Possible Handwheel Fix/Repair

[d_meister]

Definitely try a different lubricant. Dribble some 3-in-1 or Marvel or another light oil and see if there's a difference. Try to lube the bottom of the jack screw where it has to rotate in the chassis of the saw
Take a look at post #8 in this thread:

https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/discussions/bt3x00-related-discussions/839956-finally-time

JPW is Johnson Paste Wax, I think.

[LCHIEN]

PS - found I did not get the 3/4" (?) motor shaft arbor wrench with the saw - if anyone has an extra one?

Any 3/4" wrench will work on the arbor nut, however the reverse end is what locks the arbor and keeps it from turning. The second flat wrench is 1/2" and on the reverse end has the arbor locking end. If you have that one then you don't realy need the 3/4" flat wrench, any 3/4" or even the 19 mm metric combination wrench (because 3/4" = 19.05 mm, close enough) will do.

Well, after reading MPCs suggestions here an hour or two of (more) cleaning, raising and lower the BT3100-1 motor shaft is only slightly better. Still only barely raises with much struggle and two hands on the wheel. Lowers easier than raising but still way too much strain (IMO). Removed all four shims, blew everything out with air can and a shop-vac, cleaned shims and the rails, no scars or shavings. Cleaning the shims seemed to help and things ran up/don great - until I fully tightened all four mounting bolts - now motor housing will barely budge. Oddly, even almost removing the four mounting bolts and the blade shaft is still a struggle to move up and down. Mine is a 2005 model and has the black metal "sprung" blade-side shims without tension set screws. None of it was particularly dirty but cleaned everything with a brass filament brush, air can, rag and some carb starter fluid. Even tried some silicone oil on the housing housing rails - no dice.

It's looking like my new-to-me Craigslist saw is actually a box of parts instead of a working saw. No wonder the original handle was stripped. No way the replacement handle will hold up under the strain - you have to crank with two hands. Shaft bolts and cogs all clean with nothing stripped. Thinking I might give it one more try re-cleaning the shims before I start selling it for parts. Maybe the silicone oil (not even a drop on a piece of paper applied to all four housing rails) caused the shims to bind? And the shiny motor side shims seem to only cover the inner-most "rail" on each side - the shim does not cover both vertical "rails" on the motor-side of the housing. Unlikely they're in backwards but will check.

Seems like most on this forum really love their BTs but this one is pretty much unusable right now - haven't even cut the first piece of wood! I'll hang out a few days in case anyone has some suggestions - this is really odd!

PS - found I did not get the 3/4" (?) motor shaft arbor wrench with the saw - if anyone has an extra one?

[Carlos]

Dry lube doesn't work for tapping because you need something with both high stick and great flow as you are creating a whole new surface. Dry lube will never flow, obviously. For my shop tools, I'm 100% dry lube, for absolutely everything. Dupont non-stick dry film is my top choice there, but the Bostik products are great too. Tapping and drilling are done with Tap Magic, which really is magic. For the metal bandsaw, CRC cutting spray is also magic. When I discovered Hornady One dry lube for guns, well that changed everything. Even my Mosin's sloppy action is now smooth and buttery as long as I use that. I use the Dupont on most external moving parts of my motorcycles and bicycles too, with great results. Oh, and all over the travel trailer, like outside hinges and locks.

[d_meister]

Some problems may be caused by the dry lube. I don't remember what the brand was, but I remember some dry spray causing binding when I used it to lube something. I'm pretty sure that it was on my BT3000, because whatever it was I was doing, I switched to the Johnson's Paste Wax, as recommended in this forum many years ago. Since then, I threw good advice out the window and switched to wet oil spray lube. That was because my saw was binding while elevating, and I was too rushed (okay:Lazy) to take off the throat plate and brush in wax. The theory about attracting sawdust and gumming things up haven't panned out for me. I routinely spray different wet oils and grease in there, now..One of my favorites was made by LubriMoly. It was a spray liquid that gelled to a grease. Ran out, darn it. Actually haven't had a problem with the lift in years.
If you want to see how ineffective dry spray is as a universal lubricant, try using it for tapping. Guarantee it will bind up. Personally, I only use dry lube on plastic surfaces that slide on each other, like windows.

[LCHIEN]

Fishing Hobby.
I'd like some info on the end of the shaft for the handwheel - can you make some measurements for me?
What I do know is that the shaft is 7/16" Diameter with some flats on the end. I can see the mating hole in the handwheel pic you posted.
Can you give me two measurements?

First the width across the flats, with a caliper if possible or else with a ruler would be OK.
Second the length that the flats go back from the end of the shaft.
I know the shaft has a threaded hole in the end.

Loring

[LCHIEN]

New to the forum, been lurking for a while!
I recently picked up a BT3000 for $60 and it needs some work but I don't mind. When I got the saw the blade wouldn't raise up and down and the gears would start to move and stop and the handle would just spin. I pulled the handwheel off and the hole in the handle with 2 flats to mate with the shaft that drives the gears to raise and lower the blade looked pretty much like a round hole with no flats in it. I could tell that the support ribs around the hole were more oval looking than round. The plastic had not been chewed away, just deformed. I suspect that the raise and lowering mechanism had gotten dirty and the previous owner tried to force the handwheel and left it sitting for a very long period of time with the flats of the handwheel aligned with the round part of the shaft and the handwheel had sort of permanently taken that round shape. The shims for the raising and lowering mechanism are in place as they should be and the aluminum threads are not stripped out (yeah for me!) so I'm pretty sure it is just dirty and not wanting to move as it should. For now I wanted to see if I could work on the handwheel and get it back to usable condition. I know a little about plastics and I know what ever plastic the handwheel is made of is some sort of thermal molded plastic. Those sorts of plastics tend to want to got back to the original position they were molded in when heated enough to make them pliable. I was able to heat the area in the pictures that I have my fingers on with a small embossing heat gun which is good for heating up small areas like this. Once heated enough to make it shiny in all the areas I needed to reposition I clamped it in place and left it to cool. It worked and the hole is once again in the correct shape and it is very rigid as it was once upon a time. Thermoplastics can be heated enough to reshape and then cooled to maintain that shape without losing much of its original strength. This should work just fine if anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation. Of course I have more work to do before I can test the repaired handwheel, so I will be sure to report back on how well it actually worked out.

Once you get that plastic to fit the shaft again, you might take some steps to ensure the plastic won't stretch out of shape again. A metal radiator clamp around it? Or make a dam around it and backfill with a solid epoxy cast to prevent it from expanding again?

Thanks, MPC. I'll look into the shim setscrews. If that's not it, I'm thinking I'll have to remove and clean the shims and frame rails. Thanks.

[mpc]

A couple things that affect how hard it can be to raise/lower the blade:

1: blade guard support rubbing the back of the tabletop opening.

2: dirty or un-lubricated shims and/or aluminum areas they ride on.

3: dirty or un-lubricated height adjusting screw, crud or stripped threads (and shredded metal bits) in the nut.

4: over-tightened shim tolerance adjusting setscrews. There are several tiny setscrews in the aluminum bits that support the shims (the parts that move with the shims, not the parts the shims ride on). These are used to adjust how the shims are "pushed into" the fixed parts they ride against. Too loose and the whole motor assembly can wiggle leading to apparent blade run-out, too tight means they shove the shims too tightly against the aluminum areas they should slide against. You'll need an itty-bitty allen wrench (one came with the saw) to adjust these.

mpc

PS - I did find a replacement (plastic) hand wheel. It works but the travel down is really, really hard turning - up is less so but still seems way too tight. Cleaned the travel bolts, cogs, etc. and snugged the retaining nut at the bottom of the vertical raising bolt (it was way lose with caused the bottom/ horizontal cog wheel to rise and bind when lowering). Basically takes two hands on the wheel to raise and lower - crazy. Cleaned the motor "rails" as best I could - they seemed smooth and shiny. Dry lubed both bolts - even added a touch of silicone to the cogs but none of that made things any easier. No wonder the previous handle eventually failed. Bad design?

It looks like maybe the splines on the outside of the wheel shaft might have something to do with turning/engaging the blade tilt (when locking lever full right).

[d_meister]

Could a clamp of some kind fit around the wheel shaft? I don't have a BT any more so I can't look. I've had great success with hose clamps to repair things like this, particularly the crimp-on type and not the screw-driven type.

I was thinking the same thing, but was wondering if the "Teeth" on the outside of the hub have a purpose and engage with something. If not, maybe they could be filed down and the hub can be reinforced with a screwless clamp, like an Oeitiker Stepless

[Carlos]

Could a clamp of some kind fit around the wheel shaft? I don't have a BT any more so I can't look. I've had great success with hose clamps to repair things like this, particularly the crimp-on type and not the screw-driven type.

[LCHIEN]

This is the drawing for the half inch Handwheel to BT3000/BT3100 Adapter
I did not design this, it was sold by an eBayer 7 years ago and I just copied the dimensions. My part was cut in aluminum.
THere are really no critical dimensions except the small shaft mist be less than 0.500" and the cavity should be large enough to fit the BT3000 handwheel shaft.

[LCHIEN]

Well here is my planned replacement for my handwheel.

Knowing the handwheel is plastic and breakable, and that the shaft is unique to the saw, I planned some insurance. I bought a standard metal handwheel with 1/2" ID from Grizzly for about 7 bucks and an eBay BT3000 adapter for about $14 in 2013. I have tried to contact the seller recently by email and through eBay but have not received an answer.
I never installed it because frankly I couldn't easily break the screw loose on the OEM handwheel. Figuring I could when it became necessary. https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...-handwheel-off

Meanwhile I have drilled and tapped the handwheel for a 1/4"-20 set screw.
I wish I could locate more adapters for your guys to solve the problem but I could not. Its not a complex machining job to make some more if someone were to pursue it; I'm not sure a 3-D printed part could be strong enough, but it might be,.