Miter slots on the BT3000

[Jcrawf]

I'm wondering why nobody seems to use the space between the fixed table and the auxiliary table for a miter slot. As best I can measure, both sides of the fixed table are parallel to the blade. Likewise the side of the auxiliary table. I've made a jig for cutting mortises and another for 45 degree angles. and I'm happy with them. I made the jig runners 1 inch wide by 5/8 thick, coated them and the saw with paste wax, and they slide smoothly and without any play in the "slot."

If I've missed the answer to this in the archives, I apologize.

[dbhost]

Not sure what you mean..

I have posted pics of this rig before, on this site, and several others... Yes I have dual miter slot tables. The pic simply has the rotuer accessory table slid all the way to the right of the wide table...

[crokett]

I think he means that instead of a separate miter slot table he just sets the accessory table about the width of a miter slot away from the main table and runs his jig through there. That isn't a bad idea, provided the blade is square to both tables.

[dbhost]

Well now that's a different story all together...

Never thunk of it for sure...

[LCHIEN]

The BT3000 series is unusual in that the saw blade is not fixed parallel to features in the table (e.g. slots, milled grooves or edges). The BT3 allows the blade to fall where it may in construction and assembly tolerances and then istead of aligning the trunion/arbor and motor system you instead align the SMT and the rip fence to the blade. this makes a less expensive yet effective system. No slots were accounted for in this system and when Ryobi bowed to pressure from users wanting to use classic miter slots they made miter slots that attached to the fixed table but were adjustable for parallelism with the blade.

So you idea of using the edges of the fixed table as part of a slot won't work in general. Turns out purely by chance that some BT3s are well aligned with the main table and the rest of them are not, to some degree. I think some are as many as 1/16th inch or more off over the length of the table. You may well be one of the lucky ones with an acceptably small alignment difference.
All this and 100's of other frequently asked questions are answered in my BT3 Frequently Asked Questions document (surprise).

PS, unless you use the rear locking hardware in the router access. kit, the back end of the auxiliary table can wobble back an forth a bit, probably too much for use with a miter gauge using the edge of the auxiliary table.

[Jcrawf]

Miter Slots

I mis-identified one of the jigs I use with the "miter slot": not a mortise jig, but a tenon jig. I sometimes get the two terms mixed up, just as I sometimes mix up the names of my sons. Not an uncommon problem, I'm told, for us octogenarians.

David, you hit the nail on the thumb in clarifying my question.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but 1/16 inch out of parallel over the length of the table is within an acceptable tolerance for me.

Anyway, those lacking a miter slot might want to give this idea a try.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Jack