Nemesis, thy name is shims...

[Mahoney]

Thanks for all the great support on this forum. Seriously could not have made it this far without you. I'm hoping that this thank you/story may help other newbies.

I picked up a BT3000 a few weeks ago and once I got it home caught a distinct "clink" while raising the blade. Yeah, shims.

Early Saturday I decided to pull the saw apart, give it a good cleaning, and see what's what with the shims. Things managed to take a bit longer than expected.

This fine piece of woodworking machinery seems to have never been cleaned. At least it seemed that way. The screws were... obstinate. Screw extractor purchase and a good dose of sweating/cursing and I managed to get the thing open.

Once cleaned I came to to conclusion that the shims were dead - I even tried bending the flap back which immediately resulted in a detached tab in my hand. Without the luxury of leaving the saw dissembled while replacements are ordered, I started the process of putting the pieces back.

This may be clear elsewhere, but I spent a good bit of time on getting the shims back into place. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but here's the upshot:
- There are 4 shims - 2 L shaped and 2 flat with holes
- The 4 shims cover 3 sides of the frame on which the motor raises and lowers
- The flat shims are positioned with the holes to the inside, leaving the majority of the metal on the outside
- The L shims (or Devil Shims, as I've chosen to call them) cover the frame inside and front side with the shorter side to the inside

I eventually turned the saw onto its right side with the motor underneath propped against the frame. I was able to position the flat/rear shims against the motor aligned with the holes, place the top/L/Devil shims on top, and ever-so-gently get the plate back on. (That description made it sound far easier than it was in practice.)

I still have a lot of questions, but the most germane:
- How tight should the outer plate be?
- While waiting for replacements, will I be doing damage to use the saw with in-place but still screwy shims?


If you are tackling this shim issue and are getting frustrated, know you aren't alone. The good news is there are a LOT of articles here to help. Hopefully this adds more to the discussion than it subtracts.

[Black wallnut]

I still have a lot of questions, but the most germane:
- How tight should the outer plate be?
- While waiting for replacements, will I be doing damage to use the saw with in-place but still screwy shims?

.

The four screws that hold the guide holder and motor in place should be tight but not so tight that they strip. The shim set screws need to be adjusted so that there is no abnormal slop in the shims.

As long as your shims are not moving around or falling out you could use your saw but how will you tell if the shims fall out? Might be better to just wait it out until you replace them. However if your shims still have the lower tabs then you could just add shim supports and be done with it. See my article on shims for a link to the shim support page.

[Norm in Fujino]

My solution for the shim problem (from December, 2000) is HERE. My shim supports are still working fine, even though I've not cleaned out the saw in a long time. There are other ways to get the same results.

[Black wallnut]

Thanks Norm for providing the link! I installed your design years ago and have been happy long since! the link in my article is to your page by the way.

[Herman]

I replaced the shims in mine a few days ago. I was having trouble getting the plate to seat back over the bearing, until I remembered a trick from my tool repair days. I used a propane torch to heat the bearing bore up in the plate. This allowed the plate to drop onto the bearing without disturbing the shims.