Stripped Throat Plate Screw Holes - BT3000

[leehljp]

This whole "thread" is very very helpful and I am bookmarking it! Great ideas and suggestions!

[LCHIEN]

Try Jam nuts to lock your leveling screw

Before this thread dissolves, does anyone have advice re: leveling screws that turn too easily- not stripped, but seem to lower on their own over time with pressure on the plate, vibrations, whatever.

I don't want something like Loctite to freeze the position- something to give just a bit more friction on the threads. Any ideas?

The Teflon idea is good if you want to be able to adjust it more often but not have it move from vibration.
Another idea If you want something a little more lockable but still not permanent is a back up nut, also called a Jam nut, assuming you have the thread length and access to do this.
loosen the backup nut, position the screw, then hold the screw in place with its driver and use a small wrench to tighten the nut either on the back or from the top (assuming the head is far enough above the surface).

They have extra thin nuts for this purpose if space is limited. There's not much force on the nut. Just enough to keep the screw from turning. The screw still supports the plate being leveled.

[cabinetman]

If there is enough room on the thread for two nuts (a nut and a backup), you could use a locknut. They are nuts with an inner lining of nylon or something similar that binds on the thread, stopping rotation.

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[mpc]

I haven't tried this fix on my saw yet...

The 4 holes I drilled & tapped years ago for zero clearance throat plates (in the aluminum nubs in the corners of the factory throat plate opening - they weren't drilled/tapped on my early model BT3000) have started to wear a bit. The screw threads are also a bit worn so both need to be re-done. Rather than going to the next size screw - since I'll forget sometime and try to use those bigger screws in the factory throat plate screw holes - I'll drill the holes out just a little bit... and press-fit an aluminum sleeve into the opening. I'll then tap the sleeves for stock size screws. A regular steel 10-32 screw (not the soft factory screws) probably would work as well as a tap. Once tapped, I'll use something other than steel screws to hold the throat plates to avoid potential steel-aluminum squabbles. Large slip-joint pliers should be enough to squeeze the sleeves into the BT3x tabletop without disassembling the saw and/or over-stressing the top.

Short aluminum sleeves are sold as "spacers" in the hardware isles of Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc. Should be cheap - a lot less expensive than HeliCoils or similar inserts designed for car engine type of stresses.

Basically a metalworkers version of using a wood dowel to fix a stripped or rotted screw hole in a wood item. The idea came to me while browsing the Borg hardware isle for something else a couple hours ago.

mpc