Thread: How to make a guide bushing kit fit a Triton

There are a number of plastic sub bases available, some setup for standard Porter Cable guides, some set up for dedicated guides and probably some not set up for guides at all. The 'fits all' plate you have is intended to fit most routers, but may not suit a particular variety of guides. I bought one a few years ago that is set up for the manufacturers guides, rather than anyone elses.

If you get a Triton set, it includes an adaptor to accept PC, and standard Leigh etc guides. Leigh have an adaptor which I believe allows the PC compatible standard Leigh guides (and hence other standard PC types) to mount in a Triton, but it might cost as much as a dedicated Triton set. Bill Lindsay in Cranbourne has had a TGA 150 dedicated set listed in Auctions for a while ending about now, you might be able to do a deal with him.

Big issue with the Tritons and generic plastic subbase and PC guides is that the guides block thecollet opening in the router base making some bit changes awkward. The dedicated Triton units drop into or lift out of the recess, self centre and fasten in place by tightening 2 screws. Better option to my mind provided you don't need metric guides.

Would it be very difficult to make some sort of adaptor from wood, mdf, plastic or metal ?

If its just some sort of simple round thing required then there might be somebody closeby with either a wood or metal lathe

Couple of photos might help people to visualise the problem


Bill

Thanks guys. The Triton option was one I was considering but since I use that in my table exclusively I don't know why I included it!!
Although I will check out the auction site for future use.
I had another look and Yes I could make the plastic base work with a few more holes.
I am also considering putting another hand held router on my shopping list as the Ryobi is only 1/4 inch and probably a bit of a toy.

Thanks for your input

Loyd

Originally Posted by mumbo

I had another look and Yes I could make the plastic base work with a few more holes.
I am also considering putting another hand held router on my shopping list as the Ryobi is only 1/4 inch and probably a bit of a toy.

Getting the bit and guide mounted concentricly and repeatably is critical for using guides, particularly with dovetail jigs etc.

If you want to redrill the 'fits all' to make it fit, mount the guides to the plate and check fit in the recess first, they need to be a neat fit without slop, if there is space for them to move in the recess, they will need centering every time you mount a guide in the plate, and could still move during a cut.

Then find suitable flat head screws (not countersunk) to mount the plate to the router, and mark out the hole locations to the best of your ability. Drill an oversize counterbore (flat bottommed) from the side with the guide recess deep enough to recess the mounting screw heads. Finally drill an oversize hole for the drill shank right through, centred on the counterbores. The aim is to have the screw heads reccessed below the plate surface and the screw head and shank to have 2-3mm free play in the holes. This will give you 1-1.5mm of adjustment for centering the guides on the bit.

Mount the plate leaving the screws loose about a 1/4 turn, fit a guide to the router and a centering pin to the router chuck, and plunge the router so the pin interacts with the guide, centering it. Then tighten the plate retaining screws. If you guides are well machined and matching, and a neat fit in the plate, you should be able to swap guides in and out without affecting centering. If you need to recenter, it is a quick painless procedure of mounting the guide and centering pin, loosening the plate screws, plunging the pin into the the guide and retightening the screws.

If the plate is mounted with countersunk screws, you have virtually no recentering options as the cone heads on the screws will pull the plate as they are tightened, overriding anything you can do to centre the plate.