Triton Router Template Guides

There has been a bit of confusion about the Triton Router Template guide kit in a number of forum posts, so I thought I’d go through a few of the aspects here for the sake of clarity.

This is the kit for the MOF001, the 1400W Triton Router.  However, I always recommend that owners buy this kit even if they have the larger 2400W router (although if you are in the US or UK, I would investigate the contents of this kit just to make sure my observations hold true over there).

The reason I strongly recommend this kit is

a. it is cheaper than the one for the TRA001

b. it contains ALL the contents of the TRA001 kit (and more)

c. if you end up with both routers, there is no need to get another kit!

This is the heart of the system – the template guide base plate.  The Triton routers do not have the ability to fit a template guide in their standard as-sold configuration.  They need the addition of the template guide base plate to allow the guides to be fitted.  There is very little drawback from having the template guide baseplate fitted – you loose a tiny amount of plunge capacity, although there is a huge amount available, so this is unlikely to ever be missed.  The dust collection capacity of the router is maintained.  The only time I’ve felt a need to remove the baseplate was when I wanted to run a monster router bit, with a diameter larger than the hole in the template guide baseplate.  I don’t even rememeber which bit it was, as I’ve not had that problem since.

There are 2 baseplates shown here, and both come with the MOF001 kit.  The left-hand one is specifically for the 2400W router.  It can fit the 1400W router, but with some overlap at the edge. The baseplate for the larger router fits fully underneath the router plastic(?) baseplate.  The second (middle) baseplate shown is for the 1400W router.  This one fits into a recess in the plastic baseplate of the 1400W router (pic of this shown shortly).

The final ring is the baseplate alignment bush.  When you are first fitting the template baseplate, it must be absolutely centred on the collet, and this bush is used to achieve this (again, shown shortly).

For either router, step one is to remove the four screws holding the plastic baseplate of the router.  There is often quite a bit of dust that has collected here, so worth cleaning out.  You can also see up the plunge tubes, and again, good opportunity to get any dust out of there that has collected, particularly if your router is normally table-mounted.  Another one of those occasions that an air compressor proves invaluable.

If you are fitting the baseplate for the 2400W router, it is placed directly on top of the router here, then the plastic baseplate is put back on top.

If you are fitting the 1400W router baseplate, it is inserted into the recess of the plastic base.  There are a couple of tags that line up with the plate.  Note here, the recess in the template baseplate goes to the bottom of the router.  The 2 screws seen here are the ones used to hold the templates in position – it is not necessary to have them already screwed in place.

The assembly is now placed back onto the router, but at this stage is not secured.  You then plunge the router so the collet protrudes through the base, and secure the  baseplate alignment bush into the template baseplate.  The two notches in this, and all the template guides are so you can get it past the screw heads.  Loosen the screws, drop the guide below the screw heads then rotate the guide so the notches are not lined up with the screws, then tighten the screws down.  For the alignment bush, this will, by default, cause the baseplate to be centred on the collet.  To remove, loosen the screws, twist the template guide so the notches are in line, then lift it clear.  Without the notches, you’d have to fully remove the screws every time to fit a new guide.

This centering is absolutely critical for template guides.  If the template guide is offcentre, you can be sure that the template will not work as required.  If it isn’t centered, then as you turn the router, the bit will be too far right, or left of where it should be according to the template you are trying to follow (leigh jig or otherwise).

You only use the alignment bush once – when securing the base plate in position.

You can now use the original screws to secure the baseplate to the router, and fitting the template guide baseplate is complete.

Here, a template guide is shown fitted, with the router bit protruding through.  I’ll cover actually using template guides another time btw.

In some cases, you want to use the template guide with a router bit that is too large to fit through the hole in the guide.  In this case, you will put the bit through the template guide before actually fitting the guide, then tighten the collet on the bit, and then secure the template guide.

You do need to ensure that the shaft length of your router bit is long enough to still be fully inserted into the collet.

As you may also see, the Triton template guides have gaps in them – this is so the dust collection system of the Triton router can still operate with the guides fitted.

There are 7 different template guide sizes in the Triton kit, and they are used with different router bits, and templates.  The smaller the template guide, the sharper the corner that can be achieved, but also the smaller the bit itself needs to be to fit.

So hopefully that helps answer any questions you have about fitting the Triton template guides!