Guide Holder movement

[johnslc]

My BT3000 has seemed louder than when I first got it. Suspecting that there was runout that made the spinning blade noisier, I opened it up and found that when I grasp the end of the motor away from the blade, it moves side to side and top to bottom about 1/8". The shims are in place, but the guide holder moves in relation to the locker bracket. Is this amount of play normal? If not, is there a way to "tighten things up".. Could the shims be worn and causing the play?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[JR]

I have a BT3000 and when it seemed to get noisy, i dove in, pretty much like you did. I found that the shims had started to break and falli out.

This was a common issue on the BT3000. The Bt3100 had an improved shim design, making them less likely to break.

The move to the new shims is not difficult. Check out the articles section of this site for some tips.

Good luck,
JR

[mpc]

Triple-check that the shims are in fact healthy. If they are, looke closely at the aluminum parts just above the shims, you'll see small holes. Inside those are dinky allen headed setscrews. These adjust the tension of the aluminum parts on the shims. The correct allen key was included with the saw originally.

If it were my saw, I'd go ahead and open up the assembly and look at the shims, cleaning them an re-waxing them, before adjusting the setscrews. Just in case the shims have worn through in spots hidden behind the aluminum - like too-tight setscrews that have ground holes through the shims. I like to know the "why" something changed, not just the "how to fix" aspect. If the shims are in fact okay, clean, etc... and the setscrews just "backed out" a little, then use some blue Loctite on them when re-installing.

Note that if you tweak the setscrews at all, your blade alignment might change ever so slightly... so re-align the SMT and saw fence before using the saw again. I always check the alignment of these parts whenever I do anything to the saw's guts... just in case. I have the stitches on my right index finger to remind me of what can go wrong (borrowed a friend's saw before I had by BT3000)...

mpc

[Black wallnut]

Movement in the same plane of the blade is normal. Any movement perpendicular to the blade should be adjusted out with the 4 set screws. I think it unlikely to wear a hole in the shim which is much harder than the aluminum that it rides against. What does break is the bent retaining tabs, top and/ or bottom. When adjusting the set screws keep in mind there is not much adjustment between go and no-go. too tight and you will dimple the shims into the locker bracket.

[DaveStL]

1/8 Seems Like a Lot

1/8" side-to-side seems like more slop than the set screws should take up. You might see if the screws pulling the guide holder up to the motor assembly have backed out-- mine did. If so, I'd take it all apart, clean, adjust, and lube.

When reassembling, rather than using a dab of grease to hold each motor-side shim in place, make two studs from (8/32?) all-thread, or cut the heads off two screws. Loosely put them in the top holes of the motor assembly, hang the shims, pivot the motor assembly into place, and place the guide bracket with the remaining shims. Put the bottom two screws in place and pull up the guide bracket enough that you can grab the studs, then remove the studs and insert the top screws. The studs need to be long enough that you can grab them (needlenose work well here) to back them out with the guide holder in place, but not so long that the outboard side hangs on the locker bracket as you swing the motor into place-- seems like about 1-1/4", but they're w/ the saw at my buddy's house.

I've been meaning to post this, but couldn't figure out how to upload a picture. I used this method when I tore the saw down before selling it, and it was much easier than the last time I messed with the shims.

Use blue locktite on these screws for final assembly.