New Table top for BT3xx

[AAS]

Has anyone out there built a new table top for the BT3XX?

I'm not a big fan of the sliding miter table, and would rather have a track slot on both sides of the blade. I've been thinking about building a new top, but have still to work out the fence rails.

Anyone out there tried or done this yet?

Thanks,

Armando

[final_t]

Well yes and no. A lot of us have (a) put in the 2-channel left-side addon that gives you a slot and (b) built up a right-side table top with a track there.
You can keep the rails and make an MDF table to fill in the spot there. Get some of the famous T-Nuts to fit the rails to mount the board on. Shouldn't be too hard.

[AAS]

Well yes and no. A lot of us have (a) put in the 2-channel left-side addon that gives you a slot and (b) built up a right-side table top with a track there.
You can keep the rails and make an MDF table to fill in the spot there. Get some of the famous T-Nuts to fit the rails to mount the board on. Shouldn't be too hard.

thanks final t

[Black wallnut]

Why are you not a fan of the SMT? As final t said there is a miter slot accessory, and some have added it to both sides of the blade. A forum member Komatoast has sold a kit to do this in the past. You might want to consider selling your saw on the used market as there seems to be some market for them. Then you could buy a different saw that already has the miter slots you want.

[eezlock]

new table top for BT3xx

Yes, I did make basically make a new top for my BT 3100. I removed the sliding miter table (didn't like it either), and the accessory table, I installed a dual miter slot table on each side of the blade ( I liked the look and feel of the saw with both sets installed). I bought a Delta T-2 fence and rails for the saw, removed the stock ones and installed the Delta set up. To make this new set up work out right, I made two (2) plywood entension tables (left & right sides) out of 3/4"baltic birch plywood from the BORG, used some very large heavy duty angle brackets bolted to the saw sides and the new tops. I made these tops a full 27" depth ( front to back) installed evenly with the front edge of the saw also a filler panel between the top panels directly behind the miter slot tables.

With the new tops and Delta rails set up, I built some storage drawers under the left side of the saw and a storage shelf under the right side, for small stuff to be stored in. My saw now has a top dimensions of 27" deep x 64"
wide. All this set up is on a Sears mobile base, so I can roll it around as needed in the shop! This was something I wanted to do...and I enjoyed
doing it, took my time and got all the measurements, and installation exactly where I wanted it....it works smoothe as silk and for now I'm happy with it.
Hope this answers your questions....I would try and post some pics of the set up as it is now...but I'm not too good at some of this computer stuff!

All of this is, and was my own ideas and design may not work for someone else....don't know..........eezlock

[JSUPreston]

Eezlock, if you could e-mail pics, I'd be interested in looking myself. I've still got the Bies from Lowe's that I think might work based on what you've described.

[kmk]

My top is bit expensive.. I've extension rails and I use 8 accessory tables on them. 7 on the right side and 1 on the left side next to SMT.

[LinuxRandal]

Eezlock, if you could e-mail pics, I'd be interested in looking myself. I've still got the Bies from Lowe's that I think might work based on what you've described.

Please DON'T email them ONLY. Post them as this has come up before, and I think it would be great to be able to reference a post with pics about it.

Plus I would love to see it.

[AAS]

Thanks to all

Thank you all for the replies. Looks like I'm not the first or only person to have thought of this, which makes me feel good.'
The reason I don't sell and buy a new one is that I can't justify it to myself. As much as I would like to buy a cabinet saw with a cast iron top and all the horsepower in the world, the fact of the matter is that I'm still a rookie woodworker, and my budget is somewhat limited as well.
So far I haven't found anything I can't do with this saw, but I have found that it could be a bit more user-friendly as far as set-ups go.

If anyone else has any comments, ideas, or suggestions, or pictures, they are always welcomed.

Armando

[cgallery]

My (still) current configuration:
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=26598

Thread showing brackets I use for mounting stuff:
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=29416&

While I only have a left-side miter slot, I could add a right-hand slot into the router table. But I've never felt a need. I do all my mitering on the left hand side of the blade.

I can't want to see pics of the Delta fence on the Ryobi. That sounds pretty neat!

I had thought previously of making an entirely new saw top using plywood with mica laminate on both sides. I envisioned making it larger than the current top (maybe about Unisaw size) with two miter slots. Had I access to a larger CNC router, I may have actually tried this. A couple of complicating factors: (1) The bottom of the table isn't in a single plane. (2) I kinda lick the rear-locking BT3K fence. If I went with a deeper table, I'd almost certainly have to give that up.

I did recently discover that I have access to a 5x12 Anderson CNC router, via one of my customers. Maybe someday I'll give it a shot.

I've also been tempted by that new Bosch 4100 table saw. That looks pretty slick.

[eezlock]

Bt3 top

Eezlock, if you could e-mail pics, I'd be interested in looking myself. I've still got the Bies from Lowe's that I think might work based on what you've described.

I'll try and make some pics and see if they can be posted to this site....
don't know if it will work or not. eezlock

[bmyers]

Here is what I came up with to solve similar problems. It's basically 2 saws together. There is another hollow BT top between the rails holding another miter slot. You could do this with just wood also.


Bill