SMT Adjustment

[agoldfine]

I have a BT3000. Any suggestions as to how to adjust the SMT on the rails? It has a lot of play causing the whole SMT to change angle every time it is moved along the rails. I followed the maintenance instructions in the manual that tell you to unclamp everything, loosen the screws and set screws and press the front clamps to the rail to align them, but that just resulted in the assembly becoming so tight that I couldn't slide it even with everything unclamped, and it didn't get rid of the play at all. Any suggestions here or via email would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Adam

[gwyneth]

You have come to the right place. How long have you owned it?

This link has archived articles. In the second section, on maintenance, is an article about aligning the SMT.

http://www.bt3central.com/index.php?page=articles

There have been many, many threads about SMT adjustments and issues in this forum--a search would produce a lot of stuff that may be useful.

Also, when Loren replies, get a copy of his saw FAQ.

[Black wallnut]

If the SMT does not slid whne not locked down then yes it is too tight. With the back unclamped adjust the front so you have only enough play to slide along the rail. Then with the front locked down adjust the back; this part may take trial and error. The SMT Base is designed to true up when you lock down the front first; so always lock front first then rear. After adjustment you will need to check miter base parallesim per the manual then check SMT's Adjustments.

BTW if I think of it I'll look at mine tonight to double check this. Welcome to the forum!

[agoldfine]

If the SMT does not slid whne not locked down then yes it is too tight. With the back unclamped adjust the front so you have only enough play to slide along the rail. Then with the front locked down adjust the back; this part may take trial and error. The SMT Base is designed to true up when you lock down the front first; so always lock front first then rear. After adjustment you will need to check miter base parallesim per the manual then check SMT's Adjustments.

BTW if I think of it I'll look at mine tonight to double check this. Welcome to the forum!

Thanks Mark, I didn't know about locking the front first. That will be a big help.

Could you provide a little more detail on making the adjustments, which screw does what, etc?

The saw was given to me by a friend after being left outside for a few years. After using it for a few small, non critical projects I decided I like it and now want to get it to working with some precision so I've been restoring it and replacing parts. It is all now true and square with the exception of this issue.

Any detail you could provide will be a big help as it's possible that the clamps have degraded to the point of needing replacement but it's hard to tell without knowing exactly what is supposed to do what. I messed around with it using the manual for about 2 hours last night and it drove me nuts!

Thanks!
Adam

[agoldfine]

Thanks gwyneth! I've had the saw for about six months. It was given to me by a friend after he had left it outside for a few years and was in bad shape, but it's recovering nicely.

I had checked that article but it didn't address this specific issue and couldn't find any other info that dealt with this in particular. I will be sure to ask Loren for the faq.

Thank you for your welcome!
Adam

[gwyneth]

I had checked that article but it didn't address this specific issue and couldn't find any other info that dealt with this in particular. I will be sure to ask Loren for the faq.

There are a couple of subtleties to the SMT that once grasped make it all suddenly work.

I say this as the owner of three BTs (the last in Craftsman dress). The first was a real deal, seven years ago, on a Home Depot demo/floor model without an owner manual. I was never able to get the SMT exactly right, and then went a few years BT-less.

Since joining this forum, I've learned that the chances of a Home Depot floor model having the SMT installed correctly are slim to none and that it's no wonder I could never get things right, especially without the diagrams and instructions. Just learning that you don't loosen everything when adjusting the SMT (you keep one screw tight so everything can pivot on it) made a HUGE difference.

What I'm trying to say is that problems with the SMT may not lie where they seem. As somebody stresses in one of the adjustment threads, you have to do everything in sequence because each step relies on the one before.

I'm not putting this really well, but if you set your view to display threads back a year or two, and page through, you will see dozens of threads about every aspect of the SMT.

You're almost there! It's always good to hear about rescued BTs.

[DaveStL]

There are a couple of subtleties to the SMT that once grasped make it all suddenly work.

...

What I'm trying to say is that problems with the SMT may not lie where they seem. As somebody stresses in one of the adjustment threads, you have to do everything in sequence because each step relies on the one before.

Sage counsel. It's not rocket science, but years after you've gotten it perfectly adjusted, you may get confused when you want to adjust it again. BTDT.

In the mid 90's I talked w/ someone at the Ryobi service center, and he said the first thing he does (did?) was center everything in its adjustment range because he never knew what someone had done before him. So if it's way out of whack, you might get done quicker by centering the table on the base (with the cam screws) so that it slides smoothly without play and then putting each of the four base parallelism screws in the middle of its range. Then follow the adjustment procedure to the letter.

The key is getting the base parallel to the blade; that gets set first. The angle of the table on the base will then determine how the degree markings on the table match up to reality when you cut.

Dave

[gwyneth]

In the mid 90's I talked w/ someone at the Ryobi service center, and he said the first thing he does (did?) was center everything in its adjustment range because he never knew what someone had done before him. So if it's way out of whack, you might get done quicker by centering the table on the base (with the cam screws) so that it slides smoothly without play and then putting each of the four base parallelism screws in the middle of its range. Then follow the adjustment procedure to the letter.

That makes an amazing amount of sense.

It's so easy--before Enlightenment--to adjust something wrong, then more wrongly, and then something else wrong in an attempt to fix the whole thing.

After Enlightenment, it's all no big deal.

Before Enlightenment, it seems as if it takes hours to get it almost right, and that it will never be totally right, no matter how much time you spend.

After Enlightenment...well, there are some old posts in which members have suddenly achieved PSP (perfect square and parallel) and it's stayed that way for years.

The time it takes to go back through this subforum, page by page, and read threads about the SMT will be repaid many times over.

As Dave said, if something is wrong somewhere else, it may not be apparent there but be the factor that makes SMT alignment impossible. One member suddenly discovered his saw rails were slightly off-level, and presto! It all worked.

[Black wallnut]

Adam, I forgot to look at my saw last night. I can't seem to find an older section of this site that had a manual so I don't have a reference to look at here at work. I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and post them here. Along with an explaination. In the meantime there are plenty of topics relating to SMT Adjustment. Perhaps by reading a few of them you might find the information you need. A simple search of "SMT Adjustment" might get you started.

[gwyneth]

Adam, I forgot to look at my saw last night. I can't seem to find an older section of this site that had a manual so I don't have a reference to look at here at work.

There's a link to the old articles section in my first reply to Adam.

[ragswl4]

Here is another source for BT3100 alignment.

http://benchmark.20m.com/tools/BT310...mentindex.html

[agoldfine]

Thanks!

Mark,

Your initial instructions turned out to be just the thing. Adjusting the front clamps, then locking them down and adjusting the back worked perfectly. And I didn't realize locking the front clamps first squared the SMT to the rails so now it works every time. The saw is done!

I also outfitted the table with a miter slot and a Kreg Precision Miter gauge. A little overkill perhaps but I can use the gauge on my cabinet saw and router table.

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and help!

Adam

[Black wallnut]

Glad it worked out for you Adam! Many of the users of the saw, mostly those with the later models have gone the miter slot route. If that works for you have at it. I've found that the SMT when properly aligned not only keeps its precision but it is precise.