Newbie with rip fence alignment problem

[gesbt3k]

Installing laminate flooring & need to rip the first and last rows. At last an excuse to set up the BT3100 my wife bought me for Christmas '05 (still haven't used the scroll saw she bought me a few years before that. No free time with 4 kids. Maybe I'll use it to do some corner & doorway cutouts.). Anyway, set it up a two nights ago with no problems. Aligned it last night. I heard many are fine out of the box, but not this one. I adjusted the 90° blade angle. There's some blade/arbor runout, but I'll wait & see on that. I spent a lot of time getting my dial indicator fixture usable with the limited scrap I had around. Took the sideways slop out of the SMT. There's still a little on the front, but it was tough to get it w/o binding the sliding action. The SMT base was out of alignment, and that took some time, too. Did the 0° setting on the miter fence. Almost there. The rip fence shouldn't be too bad. The back side is closer to the blade & can't have that. Loosen the 2 screws on top & try to adjust. Can't get it, still closer in the back. Try messing with the two things under the front that rest in the front rail slot. No luck. I ended up taking it apart & widening the 2 holes with a dremel. That finally did the trick. Has anyone else had this problem? And, just to make sure it went back together properly, does the rod just sit in that round fixture inside at the back? Or does that small post through the rod need to fit in somewhere? Thanks in advance.

[gesbt3k]

OK, after doing some further archive searching, I see I'm not the only one to enlarge those screw holes. I may try & see if the rails are square to the blade, but I should be good to go as is.

[cgallery]

And, just to make sure it went back together properly, does the rod just sit in that round fixture inside at the back? Or does that small post through the rod need to fit in somewhere? Thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to BT3Central.

We're normally a very hospitable bunch, but I don't think any of us can remember exactly how that rod fits in there.

The rod applies pressure to the fence's rear lock when you push down on the front lock.

Here is a link to a page, though, that has the Bt3k parts manual. That should answer the question for you:

http://bt3000.com/

Don't forget to post some pics of the finished floor!

[Black wallnut]

If things are out of whack enough that you have to enlarge the holes check and make sure your stand is assembled level and square. If it is not it can cause the saw body to spring out of square which leads to a bunch of alignment problems. The rod is held captive IIRC at the front by the "front block" (Ryobi's parts description) and at the rear by the hole in the "roller holder" (again Ryobi's parts description.) Let us know if you are still having issues as your warrenty is likely expired.

[LCHIEN]

OK, after doing some further archive searching, I see I'm not the only one to enlarge those screw holes. I may try & see if the rails are square to the blade, but I should be good to go as is.

yeah, GES, the holes have to be enlarged sometimes, I hear.

The rails do not have to be square to the blade, but they are usually close. that's why there's limited adjustability on the rip fence, I suppose.
Remember your HS geometry? when the front rail is straight, and the rip fence makes some angle with it, no matter where you move the rip fence it will be parallel to its other positions. So line the rip fence parallel to the blade at one position, it will be parallel to the blade at the others. The angle, close but not necessarily 90 of the rip fence to front rail will be the same all along the rail.

[JimD]

Mine did not need enlarged but is parallel with pressure forcing it one direction as far as it will go. I put regular hex head bolts on it and anti-seize on the bolts. It is steel bolts into an aluminum casting so it can seize. My rip fence extrusion was not parallel with the blade up and down. Removing a bit of paint off the casting with the female threads let it sit correctly. I thought I'd have to file a little but just removing the paint did it.

Jim