Picking up my BT3100 in the morning

[danais]

So I have "Lurked" on this site for a while and finally tomorrow morning I will have reason to quit stalking! I am picking up my first BT3100.

Attached are the CL pics and it looks like it is in good condition. Anything I should look out for when I go to pick it up other than the shim issue?

I'm paying $225. I think this is a fair price.

[yamato72]

I'd say that's a very fair price, since it appears to be complete. Make sure the aluminum router mouting plate is included, and make sure there are no audible or visible issues with the motor/blade, and that the fences and SMT don't appear to have been abused. I paid $175 for mine a couple years ago, and it literally had only a couple hours' use on it.

A good tip regarding abuse is checking to see if the latches for the SMT are intact....

[pelligrini]

That's a good price. There are quite a few extras included.

[toolguy1000]

looks like you also have the contents of the accessory kit that was available for the saw, which retailed for $99(?) by itself. enjoy your BT. just beware that it's a right tilt. it's possible to catch the workpiece between the blade and the fence when bevel ripping wide material.

[danais]

It does come with some extras. It comes with the 8 piece accessory kit ($100) as well as a Herc-U-Lift he said he paid $75.

I did not know that this was a right tilt saw. Good to know.

Thanks for the replies.

[wardprobst]

Welcome aboard, I don't think you have to worry about shims on a BT3100, that was one of the things that was improved over the BT3000. Enjoy your saw and post up often.
Best,
DP

[JoeyGee]

Is that a Herculift on there, also?

[danais]

After bring it home my new saw yesterday I didn't have a chance to set it up. This morning I went to put a blade in it and it is grinding terribly when I lowered the blade after I put it in. I also can't ajust the angle of the blade. Everything worked fine at the guys house who I bought it from. Could the shims have broken in the back of my truck on the ride home? Am I not using the adjustment wheel correctly?

[LCHIEN]

doubtful that a BT3100 has shim problems.
Doubtful that Shims would be damaged by transportation.

make sure the blade guard riving knife is not tilted backwards and hitting the table as you lower the blade. Are you sure you understand how to change the crank from elevation to tilt?

With the BT3 I always say don't force anything, if its binding or working hard there's usually a reason and it should be fixed before continuing and breaking something. It's not a delicate saw but its also not something you can abuse and have it survive.

[danais]

The previous owner did not use the blade guard. This was part of my intensions when installing the blade, however I haven't even got that far.

I am not completely positive I understand how to change the blade from elevation to tilt, but how complicated is it? When I move the lever on the adjustment wheel it doesn't allow me to turn the wheel in either direction without resistance for tilt or blade height.

I don't know where to start looking as to what the resistance is. I can see the gears are not touching the wheel if I was to tilt the blade... also I see a lot of tension on a spring that the wheel is attached to for blade height...


Thanks

Greg

[danais]

Help

Ok so I decided the best way to figure out what was going on was to take this thing apart. I cleaned the heck out of this saw however it was dirty but not extremely dirty.

I cleaned the rail that the saw elevates vertically on however it still really difficult to spin the adjustment wheel. If I were to use the nob on the wheel I believe it would break off! I have it completely taken apart and can see that I am not going to break anything but it just doesn't seem to be working correctly.

I do not want to remove the motor and mess with the belt but I am afraid that I need to so I clean track that sits on the rail?

Thanks

Greg

[dbhost]

Go back to the first page of this thread, and look for the post by LCHIEN, look at his signature, and follow the instructions. He's the keeper of the authoritative FAQ on the BT3x00 series saws...

[pelligrini]

I do not want to remove the motor and mess with the belt but I am afraid that I need to so I clean track that sits on the rail?

The FAQ has a bunch of good detail.

It doesn't look too dirty, and the crown gears look to be in good shape. Try some lubrication on all the moving parts & mating surfaces. Especially the height adjustment screw. I like using just paste wax. You should be able to clean & lube everything without taking the motor off. Lower it all the way and do one portion, then raise it to do the other.

Clean the crown gears with a brush & lube all those mating surfaces and any shaft connection. Cleaning & lubing all the sides where the saw slides up & down on the shims makes a big difference. Cleaning & lubing the main height adjustment threaded rod is the biggest thing though. I like holding a shop towel around the rod and then operating the height adjust wheel to clean it, then loading up a towel with wax and doing the same to lube it.

There are some good threads on lubrication and height movement.

[danais]

DB

LChien sent me the FAQ list last night. I have read through them and this is the reason I decided to dissemble the saw and thoroughly clean it.

Does the elevation of the blade tend to be difficult to change? Cleaning did fix the wheel so I could tilt the saw without resistance.

Thanks

Greg

[capncarl]

Sounds like the lever that changes the crank action from blade elevation to blade tilt is doing something funny. If everything else is ok that is about the only thing left to look at.
capncarl