pulled saw out of storage.. I have questions

[cat lady]

I had my BT3000 boxed up essentially for the last 20 years... (had kids) I pulled it out of various boxes the other day and started putting it back together. I have many questions. If I power it on.. will the belts be.. okay? I've been just playing with it, just trying to get familiar with it. I can not get the lever to switch from rotating blade to raising blade up and down to work. Where should I start to trouble shoot. When I crank the front crank I can only get it to move blade up and down and it sounds.. clunky but lever wont move left or right at all to get the angle adjustment function. The saw was hardly used in the first place. I remember this lever being rough to move before. Hoping for some guidance thanks.

[LCHIEN]

The lever for changing from bevel angle to elevation is a bit stiff. I usually make a fist and pop it about four or five times sideways until it starts moving, then you can slide it easily the rest of the way to the end to engage the bevel gearing.

If it hasn't been used for 20 years the very first thing I'd recommend is using some paste wax (pure wax, Johnson's Paste Wax in a can) to lube the elevation screw and the ways that the locker bracket and motor slide on to go up and down. If you need more help, just ask. The BT3000s are notorious for freezing up and losing the sliding shims and its a pain to fix and doesn't work well without them. At one time I did a survey and 1/3 of BT3000 owners had some problem with these; I have studiously avoided by proper lubing. The BT3100 sort of corrected the problem and does not occur.

I have the original belts on mine from 1999... if they feel pliable they are probably OK. They are urethane and usually durable. Try and rotate the blade (unplugged of course) and see if it turns freely.

I think many people find my FAQ linked at the bottom of this reply to be useful info about their saw. Please feel free to download and read it.