Triton TDJ600 Dowelling Jointer Review

Triton TDJ600 Dowelling Jointer

I have been looking for a power dowelling jointer for a while and the choice was limited to one budget machine that I could afford and three very expensive machines, which were well outside my budget! These are the Triton TDJ600 costing under £200, the Mafell Duo Dowel Jointer at £850, Festool Domino DF700 at £1000 and the Lamello Zeta P2 for an eye watering £1300! 

I am going to be making four new lower windows for the workshop and I want to use 12mm dowels in their construction. Two of these windows face the lane so I will make these from Welsh Oak and the rear two face the veg garden, so will be made from Redwood.  

As an amateur woodworker on a small budget, the choice was simple, the Triton was the only machine that I could actually afford. I looked online and saw that Toolstation were offering the machine for just  £129.99 with next day delivery. 

The machine is supplied with 8mm cutters, but I had been using 10mm dowels and have a big box of these, so I also bought the 10mm and 12mm cutters from FFX, together with additional packs of dowels in 8 and 12mm. The total purchase price came to just under £195 which is a quarter of the cost of the cheapest alternative!

Next day this big box arrived from Toolstation

Inside the big box and wrapped in oodles of bubble wrap was the jointer

Usually, cheapest does not mean best and I had read reviews of this machine and watched various woodworkers struggling on YouTube to get it to produce accurate results. I had watched two videos that showed work arounds to improve accuracy, so I bought the machine with an open mind knowing that a certain amount of fettling could be required to produce accurate repeatable results.

The TDJ600 can use 8mm, 10mm and 12mm dowels

As it turned out, the only fettling required on my machine was to find a way to connect it to my Festool MIDI extractor. The Triton has a dust port on the bottom of the machine underneath the cutters. I tried my various dust adapters but nothing seemed to fit straight out of the box.  However, I stripped down one of my Cen-Tec adapters and this fitted both the Festool 27mm hose and the dust port on the Triton, albeit a bit loose. The addition of a strip of gaffer tape to the Triton made for a good airtight fit and that is all I have had to do in way of improvements to my machine!

A piece of gaffer tape makes an airtight seal for the Cen-Tec soft adapter

With the Festool plugged into the Triton, dust collection is impressive with hardly any wood dust ending up on the floor.

The Festool MIDI now plugs straight into the Triton

 

Various reviewers made mention of poor accuracy with the machine, but I have not found this to be the case. I have now used the machine for several projects and am very satisfied with its accuracy and its ability to produce accurate repeatable holes, that match perfectly. To test for accuracy, I performed a number of tests and some of these are shown below.

A simple jig makes lining up the holes easy

The cutters are spaced 32mm apart, so I made up a simple jig with reference lines for the cutters and centre lines, when working with long work pieces which require multiple dowels.

Eight 10mm dowels produced perfect results
 (wood is square but looks bowed due to wide angle lens!)

In this example I am using eight 10mm dowels to join a length of 45mm x 35mm to a piece of 125mm x 47mm, leaving a 5mm gap along its length. I felt that whilst it would be easy to fit a dowel at either end, but by using eight dowels, there would be a much greater margin for error and this would have a direct impact on the accuracy of the 5mm differential that I was looking for.

All the holes lined up perfectly

By using the jig to mark out the workpiece it was easy to accurately mark up prior to cutting and all the holes were evenly spaced. I cut the 10mm dowels in half with a Japanese pull saw and sanded the edges with 120grit paper and all the dowels slotted into place.

The 5mm riser is equidistant along its length

I cut the eight holes into each piece of timber with the Triton dowel jointer, using the alignment marks on the faceplate 

There are three alignment marks on the faceplate which show a midpoint between the two cutters

lined up to my pencil marks, that I had transposed from the jig. The line of holes in each piece were spot on and the two pieces of timber slotted together easily. The result as you can see in the photo above is a rise of 5mm equidistant along its length.

A good tip, when using the machine I found that by keeping my thumb pressed down on the horizontal fence this kept the machine nice and steady throughout the cut.

Pressing down on the horizontal fence with my thumb kept the machine nice and steady

In order to prevent tear out, another good tip is to let the cutters come to a halt, before releasing the plunge action. Doing this the holes have been clean and without tear out every time.

In this second example I have used the jointer to reinforce a 45 degree mitre in two lengths of 47 x 47 Redwood. I could have changed the cutters and used two 8mm dowels, but instead decided to remove one of the cutters and use a 10mm dowel instead to see how it would cope with narrower stock.

Using one 10mm dowel to reinforce the glue joint in 45 degree mitre 

I like the fact that you can if you so wish remove one of the cutters when working with a narrow workpiece. I cut the 45 degree mitres on the table saw, using the sliding mitre gauge. There is a certain amount of slop in the gauge so I was surprised that the cuts proved accurate as they did. When you consider that my table saw cost only fractionally more than a good after market mitre gauge, it does show that some cheap tools really can be quite good if you take time to set them up properly! Review on the table saw to follow.

Using the included 2.5mm allen key to remove one of the cutters

The cutters have one flat side and are easy to insert and remove using the 2.5mm allen key which is included with the jointer and is stored neatly in the carrying handle. It is simply a case of rotating the cutters until the grub screws are at 90 degrees, then just loosen the one you want a couple of turns and withdraw the cutter. You do the same, but in reverse to fit the cutter. So if you want to change sizes up or down, or as in this case remove one of the cutters, it is a simple and straightforward procedure.

The two pieces slotted together correctly and made a nice tight joint

In this third test I used the jointer with four dowels to join two pieces of 70 x 70mm treated rough sawn timber, which would form one of the corner supports for the new chicken house.

Cutting the dowel holes in the face of the timber

and in the end grain of the corresponding piece

By using the MFT table with either the Festool or Axminster F clamps holding the workpiece secure for cutting is quite straightforward. I used the the Triton with the two cutters, first in the face and then in the corresponding piece of end grain.

This was the first test that I made with the Triton jointer, so I was a bit unsure if it would line up properly, but as the photos show, there were no problems.

The four dowels lined up beautifully and produced a tight 90 degree joint. Very impressive!

The jointer is supplied in a smart soft case which is handy for keeping it clean when stored under the bench.

The machine comes with a manual which like a number of machines from China is rather vague, but most of what you need to know can be found online anyway, so no worries there. 

The controls are quite straightforward, with cutter plunge depth and fence angle adjustment on the left hand side and fence height control on the right hand side. The fence height is adjusted with one knob to release or tighten the setting and another to wind the rack and pinion lift.

Fence height adjustment control on the right side of the machine

Close up showing rack and pinion lift

Cutter plunge depth control

Plunge and Angle controls are found on the left side of the machine

The machine comes with a 12 month warranty and if you register online within 30 days as I did, this will be extended to 36 months.

The machine weighs just under 3kg so isn't tiring to use for long periods.

I can only assume that Triton took on board the various criticisms that had been levelled at this machine over the years and fixed them. For me the machine worked straight out of the box and the only fettling required was to connect my 27mm dust hose to the 30mm dust extractor port, which can be a common problem with incompatibility of dust ports between manufacturers.

In conclusion: I bought this machine with my own money and have no affiliation with Triton or Tool Station. The views expressed in this review are entirely my own and have not been influenced by a third party. That said, I am very pleased with the Triton TDJ600 Dowelling Jointer and think it is exceptionally good value for money. The test results above speak for themselves and I have not had any reason to regret my purchase, quite the opposite in fact, as this machine does exactly what I need.

Titan TTB5175 STP 18Ga Brad Nailer Stapler Review

Titan TTB517STP nailer/stapler loaded with 22mm galvanised staples

The Titan TTB517-STP Nailer Stapler from Screwfix is listed on their web site as being rated for 25mm, 18 Gauge brad nails and 22mm staples, but in fact it comes marked for sizes 15mm to 32mm and I have used 32mm brads and 15mm and 22mm staples without problem.

The machine is marked 15mm through 32mm

The machine costs just £34.99 inclusive of VAT, plus postage from Screwfix and comes with a two year warranty. If you spend £50 or more at the same time, then postage is free.

The Titan nailer/stapler comes with a 2 year warranty

The nailer is powered by a 240v electric motor and features a grey plastic body with all controls in contrasting yellow, see photo below. At the back of the handle is an on/off switch and a rotating knob to deflect the spent air away from the user.

Body colour is grey, controls are a contrasting yellow. 

The firing button is the yellow switch forward on the hand grip, which is comfortable to use.

The safety catch for the magazine is easy to open and close

The nails and or staples are loaded into a spring lock magazine on the bottom of the machine.  Before loading make sure the power is turned off. Loading is simple and straightforward. Depress the locking safety catch to release and the magazine pops open. Load the nails or staples making sure the tips are pointing down. Then carefully push the gate shut until the catch locks. The magazine will take the long strips that come in a typical suppliers box

Tacwise brads and staples in suppliers boxes

but it will also take an assortment of broken strips, so if you have the misfortune to drop them, don't worry. I bought Tacwise nails and staples from Amazon, but these had been packed badly and the staples arrived with a burst box and broken strips of staples everywhere!

Amazon did not pack these Tacwise staples properly and the box burst in transit

When using the nailer I always wear safety glasses and ear defenders, as whilst the machine is generally quiet, when you fire in a nail, at that moment, it is very loud indeed and ear protection must be worn.

Safety kit when using the nailer includes safety glasses and ear defenders

In a previous article about making the mitre saw station, I showed the nailer being used to pin 18mm plywood together for glue up and the nailer punches the nails in cleanly below the surface, as long as I keep some top pressure on the machine with my other hand.

Using the TTB5175SFP as a nailer with 32mm brads

For the chicken run that I am building this comprises a number of 4 foot x 3 foot frames, clad with 18 Gauge galvanised mesh and the stapler has been brilliant adding one staple ever two inches. Much easier and quicker than the old method of hammer and staples!

Stapling 18Ga galvanised weld mesh onto wooden frames

I had heard of other low budget nailers that were prone to jamming, but during both nailing and stapling, although the machine has been worked quite hard at times, I have not suffered a jam.

As you can tell I am very pleased with this nailer/stapler, but it does have one rather annoying feature, which I have had to work around.

A piece of red insulating tape makes for a good sight mark

There really is no accurate mark for placing either nail, or staple and to start with I found this rather frustrating and a lot of staples missed their mark! To overcome this problem I attached some red insulating tape to show the nail slot as I look down on the work piece, now I have no problem placing my nails, or staples first time, every time. Why it did not come with something like this, who can say?  It is a shame as a simple aiming mark, would have been so easy to apply at point of manufacture.

With the corners stapled it is easy to cut the wire ready for the next frame

In conclusion, I think the TTB5175 STP is a great addition to the workshop and at this price point great value for money.

Festool MIDI 2 hose adapter for Henry pipe and tools. Reviewed.

Feskit adapter for Festool  27mm hose and Henry cleaning kit

I was introduced to a company called Feskit UK by Peter Parfit from the New Brit Workshop, who reviewed the excellent Dust Door for the Festool TS-55. This is a superbly engineered piece of plastic, that looks every bit like it had come out of the design studio in Wendlingen, but in fact had been designed and made on a 3D printer in the South West of England, by a very nice chap called Mike.

Dust Door for the TS-55 by Feskit

The Dust Door as it's name belies, reduces still further dust created by the blade of the famous track saw, making for a vast improvement over standard, according to many happy users.
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Festool Cleaning Kit

When I bought my Festool CTL MIDI 2 dust extractor, I did consider buying the cleaning kit, which is pictured above, but the £82 seemed a bit steep, especially when you consider that Numatic, a British company, famous for their Henry industrial vacuums sell a similar kit for under £15.00!

Numatic cleaning kit for Henry Vacuums

The Henry industrial vacuum cleaner is a British institution and can be found in homes, offices and workshops the length and breadth of the UK.

Festool 27mm hose now fits the Henry toolset with this neat inexpensive adapter from Feskit

We have a Henry which we bought donkey's years ago and which has never missed a beat. I was thinking about buying a new one for the house and using the present one to clean the workshop floor. When I saw that Mike had designed an adapter that joins the MIDI 27mm hose to the Henry pipe, I could not wait to give it a go.

Compared to the smaller Henry, the suction provided by the MIDI with the Henry pipe and floor attachment is outstanding. The adapter simply slides on to the 27mm rubber tip of the Festool hose and pushes on to the Henry pipe and hey presto the MIDI dust extractor is now a vacuum cleaner!

As I already had the pipe and tools the total cost came to just £8 for the adapter plus £2.85 postage.  Compare that to the £82 for the Festool kit. If you do not have the pipe I see that you can buy it on Ebay for £13.48 with free postage.

The Feskit Henry adapter will fit all the Festool dust extractors with a 27mm hose, CTL, Mini, MIDI and also the one made by Makita.

Mike is at pains to point out that his company has nothing to do with Festool, but from the Feskit products I have bought, they are clearly built with the same precision and attention to detail.

Tool Tip # 1 - Everyone should have a pair of Moles

Tool Tip # 1

I have a number of tools in my workshop, but there are some that I use nearly every day and some that I would be lost without. One such tool is the Mole grip, or as Irwin calls them, Vise grips. I bought mine many years ago and particularly like the plastic coated handles which are comfortable to use even in freezing temperatures.

Irwin Vise Grips

I see today, these cost £16 on Amazon and I think they are worth every penny.

I have used them on the farm in the workshop repairing the tractor, freeing stubborn nuts and bolts, on the boat working in tight spaces such as cockpit and chain lockers, often lying upside down trying to hold a stubborn skin fitting or free off a siezed shackle pin, but in a wood work workshop, they are invaluable for removing broken screws and even bent nails from lengths of wood. 

Extracting a rusty screw with a broken head from a 5 x 2

I work with a lot of recycled timber and often these come to me with broken off screws, rusty nails and even wire staples embedded in the wood. All of these have to be removed to make the wood safe to pass through the planer.

An example of this was a batch of 5 x 2 rafters that came with galvanised brackets fitted with now rusty wood screws. I managed to extract quite a few of the screws with my DeWalt impact driver, but there is always one, that is stubborn and shears off, or the head was already striped making it impossible to back it out.

Vise grips clamped tightly to broken head of rusty screw

There was one screw in particular holding one of these brackets, where the Phillips head had been stripped, I suspect by an earlier over zealous attempt to withdraw it but 40mm of thread meant it was there for keeps. It would have been easy to just cut it off with a hack saw and then chop the end of the plank with the mitre saw and chuck it in the wood burner, but seeing that I have my Moles, this was a challenge I had to try.

Removing the rusty screw with the Vise Grips

There was perhaps 2mm of broken screw head protruding from the top of the bracket and after a few attempts I managed to grip it with the Moles. I have used the term Mole Grips for 50 years, so forgive me those of you across the pond, but that is how I think of these Vise Grips! Once the grips were clamped on nothing would shift them and I was able to unwind the screw until I could reposition them on the thread, saving the bracket and the piece of wood.

The broken screw removed!

I would think most people have these in their workshops, but if you are starting out, these are something you really should buy and these made by Irwin are well worth their cost and have given me years of service.

A few weeks ago I was using them gripping a rusty nut that held an agricultural fitting through a beam. When I unclamped them and tried to reset the screw adjuster, this would not move and  I thought I had finally broken them. On closer inspection I found the spring and the inner workings were choked with years of sawdust, oil and dirt. I had not thought to clean them, just took them for granted and after use, dried them with a cloth and put them back in the drawer. So I took them apart, cleaned and lubricated the spring and reassembled them and they worked perfectly again. Testament to a good tool.

Why I bought the Festool TS-55 and CTL MIDI 2

Last year I decided to buy a track saw with a dedicated dust extractor, principally for cutting sheet goods, rather than using my table saw. Thinking I would use it once in a blue moon, I thought that I would buy budget kit, but ended up buying a Festool instead. Why you might ask? well let me try and explain.

Festool CTL MIDI 2 dust extractor with TS-55 track saw

The saw I was think of was the Erbauer track saw, or possibly the slightly more expensive Triton and for the extrator a Nilfisk with power tool socket.  I discovered that the Erbauer and Triton are the same saw, but with different badging and pricing.

Festool CTL MIDI 2 with inbuilt bluetooth

One day in the hospital workshop I got the chance to handle the Erbauer and I was shocked at just how heavy it was and I could see problems picking it up. Then by chance I saw a video on YouTube of a chap using the Erbauer track saw with the same Nilfisk vac I had my eye on and was rather bemused to see dust flying everywhere!

Having lost one of my lungs to pneumonia a few years ago I have to be very careful about dust in the workshop and the arthritis in my spine, means lifting heavy tools these days is a complete no no, so what to do?

I had started watching wood working videos on YouTube and the Skillbuilder channel had gone to great lengths comparing all the track saws on the UK market. The saw that came out on top was the Festool TS-55.

Using the TS-55 and guide rail during the mitre saw station build

I looked up this saw online and was delighted to see that it was one of the lightest out there and best of all it was made in Germany and not in China. The downside for me, was the cost of the saw, which was nearly twice that of the Erbauer track saw and Nilfisk dust extractor combined!

Another YouTube woodworker I was enjoying watching was Matt from Badger Workshop. Matt had bought a used Festool TS-55 from a local builder. His saw, was by this time many years old, but was still reliable and clearly he thought it the bees knees.

With this in mind, I looked at listings on Ebay for used 240v Festool track saws and there were quite a few on offer at around £150 less than the cost of a new one, but even so these saws which no doubt had quite a hard life had no warranties and it was a case of  you pays your money and takes your chance as it were.

DeWalt DWE6423 random orbital sander connected to the MIDI's 27mm hose using a Cen-Tec Systems connector

I have a number of DeWalt tools in the workshop and have been very happy with this brand. I saw that they also had a track saw and it was a lot cheaper than the Festool, so I decided to have a good look. Again it was heavier than the Festool and the dust extraction was not as good.

Back to Ebay and more searching for a good used machine.

Then two things happened within a week of one another and looking back I get that feeling that my buying the Festool, was somehow meant to be.

I had enjoyed many a happy hour fly fishing for Trout and Grayling on the River Dee near to where I live, but following my sailing accident and with deteriorating balance, had been able to wade in the river less and less, until finally, I had realized that that door had now closed and with some regret I put all my tackle up for sale. I had built up a good selection of Hardy rods and reels prefering this English brand to many of those made in America and the Far East and a dealer contacted me to see if I would sell him the whole lot? Following his written offer, I decided to do just that. Later that same week, I received an email from  Festool UK, asking if I would be interested in buying a TS-55 track saw with a matching CTL MIDI 2 dust extractor on a special promotional deal. The heavily discounted cost of which was within a couple of pounds for what I had received for my Hardy tackle and not that much more expensive than the second user tools I had been looking at on Ebay!

The supplying dealer was N&B power tools from Weston Super Mare and I have been very impressed with their service. The tools arrived by DPD the next day and were, I have to say, extremely well packed. It was easy to log onto the Festool web site and arrange the three year warranties on both tools.

Since buying the TS-55 and the CTL MIDI 2, I find I use them nearly every day and continue to be impressed with the saw's ease of use, lightweight and precision and the CTL MIDI collects nearly all the dust, leaving the bench clean and more importantly the air in the workshop.

Cutting diagonals for the cold frames with the TS-55

Now that I have built my MFT table, I have invested in PARF super dogs and long super dogs, which enable me to produce perfectly square cuts with the saw. The long super dogs, a recent purchase from Axminster, will enable me to make trenching cuts with the saw up to 50mm, a function I look forward to using. I had thought that the TS-55 would only be suitable for cutting plywood and MDF sheets, but I use it for cross cutting soft and hard wood, as well as sheet goods. I have also started using it for ripping and it does this brilliantly. I now only use the table saw for ripping narrow pieces of timber and for very narrow rips at which it is excellent, for everything else the TS-55 is my go to saw.

The CTL MIDI 2 sits under the MFT table

The MIDI 2 is positioned under my MFT table and provides dust extraction in addition to the TS-55, for my DeWalt random orbital sander,

The 27mm anti static hose is a perfect fit for the Ferrex 10 inch bandsaw

Ferrex 10 inch band saw, DeWalt mitre saw, Makita trim router and Workzone table saw. The 27mm Festool anti static hose plugs into the mitre saw and band saw without needing an adapter.

DeWalt DWS-774 mitre saw couples easily to the 27mm Festool hose

                                                                                                

The DeWalt sander has a different size port, just to be awkward, but I solved this with an adpater from Cen-Tec Systems, which I bought from Amazon for £10. To connect the hose to the Makita trim router, I found Feskit a company that produce adapters which they make on a 3D printer and make a perfect join between the Makita dust port and the 27mm anti static hose. The table saw connection is rather a heath robinson affair by comparison.

The table saw hose connection is a heath robinson affair made with gaffer tape, but it works!

The workzone saw came with an extraction hose on the crown guard and this plugs into a tee piece at the rear of the saw which joins to the extraction port under the blade. I found when I first had the table saw that dust extraction clearly was not part of the original design brief and the crown guard extraction hose did very little, even when connected to a powerful extractor to make any difference to the mass of dust that the saw created. The saw had a laser attached to the riving knife which was a rather poor piece of kit and I quickly binned that and placed the crown guard in a drawer. With the crown guard hose serving no purpose, I fashioned with a connection with gaffer tape, for this hose to be the only extraction hose for the saw. More gaffer tape around the other end of the hose and it is a perfect fit for the MIDI 27mm hose rubber tip! The MIDI works brilliantly with the saw and the mass of dust propelled across the work space with gay abandon is a thing of the past. Admittedly there is just a little dust left on the saw top after a busy ripping session, but this is easily hoovered up with the extractor set to manual.

A four gang extension plugs into the extractor and works all the tools except the table saw

I connect all the tools to the MIDI 2 via the power tool socket. It is also fitted with built in bluetooth, but as yet I have not used  this feature. For everything apart from the table saw I plug a four gang power strip into the MIDI. This is positioned at the rear of the mitre saw station and to which is plugged the mitre saw, band saw, random orbital sander and the TS-55 power cable. I only use one tool at a time and all the tools auto start the extractor when switching the tool on and when switching the tool off, the extractor keeps running for a few seconds to clear the dust hose. Very impressive. I feed the hose behind the mitre saw and this easily connects to each individual tool as required.

The table saw power cable is too short to reach the power strip, so when using the saw I connect this to the power tool socket and the hose to the saw's extractor hose. Once again upon starting the saw blade the extractor kicks in and when the blade is turned off the extractor keeps running for a few seconds to clear the line and then shuts off.

To say the CTL MIDI 2 works perfectly would be true, but also an  understatement, as I can use all of the above tools without producing any airborne dust.

I do wear a respirator in the workshop, as with only the one lung, one cannot be too careful, but looking for dust laying on top of the tools and benches at the end of the day, there is hardly any at all which is pretty impressive.

Other features that I really like are the ease of opening and closing the dust bag section at the bottom of the extractor.

Opening and closing the dust bag container is easy with catches that work correctly every time

Unlike some extractors that I have used, where putting the thing back together after emptying the bag, the MIDI 2 is a doddle, with catches that work first time every time.

The dust bag fills one side first and then the other, making it very efficient

The dust bag  fills from the centre and rather cleverly, it fills one side first and it really fills it so that the bag is good and full and only then does it start to fill the other side. I found to start with that I would check the bag every couple of days, but there was not much dust, then every week.

The dust bag locks easily in place. It is easy to empty with no mess!

If I have been running the table saw ripping timber, then I check the bag every day, as the table saw really does produce a lot of dust and as aforementioned it all ends up in the bag!

I recently purchased this replacement bag with a zip in the bottom which works really well.

I recently purchased a new bag with a zip in the bottom and find this very handy for emptying and being able to reuse the same bag. This is a cost saving over buying replacement Festool bags, but it is also much more convenient. We use the dust in our compost toilet system and it is easy to hold the Festool bag over the toilet dust hopper, open the zip and with little mess empty out the contents.

Finally, the MIDI 2 comes with a very long length of industrial standard insulated cable, which stows neatly on the back of the machine. You can unwind this link by link, or turn one of the cable supports and drop the whole lot off at once. Neat.

There is a tool space under the lid if you buy the optional cleaning set or just an ideal place to keep your sandwiches

There is a tool space on top of the machine under a hinged lid and a clever fold down stop to prevent it from rolling away from where you parked it.

Would I buy other Festool products if the funds were there? Yes absolutely!