Triton SuperJaws SJA100E Review
A foot-operated clamping horse that puts 2,200 lb on a workpiece and folds flat. It holds things no vice can, and it is heavy.
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The SuperJaws is best understood by what it is not. It is not a bench vice, and comparing the two leads people to the wrong conclusion. A vice is bolted to a bench at bench height and is superb for joinery. The SuperJaws stands on the floor on a tripod, clamps with a foot pedal, and is superb for everything that will not fit in a vice.
Clamping is by foot, up to 2,200 lb. That matters more than the number suggests: both hands stay on the workpiece while the clamping happens. Holding a long post upright, or a chainsaw bar at the right angle, while also operating a vice handle, is the job this removes.
The jaws swallow material a vice cannot, and because the whole thing sits on the floor, a three-metre length of timber can hang past it without fouling a bench.
What to expect physically
It is heavy. The tripod folds flat and it stands out of the way, but you will not casually carry it around a site all day. Think of it as something you set up where the work is and leave for the duration.
Working height is fixed and it is low — fine for cutting, drilling and sharpening, wrong for fine paring or planing, which want bench height and a bench under the work.
Pad the jaws
Two thousand pounds of clamping force will crush pine and emboss anything with a finish on it. Scraps of ply or leather on the jaw faces are not optional if the piece matters. The force is there for pipe, hardwood and steel; it does not have to be used in full.
What works
- The foot pedal clamps with up to 2,200 lb while both your hands are still holding the workpiece — the thing a bench vice cannot do
- It holds long, round and awkward stock that no bench vice has the jaw depth or the floor clearance for: posts, pipe, chainsaw bars, bike frames
- Folds to a flat tripod and stands in a corner, so a small shop gets heavy clamping without giving up bench space permanently
What doesn't
- It is a serious lump to carry — this is portable in the sense of moving it between a shop and a ute, not carrying it up a ladder
- The jaw opening is generous but the height is fixed, so for fine bench work it is the wrong height and a real vice is better
- Clamping force this high will crush softwood and mark anything finished unless you pad the jaws