Cleanup in Aisle 8

November 3 2013.  While moving to the new house, a lot of the timber and tools were stacked in the original 3x3m shed on the property.  On that day, the shed was emptied and stored under the veranda, filling the entire area (covering all the outdoors furniture), and looked a mess, not to put too fine a point on it.  That shed was then taken apart and stored.

It has been almost exactly 5 months (minus a few days), and the cleanup of that area is finally complete.  Everything has been taken to their new homes (garden shed, main workshop, garage, and storage shed).  Not particularly neatly – that refinement will happen over a longer period as I work out various storage options.  At least progress each weekend is restoring a sense of normalcy to the place.

There is a small mountain of stuff now stored up on the mezzanine – crates and crates of tools and timber requiring sorting, storing, and disposing.  I really need some storage solutions for the shed – that is the next big ticket item requiring tick-off.  Whether that will be purchased, made, or a combination of the two is yet to be seen.  Fast will be the first order of the day. (The other big-ticket item needing resolution is installing a dust collection system).

As far as disposing is concerned – sure, that means there is some things not worth keeping that will be binned, but the majority of items in that category are ones needing to find a new home.

One thing I found I have a lot of, are Triton spares.  Bags and bags of components, from individual screws and red knobs with captive nuts, up to and including a Triton Router Table, Router Table Stand, a Bevel Ripping Guide, Biscuit Joiner, Finger Jointer and all sorts of other odds’n’sods.

So what I am thinking of doing is cataloguing it all, and sticking it on a tab at the top of the site, with a line number, photo and description.  Some items with a price tag, the others priced (cheaply) by weight.  I’ll work out something that gives a reasonable price scale.  I’ve become quite disillusioned with eBay.  Not because the items sell for a reasonable price, or the eBay fee structure, but simply because there are so many dickheads out there.  I don’t need the stress or hassle.  Some hassle is unavoidable – if I wanted to avoid it all, I’d simply throw all the metal into the trailer (along with the pile that is there at the moment) and run it to the local steel merchant.

Let me know if there is anything you are particularly looking out for – will see what I can turn up.  A good portion of it is new, and should be much cheaper than any Triton spares in the market.

The Phoenix is Arising!

I have it on expert authority (and I will protect my sources here) that some of the Triton range is now back in production, with the remainder of the manufactured range (as opposed to power tools (I don’t have a source of information on those)) being bought back on line in the near future.

As has been know for quite a while, Diver Consolidated Industries (DCI) in northern Melbourne were tooling up to take over production from the aging Triton plant in Cheltenham, and they are now in production mode.

See the ABC Inside Business Program of June 14th 2009

DCI from all reports is a very high quality manufacturer who have been producing parts for the automotive industry for 60 years, and who are now the new home for the manufacture of Triton. They are an Australian manufacturer, and what’s more are bringing back onshore some of the production that had been outsourced to China (and elsewhere?), and you know how I feel about local manufacturing!  I so hope that this means we will once again see Australian made Superjaws and Multistands – they should have NEVER left Aussie shores!

DCI have 3rd party quality accreditation, and are going over every aspect of the manufacturing of the products to address any concerns that previously existed with the range.

Please don’t send me your lists (yet), but they will be wanting feedback from existing owners about what quality concerns you have, and what spares you want to see (as a priority).  Certainly start composing an answer to that question, but I will let you know when (and where) that information is needed.  I don’t have any way of sourcing spares, so please don’t ask! (I know there is a lot of orange tools out there hurting at the moment waiting for spares to once again become available – at least be assured that their availability is much more certain now that it ever has been over the past, long, 12 months!

At this stage I can tell you that the Workcentre, Router Table, Powered Saw Table, Finger Jointer and Dust Buckets are all in production. When they will be available on the Australian market is yet to be determined, as is how they will be distributed.  But keep your ears open for news in the coming weeks.

I will certainly be interested in supporting the products again through Stu’s Shed, be that training videos, product reviews, and if I can add them to my “Store” I will do that too.

Best news out of all this (in addition to that it is happening at all), is that the manufacturing is back fully in Australian hands where the users can directly input into the manufacturing where there are issues, and improvements that can be made, and a company with a solid quality assurance program, who is willing to listen and make product improvements is handling the manufacturing.

The name is still Triton, the product is still orange, and it is still going to be proudly Australian Made!! YOU BLOODY RIPPER!!

Unorthodox Triton Router Table Mod Part 2 (Accessories)

With the table upgrade, the table accessories also need to be adjusted to cope with the additional 3mm extra table height. This is achieved easily by adding shims made out of the offcuts from the aluminium of the new top.

Triton Finger Jointer
The finger jointer is the hardest, only because of the amount of dismantling required.
The sliding plate is removed to give access to the hold-down hardware.

Photo 1 – Removing the Finger Jointer Plate

Next, the hardware that holds the finger jointer down is removed.

Photo 2 – Removing the hardware

New shims are cut, and holes drilled in each.

Photo 3 – Preparing the new shims