Triton MSA200 Multi-Stand Review
A folding roller stand with a swivelling head. It is the accessory that makes a small shop able to handle long stock.
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Roller stands look like an afterthought and are the difference between a small shop that can process long stock and one that cannot.
The problem they solve
A two metre board on a table saw is supported by about 600 mm of table. The rest is hanging, and its weight is trying to lift the board off the table at the blade, or tip it as it passes the end.
That produces cuts that wander, kickback risk, and the very common experience of a board dropping off the back of the saw at the end of a rip.
Why the swivelling head matters
Cheap stands have a fixed roller that turns on one axis. If the feed direction is not exactly square to that roller, the board is dragged sideways as it travels — away from the fence, which is precisely where you do not want it going.
A head that swivels aligns itself to the feed. On a mitre saw, where you are feeding along the fence rather than through a blade, it matters even more.
Set the height every time
This is the step people skip and then blame the stand.
The roller must be exactly level with the machine table, or a fraction below. A millimetre high and the board pivots over the roller, lifting it off the machine table at the cut.
Use a straight edge across the machine table and onto the roller. It takes fifteen seconds.
Buy two
One stand supports outfeed. Infeed is then unsupported, and on a thicknesser or a long rip that is half the problem unsolved.
Two stands, one either side, turns any machine into one that handles long stock properly. They stack against a wall and cost less than most blades.
What works
- The swivelling head lets the roller align to the direction of feed, so stock does not get dragged sideways off the machine table
- A 220 lb capacity and a wide tripod base mean it stays put when a long board is leaned on it, which cheap stands do not
- Folds flat, so it lives against a wall rather than taking permanent floor space in a small shop
What doesn't
- Height has to be set to match the machine table each time it is used, and a stand set a few millimetres high lifts the workpiece off the table
- A single roller supports a line, not an area — wide sheet goods want two stands or a proper outfeed table
- The tripod base is wide, which is what makes it stable and also what makes it something to trip over