BT3Central Activity

[JoeyGee]

I know there are plans in the works to help drive traffic here and I am looking forward to any effort to make this place busier, but what can we, as members, do in the meantime?

I know I don't post much project related stuff because I don't DO much project related stuff due to work and family stuff. I do like to come on here and look at others' projects and questions, etc. I have a feeling there are a lot of lurkers like me. How do we generate more activity? Who wants to show off their projects?

I recently helped kill a thread (due to snarky actions on my part) on new tools. I apologize and want to make amends.

What's new? What are you working on? What do you want to work on? Do we need other boards? Currently there is a great 2015 Shop outlook thread going on. Share your thoughts there. Let's get some activity going

[leehljp]

I really really want to make a verical tool box holder for all of the tools that come with their own box. I guess I have about 15 and need to organize them better. I have been designing (in my mind) for about a year a good vertical set of shelves in a 2ft X 2ft configuration. Last month, I saw one very similar in a wood magazine but did not buy the mag. I should have. It was identical to what I was working on in my mind. I generally work on the measurements there and while it might seem strange to some of you, I "visualize" it much the same as a 3D CAD app does. I can "see" these things in my mind but cannot operate a CAD program for anything!

Anyway, I want to make a platform 2 x 2 on wheels with adjustable shelving (dados every 3 inches) and about 7 ft tall - to put all or most of the containers in. On the sides I plan on adding hooks for attaching a variety of items including small corded tools that don't have its own container.

[JoeyGee]

If it's the same project I am thinking of, that pops up on just about every Tools and Shops type issue Wood puts out. I may or may not have one of those. I'll look to see. If I do, I can scan it and send it to you.

As far as CAD, have you ever tried Sketchup? I'm like you, CAD challenged. I have used Sketchup and have had some success with it. There are tons of tutorials out there for it.

[Hellrazor]

I know there are plans in the works to help drive traffic here and I am looking forward to any effort to make this place busier, but what can we, as members, do in the meantime?

Traffic on here hit a huge decline over the years. A few of the older, really active members moved on, some new members were cantankerous which pissed people off, the bt3100 was phased out, etc. I remember when you were overwhelmed with new posts if you didn't visit for 2 or 3 days. We had a few bargain alert gurus who posted all kinds of deals. That kept a lot of interest and generate traffic.

I wandered away twice due to politics which was related to the same persons behavior. Others didn't come back...

Personally I haven't done any creative wood working in 2 years or so. Been busy at work and last winter was a nightmare here. Of course that needs to change since I have a few projects in mind.

[Black wallnut]

I think the most productive thing members can do to drive traffic is to spend time in their shops making projects, taking pictures and posting here.

My shop time is next to non existent hence not much traffic from me. I've a number of projects started just seem to lack the ambition to bring them to completion.

[leehljp]

I think the most productive thing members can do to drive traffic is to spend time in their shops making projects, taking pictures and posting here.

My shop time is next to non existent hence not much traffic from me. I've a number of projects started just seem to lack the ambition to bring them to completion.

Mark,

I am finding that feeling and attitude permeating society across many organizations, hobbies and intrest groups, AND among family gatherings and church events. It is not any one cross section or race or religion or philosophy or interest. Work now seems to zap people or take all of their time.

For me, getting to my projects means me cleaning my shop and re-organizing it to get to major tools more easily. Of course my first project needs to be to make a tool bin to organize my ton of hand tools (in their cases) instead of stacking them on top of each other.

When it is easy to get to the tools and I have a workspace that isn't stacked full of tools and parts, I tend to get far more projects done.

[Hellrazor]

Work is a deterrent

I work at least 45-50hours a week. That is on site, doesn't include after hours calls, work from home items, etc. More if i am managing construction projects.

I have 1-2 nights a month we have mandatory meetings at work during the June - December time period. In the spring months we have between 2 and 4 night meetings a month. Meetings start at 5:30/6pm and last until at least 9-10pm.

I am enrolled in a certificate class at the local Univ which is 28 classes for 3 hours ever Tuesday. Its runs 6:30-9:30pm. I just completed the first half the program 2 weeks ago and the next 14 start the end of January. We have about 2 hours of homework for each class.

I also have a certification course every other Wednesday from 8am to 4pm. Its 1.5-2hours of drive time each direction to the class. So I leave at 6am and get home by 6pm if traffic behaves. That is 2 days/month and its done in March. Those classes are throwing about 12-15 hours of total homework at you. A part of the homework is doing an energystar assessment of a building at work. Which is what I will be doing tomorrow or over the weekend.

My hit list is making some cabinets for various items. I am debating on buying a gun safe and converting the gun cabinets to storage cabinets. Adding shelves, etc for all of the miscellaneous hunting/shooting items I have. I am also looking at making a chest of drawers, etc for clothing.

[os1kne]

I'd really like to see the site increase traffic and thrive. I've been a member since close to the beginning and members of the site have provided me a lot of useful info over the years. Life changes (a long commute and 3 small kids) prevent me from having the shop time and internet activity that I once had.

I suspect that the retirement of the BT3XXX series of saws has made it difficult to increase activity - even though most of the posts are fairly "universal" and not related to BT issues.

[tfischer]

I asked a similar question about 6 or 8 months back, and the vast majority of the responders said the same sort of thing... "We like this place, but just don't get much shop time in anymore". Unfortunately the forum isn't going to thrive without people actually participating and discussing the topic at hand.

My own shop time is definitely on and off... mostly in the spring and summer. I do try to post projects when I do them.

When I joined the forum over a decade ago I there were a number of younger folks 20's and 30's) around doing a lot of projects. I kind of miss that dynamic even though I'm no longer in it.

[EarltheWoodbutcher]

I am a new (but far from young) member so take these comments for what they are worth. Some of my assumptions may be totally wrong! The title of the forum is "BT3Central. com It's not just about the saw" I would assume 95% of the old and active members joined because they had a BT3. Even if they discussed other issues, the common theme that united the group was the BT3. Now that the BT3 is gone, what is going to unite the group with a title of BT3? I belong to several other woodworking forums that are very active--but they all have something in common that unites the users--woodcarving, scrollsawing, pyrography, furniture building, etc.

Quite honestly, I would have passed this group right by if it hadn't been my desire to learn about my recently acquired BT3. Nothing negative, just that I would have seen "BT3"...and figured that's not my interest. I doubt that you will be able to acquire a lot of new interest for these reasons.

Don't shoot me, please. I've learned a lot here in the last month. I'm just trying to give an honest opinion from a newbie.

[LCHIEN]

I am a new (but far from young) member so take these comments for what they are worth. Some of my assumptions may be totally wrong! The title of the forum is "BT3Central. com It's not just about the saw" I would assume 95% of the old and active members joined because they had a BT3. Even if they discussed other issues, the common theme that united the group was the BT3. Now that the BT3 is gone, what is going to unite the group with a title of BT3? I belong to several other woodworking forums that are very active--but they all have something in common that unites the users--woodcarving, scrollsawing, pyrography, furniture building, etc.

Quite honestly, I would have passed this group right by if it hadn't been my desire to learn about my recently acquired BT3. Nothing negative, just that I would have seen "BT3"...and figured that's not my interest. I doubt that you will be able to acquire a lot of new interest for these reasons.

Don't shoot me, please. I've learned a lot here in the last month. I'm just trying to give an honest opinion from a newbie.

Earl, your observations are correct. We have been working for about a year to transition from BT3Central.com to Sawdustzone.com but its a labor intensive thing and our team is busy with their own lives.

Even then, with a name change, its going to be hard to come up with a compelling reason to drive people here.

[poolhound]

I have been a member here for approx 9 years. Originally I found the forum due to my purchase of a BT3100 although it was the overall knowledge and experience of the forum members that kept me coming back.

During the last 9 years I have had periods of very active shop time along with a few long lulls when "life" took over as it has a tendency to do. Given my current status (who knows if that may change) and a long awaited dedicated shop nearly ready to have tools installed I became more actively engaged in the forum again. I applaud (and have always done so) the moderators for attempting (and mostly succeeding) in keeping the tone of the discussions appropriate. We all come here due to our interest/passion for woodworking and therefore finding common ground should not be difficult. We are human and unfortunately that condition is less than perfect so personalities can clash from time to time but if we focus on the common ground and keep personal differences on the sidelines we can all enjoy our virtual companionship and keep things on a friendly level we can share and learn with each other.

I undoubtedly missed some of the troubles that may have caused some long standing members to move elsewhere. It is a shame that that happened and I have noticed a few 'regulars' who have been noticeable by the absence since I restarted my more active participation. I hope we can re-establish this group as a great resource for friendly, knowledgeable and experienced interaction about wood-working and related subjects. Young, old, newbies or long in the tooth sawdust makers - come one come all.

Mark, Loring and whoever else is helping to re-invigorate the forum. I would be happy to throw my hat in the ring to provide whatever help I am able. My other life (nearly 30 years) is in the marketing business and I am more than a little experienced when it comes to branding/re-branding and strategies for driving traffic. I will send you both a PM with my contact details and if you would like to get in touch then feel free.

In closing I note that there are currently just shy of 500 folks (25 members) looking at the forum as I write this so we do have content that is valuable and many are happy to read and learn without actively participating. This is a great place to build from and I am sure we can continue to have BT3Central or whatever it may evolve into be a great place for woodworkers to come, share and learn.

Get out there and make some sawdust in 2015 and share with us your projects, successes (and failures), questions and answers, curiosity and experience.

[tfischer]

Revamping the forum into yet another generic, broad-spectrum woodworking group for the purpose of generating traffic can be understandable for economic reasons.
However, it is, IMHO, also done at the risk of causing interest to wane in those who are primarily concerned with the BT3 series.

This is a risk certainly, but one that I think can be mitigated. The BT3 series has been discontinued now for at least 5 years. By definition, this population is declining, and I fear it will happen at a much increasing pace as our saws get older, and the cost of replacement parts is ridiculous. I came very close to getting a new saw this summer when my motor burned out and the going rate for a new replacement costs more than I paid for my original saw.

I was absent from the forum when the discussions happened, but I believe that the idea was to kind of "co-brand" the site as sawdustzone and bt3central. I think that's a great idea. But these discussions happened in 2012.. that's over 2 years ago now. Believe me, I'm know personal lives take priority and get very busy, but I think we need to figure out a way to make this transition happen sooner than later. If that means everyone chipping in $25 so we can hire it out, so be it. If that means more people stepping up to volunteer, so be it. I just think it needs to be done.

Just my opinion.

[jking]

I moved over in the early days from the Ryobi forums. I've never been one to post a lot because I don't do a lot of woodworking. I tend to take a while to get projects worked out in concept & that leads me to take a while to get projects started & completed. My free time also gets squeezed with family commitments. I have posted some finished projects in the past, but, they didn't generate much for comments. I guess that may be part of the reason I don't make a bigger effort to post the projects I do complete.

I really only had two projects this year, neither were complicated. I will post pictures when I can.

[tfischer]

Speaking of repairs, there is a surprisingly large number of replacement parts still available for this series from various sources. There's a steady stream of NOS accessories on eBay, et al, as well.
I understand the miter slot table was discontinued not long ago, so that one probably won't last much longer before selling out.
With 3D printers becoming more mainstream and affordable, I expect it won't be long before discontinued replacement plastic parts for most products will be available thru that channel.

I spent $120 for a used motor to replace mine. New ones were going for $400 - that's more than I paid for my saw new. Belts are going for $30 a piece, and you need two of them. And people are stocking up on them before they go any higher. Sadly we're not going to be able to 3D print stuff like that.

I see more postings for people parting out saws than I do new people coming in having picked one up used somewhere.

While I agree this is THE place to go for BT3 info, if we keep it exclusively BT3 (and by keeping the name, that's what is going to happen), then it's going to dwindle down to just a specialty forum on how to mod a saw that's been discontinued for years.

If that's what the consensus is, so be it, but I'm looking more for a friendly community where we can trade tips, tool bargains, and show off projects. That's what we had here 5-10 years ago, in addition to the BT3-specific stuff.