New BT3100

[Larry David]

I just bought a BT3100 at HD a couple of hours ago and I was wondering if the Ryobi 8 piece Accessory Pack for the 3100 is worthwhile? It costs $100 at homedepot.com. I think the casters would be useful. Does the dust bag do a good job at collecting sawdust? Also, it comes with a mounting kit for a router. I have a Porter Cable 690 router, I wonder if that will mount or will it only work with a Ryobi router.

I bought the 3100 for $249 at a HD about 15 miles away, it was $299 at the HD in my town.

I bought the saw becuase of what I read on this site last night. I originally looked at this saw at my local HD and all the table saws were put together poorly and parts where laying all over the place. I took a drive to another home depot and all the tablesaws on display where put together tight, no broken or "extra" parts laying around and a very helpful salesman that seemed to know what he was talking about.

[Wood_workur]

I will say this before Lchien does, but there is a faq set as the first post under getting started, which talks all about the acessory kit. (It was Lchiens post)

[gmack5]

Welcome Larry,

Congratulations on the acquisition of your BT3100 and welcome to the "family".

One of the first things you need to do, after you get your BT3100 Saw assembled is, following your Owner's Manual, go thru the entire set-up proceedure, step by step, in the sequence laid out in the Manual. Each set up proceedure builds on the preceeding one, so you MUST keep them in sequence.
Usually the Saw is set up properly, right out of the box, but you should still check it as this gets you familiar with all the adjustments on the saw and assures you that everything is as it should be.

Here's some free plans that'll keep you busy for a while. http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/r...ex.php?cat=102

And here's some additional information about your Saw that you may find useful.

Regardless of what you've read or others have told you, NEVER NEVER use any wax or lubricant on your saw that contains Silicone, this includes all automobile waxes and polishes and most spray-on furniture polishes. The reason is simple, most of them contain Silicones and they will make your projects difficult to finish.
Silicones repell liquid, making "fish eyes" in your finishes, this will force you to remove the Silicones from your project and start over. That stuff (Silicone) migrates all over every where, don't ask me how, it just does.
If you put it in one place, eventually it will be all over the
entire saw.

Your best bet is to use a "dry" lubricant, such as Teflon (PTFE), Powdered Graphite, or Candle Wax for the Raising/Lowering and Tilt mechanisms below the table top.

Then use either Johnson's Paste Wax, Minwax's "Finishing Wax" or Butcher's Wax on the working surfaces, table tops (All three of them) and the Rip Fence.

Do NOT Wax the Front and Rear rails or the Miter Fence. As a mater of fact, you may want to glue 220 grit sand-paper to the front face of the Miter Fence, cause you don't WANT things to slide on there.

You might also want to check out the "Articles" section on the www.BT3central.com site. Lots of good maintenance information on your saw and some of the Jigs and Fixtures that BT3Central members and others have designed for it. Located here: http://www.bt3central.com/articles/ The only thing you'll need to access the information is a recent copy of the Adobe Reader (It can be downloaded from the BTcentral site). One of the Articles mentioned is a "Check List", written by Jim Frye. You can find it here: https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...nce-check-list

This list contains all the different areas on your saw that need to be periodically inspected or given some sort of special attention. In other words, a "Preventative Maintanence Check List" or PM. Performing this PM on a monthly basis would be a good idea. One of the other things you'll find there is an on-line copy of the User's Manual in downloadable pdf format (a handy thing to have).

Something you might think about is the use of a set of Draftsman's Triangles instead of the Carpenter's Square that they show in the Owner's Manual for setting up your saw.
An accurate Carpenter's Square is almost a myth!
A good one will cost you quite a bit of money, $40 - $75, or more. I would recommend that you consider using a pair of Draftsman's 30 -60 and 45 degree triangles instead. You'll find they're not near as expensive and are far more accurate than a run-of-the-mill Carpenter's Square. The 30 -60 triangle should have one 12" leg and the other leg would be 9" long. The 45 degree triangle should have at least 8" legs on either side of the 90 degree corner. That way either one can be put up against the side of the Saw Blade without touching the saw teeth.

Just remember, regardless of which measuring instrument you choose to use, check it(them) to be sure they're accurate. When checking the Miter Fence for Square to the Blade with a triangle, use the 12" 30-60, if possible.

One of the other "tricks" that I've discovered is to take a piece of "Wax" paper, fold it several times and rub it in the grooves that the "T" nuts that lock your Rails in place ride in. Makes the Rails move smooth as Butter.

You might also want to check out the "FAQ" shown in the link below.
http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=12490
It'll answer a lot of your questions.

Last, but not least, don't forget to paint the RED line!
It's a line that extends the line-of-sight from the saw blade to the front edge of the table to remind you NOT to let your Miter Fence or your FINGERS get in the way of the saw blade. Just put red paint, nail polish, or what ever, in the grove that extends towards the operator from the front edge of the saw blade.

[Pappy]

Welcome to the Asylum, Larry!

[monte]

Welcome to the group Larry. Be safe and enjoy your new saw.

[jhart]

Glad you're here Larry. Make some sawdust

[silverfox]

Welcome to the cult, Larry!
Mike

[gimpy]

Welcome, Larry. Just as a heads up. The Flagstaff, AZ Home Depot now has the bt3100 on sale for $169. Keep that receipt with you everytime you go to Home Depot just in case they drop the price lower. A couple of weeks ago, the saw was selling here for $249. Here's hoping that you and the other new owners can get the lower price. Home Depot will refund your price difference if the saw does go on sale at a lower price within 30 days (and depending on the store, if it goes over the 30 days by a day or two--I missed out).

Good luck, Frank

[Larry David]

I've been building some shelves for the garage and this saw is great. I'm glad I bought it over the Delta. I wasn't sure about the SMT but it works very well, I really like it. The saw has plenty of power and is quite accurate. Tomorrow I am going to buy a sawdust collection system to connect to the BT3100...I'm making a lot of sawdust!

[gfrenzel]

Welcome Larry,

I'm a new owner as well and new to this site. The information I've gathered here at this site as been great. These guys have a wealth of knowlegde on woodworking and the BT3100. Glad that your off making sawdust. What type of dust collection system are you getting?

Have fun and be safe,

[BryanRabb]

the accessory kit is barely worth the box it comes in. most people that have it got it free with a mail in thingy. I'd give you mine, but it has long be thrown away.

[BIGDUBZ]

quote:Originally posted by jxyoung

Craftsman micro torque wrench $26 off. Now $48. 9/16 to 9/18

I would consider something else.
These do not have lifetime warranty, Husky@HD,and HF ones do. I have both and the Husky is better in 1/2" drive size due to 250

[jdschulteis]

Editing another post wiped out by the "torque wrench" bug:

You need to tilt the saw pretty far to get it up on the casters. Any push stick or what have you that's loose on the table top is headed for the floor. I don't tilt mine up by grabbing the rails. Some people have added accessory handles for this purpose--I just reach down, grunt, and pull up on the stand (I'm usually only moving the saw a few feet). I plan to put my saw on a mobile cabinet instead.

You would probably need to drill new holes in the router mounting plate for a PC 690. It's not that hard, I did it for my Bosch 1617, and I had no experience working with metal. I found out later that there's a tool called a "transfer punch" that would've helped me get the new holes located precisely.

The fence that comes with the router kit is mostly good for teaching you the features you'd like in a good fence, like quickly going on and off of the rip fence and providing for dust collection.

Enjoy your saw!

[Larry David]

quote:Originally posted by jxyoung

Craftsman micro torque wrench $26 off. Now $48. 9/16 to 9/18

I would consider something else.
These do not have lifetime warranty, Husky@HD,and HF ones do. I have both and the Husky is better in 1/2" drive size due to 250

[ezland00]

Link Doesn't Work

how come the link http://www.bt3central.com/articles doesn't work?