My First BT3000, advice?

[jbrukardt]

Good morning everyone, just picked up my first table saw, which also happens to be a BT3000. I did a lot of research first, and it seemed that almost all modern table saw in my range (below 300) had very significant issues with accuracy among many other things. So off to craigslist i went, and managed to find a rather beat, but functional BT3000 for 200 bucks.

Now since im new to the whole table saw thing in general, please be gentle with me. Here are some picture of what I have, followed by a few questions.



I fixed the bent leg on the riving knife (and also have a spare, but couldnt figure out how to remove the lock washers to swap out the pawls and guard onto it, they appears to be welded on), I still have to sand up the rusty pawls on this one, but it works for now.








Now, ive put it together, and have a few questions

#1) I cant get the rails to lock in, when i slide them on, and pull up on the little plastic levers, theyre all floppy and dont hold. I saw the guide on how to tighten the bolts, but it doesnt seem to do anything, I feel like i might have put the rails on wrong.
#2) What pieces am i missing? The miter guide and fence seem like the big one, which I would really like
#3) How can I attach a featherboard to the table? I saw the guide to attach a couple to the rip fence, and will definitely do that asap, but since im new to table saws, it would make me feel a lot safer having a featherboard on the table as well, especially since i plan on pushing a lot of long (10 foot+) stock through the saw.

Things i need to do:

#1) Figure out how to lock down the rails
#2) Adjust the rip fence (it seems to kick out at the back about 1/16th, unless i manually hold it when locking it down)
#3) Figure out featherboards
#4) Build a couple sets of extension rollers out of rolling pins and stands for long stock
I ran some cheap stock through it, and even with these problems, was impressed with the accuracy. On an 8 foot board, i was within a 1/32nd over the length, but the cut was a little rough (saw marks in a couple places). Im guessing this is just due to my technique since im new.

Anyway, im glad to see theres such an active community on the web still for this seemingly strong little saw, comments, advice, insults, all welcomed.

[Pappy]

First, between where the line and #7 are on the front of the saw and the blade paint the low area (groove) bright red. Fingernail polish works great. This serves as a reminder to keep your fingers clear of the blade.

What is on the saw for a splitter appears to be part of an original blade guard. While some people use just a splitter/riving knife, as a beginner with table saws you want all the protection and safety devices available. The pawls (Pointy things on the guard) can be a hassle, they will protect you from a kickback. To prevent them from damaging wood either file the tips a bit or coat them with liquid rubber. They will still do their job.

As to the rails, turn the keeper nuts in on the cam levers so the rails are a fairly snug fit when the slide on. The cam levers should have to bee fully released (to the right as you look at them) to install or move the rails.

[LCHIEN]

1. the square nuts need to be turned onto the bolts with the lever to the left(?). If the rail is slid on and you can't pull it tight with the lever moving to the right(?) then you need to take off the rail and put another couple of turns close with the nut to the saw body. Eventually you'll get so there's little slop in the t-nut and the rail just slides on and you can pull it tight with less than half a turn of the lever. I may have the directions reversed...

2. The rip fence has a two stage locking mechanism, as you lower the lock handle, first it aligns with the front rail and clamps tight, that swings the back end around usually so the rip fence is parallel with the blade, then pushing the handle further locks the rear of the fence in place so it won't move when using it.

3. I'll attached a pic of my featherboard setup. I rotate the miter fence clamp a featherboard to it at the correct angle (30°) and use a clamp to lock the SMT in the right position (FB just ahead of the blade). The board attached to the miter fence I feathered the angled edge against the piece being ripped.

4. an outfeed table is important for long rips, it doesn't really have to have rollers. Imperfectly aligned rollers in fact tend to pull the wood away from the fence. most important is to have it just lower than the saw table so the leading edge does not catch in the outfeed table and stop your feed. A bevelled edge is a good way to do this.

[eezlock]

my first Bt3000 advice?

I didn't see in your post about the saw, any reference as whether or not, you got the original owner's manual. If you can get it from the seller, it would be big help, in doing small fine adjustments,and would help answer a bunch of questions for you. Before you get too far along on the set up phase and trail cut stage, turn that saw upside down and check the bottom side of all elevating/tilt mechanisms and the whole motor area for old sawdust and other leftover crud from the previous owner. If you take the time to clean well now,
and lubricate everything that is movable....you will eliminate most of the
aggravating and hard times these saws seem to encounter.A little cleaning
on these saws seems to go a long way in the preventive maintenance area.
Hope this helps you get started out right with a used saw.....eezlock

[jbrukardt]

Great, ill take off the rails tomorrow and try that advice to get them to lock in better (right now theres really no lock at all)

I've seen the miter based featherboard setup before, it seems like a good idea. Gotta get myself the miter components first though.

[eccentrictinkerer]

Here's the link for the Owner's Manual pdf file.

http://bt3000.com/Manuals/BT3000-Manual.pdf

Be sure to get Loren's FAQ. It's chock-full of great tips.

There's a series of factory-made videos on Youtube that will help you set your saw up.'

Good luck! You've found the best source of help from the finest folks on the Interweb right here at BTCentral.

J.D.

[jdon]

Congrats on your first table saw. Just my .02:

I didn't see in any of your pictures the miter fence- I hope you got that, along with the other pieces; functionality of the saw is severely limited without it. The long bolt you have sitting on the table looks like the miter fence hold down bolt.

You'll probably need or want a bunch of miscellaneous parts, such as the plastic end caps for the rails- they seem to fall off pretty easily. Check the condition of the four slide sets that attach the miter table to the base, and, as you've probably read on the forum, clean and lube the blade lift mechanism.

I've had good interactions with ereplacementparts.com for parts, although shipping is pretty steep for just a couple parts- order a bunch of parts on one order lessens the sting. If you've been following this forum, members occasionally part out saws, which is a cheaper way of getting major parts.

Good luck- the more you use your BT3000, the more you'll enjoy and appreciate it!

[LCHIEN]

are you missing the locking levers on the SMT? Don't see them in the picture and there should be four of them that lock the SMT to the rails, 2 in front and 2 in back.
Those usually break when the SMT is dropped.

[Knottscott]

Congrats on your new saw. It looks like the blade is the original Italian made Freud 36T blade, which was a decent stock blade, and it even looks reasonably clean (a good sign). Keeping the blade clean helps them cut better and stay sharp longer. This one might still be sharp but it doesn't appear to have ever been resharpened, and the odds are good that it has some miles on it. To ensure you're saw is performing at it's best, it might be worth picking up something like a new Freud Diablo D1040 for ~ $30 from HD, or a DeWalt DW7140PT from Lowes for $31...there are certainly other choices for more money, but these two are both very respectable general purpose blades in this price range. Having the stock blade resharpened would likely run in the $15-$20 range, depending on who does it, but unfortunately it's hard to tell who does good work without asking around.

There's more info about picking blades here if you're interested.

Good luck and be safe!

[pelligrini]

#1) Figure out how to lock down the rails
#2) Adjust the rip fence (it seems to kick out at the back about 1/16th, unless i manually hold it when locking it down)

Welcome!
Getting the rails to tighten up can be a hassle. I spent some time with those nuts when I put my 21829 together (Craftsman BT3 Clone). If they're too loose when the tightening lever is moved to it's extent slide the rail off the nut and give it a 1/4 turn, then try it again. I found it easier to leave the rail on at least one of the nuts than to remove it completely. Clean the inside track of the rail and rub some wax paper over it. The rails will move a lot easier.

If you pull back on the handle slightly when locking down the fence you should get less movement, provided every thing is operating properly. Putting a little pulling force on the fence will help to keep the wider t-square like portion snug to the back of the front rail lessening any side to side movement while locking it down.

[pelligrini]

Oh, I meant to mention that T-nuts.com has some ratcheting rail levers. http://t-nuts.com/product_info.php?c...roducts_id=234 I considered getting a set before I added some half rails and stopped moving mine.

Before you order anything from T-Nuts.com be sure to take the link at the top of the main forum page. He offers a discount for BT3central members. I picked up a few assortment packs a while back. They're great to have onhand for jigs, shop made accessories, etc.

[jbrukardt]

are you missing the locking levers on the SMT? Don't see them in the picture and there should be four of them that lock the SMT to the rails, 2 in front and 2 in back.
Those usually break when the SMT is dropped.

The clamps are there, must just not have shown.

Congrats on your first table saw. Just my .02:

I didn't see in any of your pictures the miter fence- I hope you got that, along with the other pieces; functionality of the saw is severely limited without it. The long bolt you have sitting on the table looks like the miter fence hold down bolt.

You'll probably need or want a bunch of miscellaneous parts, such as the plastic end caps for the rails- they seem to fall off pretty easily. Check the condition of the four slide sets that attach the miter table to the base, and, as you've probably read on the forum, clean and lube the blade lift mechanism.

I've had good interactions with ereplacementparts.com for parts, although shipping is pretty steep for just a couple parts- order a bunch of parts on one order lessens the sting. If you've been following this forum, members occasionally part out saws, which is a cheaper way of getting major parts.

Good luck- the more you use your BT3000, the more you'll enjoy and appreciate it!

Unfortunately no sign of the mitre fence imma have to order one (and the height clamp) Im trying to get ahold of a guy parting his bt3k with a blown motor out here on the boards, but no luck yet.




Ill check out everyones advice on the rails this weekend, see if i can get em to lock down, as well as checking out some new blades. Being this my first tablesaw and all, getting a table mounted featherboard setup is my priority so that i can feel safer. Gotta admit, my technique is rough since im a little cautious still until i get used to the saw. A featherboard will help me become more confident i think

[durango dude]

It's a little different - but enough to figure things out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbTZv...eature=related

[pelligrini]

Those BT videos have some good info. I believe there are 4 parts to them.

[jbrukardt]

Well, that was interesting

So, rather than paying about 40-50 bucks to replace my missing miter gauge and rail, I just happened to see a complete BT3100 with accessory kit, all new in box on craigslist for $50 dollars.

So now i have double parts for everything, for the price of a single part. Nice to have the accessory kit too. The BT3100 need a bit of greasing, its real sticky to adjust the blade height, but other than that looks brand new, like maybe 4-5 cuts went through it.

Not a bad haul for 50 bucks! (then again, i feel exceptionally ripped off about my previous beat-up BT3000 missing a miter fence for $200 now)