Could you recommend a router + Table???? Triton Work Centre?

[harryharris]

Im looking for a router and router table, I will use it for general joinery/building and to construct driveway gates etc. Had a look around but to be honest not sure what I should be going for - 1/4" or 1/2"..... more power the better? Trend/Dewalt/Hitachi/Makita/Triton????? The Triton table/work centre looks interesting but unsure if it will be as versatile/accurate as say a Trend table? The ability to use the Triton as a saw table or router looks useful and it seems more geared to wite work rather than in a workshop, which may be a good thing as my "workshop" is small and sawing/routing large items outside may be a useful option, as would its ability to fold up

Your experiances and opinions valued, thanks again

Harry

 

[Benchwayze]

Harry,

I have had one for years. It's ideal to take out on site, but I don't do those jobs now. I use mine mainly as an overhead cross-cut, as it is good for squaring components. You need to keep the frame square though, which means frequent checking and adjusting.

It's a fiddle changing between 'modes' and my old model is a pain to adjust depth of cut on the router. Not much room for larger diameter router cutters either.

The Triton takes up valuable space in my single car garage-shop. These days I use the Triton only for cross cutting in the overhead mode. Thus, not having space for a quality overhead cross-cut saw, I am going for a decent heavy-duty chop-saw. (The Triton is B****y noisy, unless they are fitting portable tools with induction motors these days!!!) I don't know what to suggest as an alternative I'm afraid, but I will say, mine did good service on site work.

Ahhh... I see you want a router table!
I love my Trend Routerack, which never leaves my shop. I suppose there's a big lobby for the Woodrat, but that is more use to the stay at home worker. I sold an unused one a few months ago. Just hadn't the wall-space for it. I would suggest one of the many available inserts to accept a router, and stick it into a sheet of 18mm Tufnol. Go for the 1/2 inch router. You can always size it down to 8mm with the right collet. (1/4" is okay for light work, but I prefer the 8mm shanks, when I step down!)
Hope that helps.
Regards
John

 

[exigetastic]

I have just bought the Triton table, primarily on the basis I was short of time, and have the Triton Router.

I am pleased with the results I have gotten so far, but never having used an alternative, I wouldn't go too far on my word alone.

The good things:

Mounting and removal of a Triton Router is a doddle. No tools, and I managed to do this whilst it was under the table.

The fence seems fairly easily adjustable, but mine was right from the factory.

The planing shims are easy to use and store.

The protractor and featherboards all seem good.

The gaurd is nice, and easy to see what's happening.


The things I'm not so sure about are:

I naively thought that although it recommends the router stand or the workcentre, the underside would be flat enough to straddle to the "gap" in my bench where my chop saw normally fits. This isn't true because it has catches on the bottom of the frame to fix into Triton's own stands. This has meant I've had to make a 2" high frame for it to sit on, to give enough clearance for things like the sliding table.

It is properly flat packed. At the end of the day it was over 2/3rds the price of the router, and I didn't have to spend 2hrs putting that together! Some of the drilling through the MDF actually puts Ikea to shame too :shock:

There seems a fair bit of slop in the sliding table, which is a simple rail with a fairly loose fitting plastic bushings.


I think in summary I'd say the Router is great, and the table just highlights how good it is with the ease of depth setting, mountability, spring removal etc. The table seems a bit of an after thought in comparison.

When I get some time I am thinking of canabilising it. Specifically routing a hole for the Triton tables mounting plate to get the quick install / removal feature, and by routing some slots for the fence into something more static. That way if I ever need to use the router in a table away from the workshop I could quickly swap back to the Triton one.


HTH

Si

 

[Ironballs]

I got an email from diytools.com the other day who were doing a deal on DeWalt gear, the 621K router (which I have and is very good), router table and dovetail jig all for 300 quid, 255 if ex VAT. Pretty good value if you're in the market for all 3

 

[harryharris]

just noticed the website, looks interesting - is it a router and table or just for making joints?