fitted and here's the next variable that causes significant difficulty to some. If you fit Triton's own large circular saw, then align it correctly, you'll have a powerful and robust ripping machine that offers both repeatability and portability. If you fit another saw, especially one with bearing slump or other problems from years of hand-held use - guess what? Right! - it won't be as good, but it's not the Workcentre's fault, is it?

Dust extraction is not as good as a totally-enclosed cabinet saw (no surprises there, surely?), but it can be made to work well if you take the trouble. Noise will be high, with a powerful circular saw (brush motor) in a metal box with a metal (not cast iron) top - it's a fact of life. The upside of this is the portability and the ability to use the saw freehand and hang the whole lot on the wall when finished. You cannot do either of those last two with a cabinet saw.

I was lucky enough to have both a fully-kitted Workcentre 2000 and an accurate cabinet saw at the same time. The Triton hung on the wall until I wanted to rip a full-size sheet of MDF, ply, whatever, or I needed to work away from my workshop - fitting kitchens, countertops. etc. Knowing what I know now, if I had to start all over again, I'd have no hesitation in buying another WC 2000 if I needed the portability and low-impact storage footprint and my budget or working space wouldn't accommodate anything else. HTH

Ray

Ryano

Did you end up making a decision and if you did, what did you get

Brian