Do I really need the shims?

[cobra888]

Hi all, this is my first post to the site. I am an owner of the BT3000. I have had it for many years now and have been very happy with it. I love the sliding miter table especially. I am a pretty light user, doing some occasional finish work around my house. In the last few years I have had the dreaded blade lower/raise issue caused by the shims. I am wondering if simply removing the shims would be a problem. Would the saw still operate? Would that be potentially dangerous?

Thanks in advance

[mpc]

There are small setscrews that adjust how the shims relate to the rest of the arbor+motor assembly. Without the shims you'd have just the tips of those screws riding on the fixed vertical faces of the center support. That would likely result in rapid wear - digging screw-tip-sized trenches in that machined area. So no, running without the shims probably isn't a good idea.

Normally a good clean-up and lubrication with either a dry-lube spray or furniture paste wax (not auto body wax - basically you want a wax that does not have silicon in it) is all it takes to restore normal blade raising/lowering. It's one of those routine maintenance things:if you clean the shims and machined areas regularly - before they really accumulate crud - the job is fairly easy and quick. Once real crud builds up, including fine-dust laden sap, it's much harder to clean and often requires disassembling that portion of the saw.

mpc

[Black walnut]

Shims really are required. The good news is there are two permanent fixes. Shim Supports ala Norm's method or updating to the bt3100 style. At least one member has bent his own shims from shim stock. I installed shim supports over 10 years ago and have been problem free since.

[LCHIEN]

Yes, you do need the shims, they are designed for sliding otherwise the elevation will bind up and be erratic and wobbly.

[cobra888]

Thanks guys for the info. Will have to check into cleaning/replacing the shims.