BT3000 SMT Adjustment Help

[rdr8887]

Very new to this forum, about 5 minutes. Been lurking for a few weeks though. Just picked up a BT3000. I need to get back to working this week and needed a larger capacity table saw. I liked the extension rails available for this saw, and it should work perfectly. I obviously got the saw used, but it is in great condition. It only looks as if the saw was used 5 times or so. Or it was very well taken care off. However, i am in the process of adjusting everything: SMT, rip fence, scale, etc....I want everything perfectly the way I want it. Although, I seem to having a big problem with the sliding mitre table.

I will explain as good as I can. The SMT has major play right to left in the front (There is one eccentric screw and a standard silver one), it moves about a 1/4"...maybe a little less. The back seems ok and workable. However, there is not enough movement in the eccentric screw to close the gap and prevent it from moving left and right. I cannot continue to square the table to the blade until I can stop this play.

I will never get an accurate miter cut like this. Has anyone else had this problem? The tabs on the bottom of the screws are in perfect condition.....

[Black wallnut]

Very new to this forum, about 5 minutes. Been lurking for a few weeks though. Just picked up a BT3000. I need to get back to working this week and needed a larger capacity table saw. I liked the extension rails available for this saw, and it should work perfectly. I obviously got the saw used, but it is in great condition. It only looks as if the saw was used 5 times or so. Or it was very well taken care off. However, i am in the process of adjusting everything: SMT, rip fence, scale, etc....I want everything perfectly the way I want it. Although, I seem to having a big problem with the sliding mitre table.

I will explain as good as I can. The SMT has major play right to left in the front (There is one eccentric screw and a standard silver one), it moves about a 1/4"...maybe a little less. The back seems ok and workable. However, there is not enough movement in the eccentric screw to close the gap and prevent it from moving left and right. I cannot continue to square the table to the blade until I can stop this play.

I will never get an accurate miter cut like this. Has anyone else had this problem? The tabs on the bottom of the screws are in perfect condition.....

All of the above conditions in bold can not be true. Try to troubleshoot the problem by reading this article.

[leehljp]

There is a situation that came up with me in which this situation happened.

I have a BT3000 and used it for about 8 months in the US, then shipped it back to Japan and used it here for 3 years. I also needed a saw for when I was back in the States for a month every year, - so I bought a new BT 3100 at HD. It had the problem you described. The fact that I had a perfectly aligning SMT on the 3000 and experience with it - that helped me diagnose and fix the errant SMT on the 3100.

The 3100 SMT would not align or hold, even with adjustments to the eccentric screw. I knew the procedure and "how to" in alignment from experience (and having dropped and broken a couple of slides on the 3000 SMT). I don't remember all of the details, but I figured out that the holes for the eccentric and base screws were drilled about 1/32 too far apart.

I was in the States for 30 days, had about 2 weeks work to do on my daughter's house in addition to numerous travels and did not have time to take the saw back to the HD where I purchased it (80 miles away near my home). In a bind, I had to work on, and do what I could. My quick fix was to buy some aluminum tape and put about 3 layers of very small strips on either the eccentric screw or the glides/slides to take up the space. That wasn't the best, but it worked. I ended up getting a second SMT about a year later when someone parted out their BT 3000 - and still use it today when I am back in the States.

I posted a note online here and someone else had that problem too. Not sure what they did but it seems like they took theirs back for a new SMT. It was back in '04 I think. Yours is only the third reference to this specific problem that I can remember.

That specific SMT problem was basically a factory defect IMO, either made on Monday morning or Friday afternoon just before quitting time. If I had not had the experience on the BT3000, I would not have known what to look for.

[rdr8887]

All of the above conditions in bold can not be true. Try to troubleshoot the problem by reading this article.

Ok...the table slides about a 1/16 in the front after full adjustment. The second statement is very well true, because that is happening here. I already followed that guide to try and adjust before I opened this thread. I have attached a couple of pics showing the Left Front and Left Rear adjustment screws. As you will see, I am wondering if the Left Front is correct....the Right front is the same (besides that it is not an adjusting screw).

[Black wallnut]

Your left front is missing part of the glide. Look closely at this pic....

[rdr8887]

Thanks for the input. Both the left and right front are missing the slides for some reason. No wonder it won't adjust.

[leehljp]

Thanks for the input. Both the left and right front are missing the slides for some reason. No wonder it won't adjust.

They DO need non-broken slides. Won't work without them. This is much better to fix than when the holes are drilled improperly. Now we are back to only two SMTs with holes drilled improperly that I am aware of. . . and I still have the one that came on the 3100.

I will give a hint on using the SMT: On the SMT base, there are two slots. Make it a habitual practice to push the black tab slide from the SMT table - down into the slots EVERY TIME you remove the SMT from the rails. If you don't, there will be a time in which you sit it on the floor in a vertical position, or you hold onto the base - and in either case, the base and SMT top will drop, move, slide and result in a broken "slide". DAMHIKT.

[rdr8887]

Thanks for the info...I will make that good habit. I try to keep it locked at all times now....

now I must source the parts....

[crokett]

Try www.ordertree.com

They may still sell BT3000 parts.