What would be a reasonable offer for a BT3000?

[fishtails]

I just sold my old Craftsman contractors saw. A friend of mine has a BT3000 completely intact just sitting there in his garage. He doesn't use it any more, and also has the Ryobi plunge router, looks brand new, to go with it. The table looks very little used, and he did say it hasn't been used in years. When these saws came out I really wanted to get one but could not afford it at the time. My friend wants to get rid of it (he's up there in years). I want to make him a reasonable offer (really don't want to insult him) but I don't want to pay more than it's worth. Could I get some input as to what a reasonable offer would be. Great shape, all manuals, router and router attachment, etc.

Also, are parts readily available for this saw, i.e. belts, etc?

Just curious, I haven't been able to find a new saws similar to this one with the features. Is there a reason why they don't make this saw or similar any more?

Thanks for any and all input.

Mark

[greenacres2]

Hi Mark,
I just sold an early 15 amp BT3000 (the original supply of saws had 13 amp motors) to a friend of my wife's last weekend. Offered her the saw for $150 and the router mount with an old Craftsman 1 1/2 router for $30. She paid me $200, and i was feeling guilty at $150.

Most parts are available through ereplacementparts.com or ebay.

Hope that helps.

earl

[fishtails]

Thanks for the feedback. It gives me an idea to start with. I found in one of the other forums a link to a Craftsman which has the same features as the BT. Pricey. Looks identical. I found some shopsmiths on CL but any that are in descent shape are a little more than what I want to pay, so I was thinking about this BT when I saw it in my friends garage. Anyway, thanks for the input.

Mark

[LCHIEN]

the Craftsman 21829 is the current model based upon the BT3000.

A BT3000 in good shape should command about $150 as a fair price.
The key issues is the shims, a weak spot of the BT3000 (not the BT3100).
If the shims haven't fallen out already, and the saw has been sitting you will need to lube them right away. The shims are some brass sheet metal bent and fit to the motor mount (called a locker bracket) and the shims slide up and down on on the vertical ways. With lack of lube they flatten and fall out.

You can search recent posts for shims - there's been discussions recently in the last couple of months several people buying used BT3000s and advised what to look out for.

[fishtails]

Thanks for the info on the shims. As long as I can find parts I think I will make him an offer. I share a garage with a lot of stuff so I need to be careful with my space. The combo router table and saw is what attracts me the BT. A 5 tools in one Shopsmith would really fit my garage well, but again, way above my pocketbook right now. Thanks again.

Mark

[fishtails]

New owner of BT3000! Yay!

Well, I bought it. He threw in 2 Micro Jig GR 200, never used, with it (80 bucks each at Rockler), so I gave him 250. I was looking at the Micro Jigs not just three weeks ago. So far I've cleaned the saw and metal mobile base up real good. The fence/rail system in excellent shape, as well as the sliding and router tables. There's a little rust on the cabinet itself but a little TLC with a wire brush and some paint it'll look brand new (well almost new anyway) I just need to get the FAQ and look up those shim issues and do some lubing and I should be set to plug it in. Can't wait! It's ironic that just a few weeks ago I was looking at some of my old Wood magazines and in issue #72 they have a plan for a mobile base for a table saw. The saw they built it for was the BT3000. When I saw it I remembered how much I wanted that saw back then but it was in the mid 500's at the time. Can't believe I finally got one after 20 some odd years!

First project is to build a nice mobile cabinet, a little bigger than the onee in the Wood magazine so it will hod extra tools, etc. Thanks for the input!

Mark

[toolguy1000]

congrats on your buy. what type of saw did you sell? was it a 113 series saw?

[fishtails]

113.298090 model. Bought it in 92 when I was looking at the BT3K. Sears had it on sale for under 200. The BT was well over 500 at the time. Money was real tight then. I took a jig saw to one of the wings and added a piece of plexiglass, making a adequate router table for some things, but I always wanted better. Never did build an actual router table. Anyway, I think I'm going to enjoy my new toy once I finish the cleaning and lubing.

Mark

[toolguy1000]

good luck with your new saw. this is the first tme i've ever read about a WW going from a CI TS (like the 113.298090) to a BT3xxxx. is "farewell from the dark side" appropriate?

[fishtails]

Had to look around to figure out what CI stood for. It wasn't cast iron. There were 2 models, mine was the ribbed aluminum, or maybe it was steel, but definitely not cast iron. Had it been I wouldn't have sold it and put forth the money for a good fence cause the original was definitely a pain. A good fence was more than what I originally paid for the saw. The wings were just stamped steel, very prone to rust here where I am.

[LCHIEN]

if it was a sears contractor style saw and it wasn't cast iron wings then it was probably stamped steel wings, the stuff they used on the cheaper contractor saws.

[fishtails]

Oh yeah, the wings were stamped steel, hence me being able to use a jig saw to make the make shift router table. The table itself was not CI either. I'd link a pic to it but I've already removed it from CL. Oh yeah, thanks for the FAQ's Loring.