BT3000 Rip Fence -- can't re-install?

[luckysawdust]

Hey guys,

Brand new to this community

I just bought a BT-3000 used, in pretty good condition. Got it home, but the base up on some wheels, have almost everything in place, and I'm stumped when it comes to the rip fence installation.

I've tried adjusting the rails, changing which track the rails mount on, re-installing the rails to double-check they are seated correctly, trying to adjust the one part on the fence I can see that is adjustable... and I'm still coming up about 1/8" to 1/4" short of the length necessary to seat comfortably on the rails.

Rail mount on front: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao7AQg0IrptQukMQ9wLoz2Nbd-mu
Rail mount on rear: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao7AQg0IrptQulsT...yOE-u?e=gefNHL

Fence clip (rear): https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao7AQg0IrptQuke5...YXy6S?e=2mvVxD
Fence clamp (front): https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao7AQg0IrptQukmdC0ch_K_YbUM4

When I clip in the fence on the 'back rail' ... I always come up short on the front rail.

Any tips on how to correct this? I'm 99% positive I saw the fence working correctly when it was still in the shop of the gal I bought it from.

Thank you guys!

- Lucky Sawdust

[mpc]

Your front rail pic looks correct - the beveled edge with the stick-on inch scale should be facing upwards and outwards/away from the saw body. So concentrate on the rear rail. The narrowest side should be the top.
Take a look at my pictures in post #9 on the following thread:
Outfeed table ideas
The third/middle pic is an end-on view of the back rail showing a metal gizmo I made; the pic shows exactly how the rail should be oriented. The saw body is on the left edge of the picture.
The first pic is again the outfeed side of the saw.
The fifth and last pic shows the infeed rail.
I have the wide table kit on my BT3000 so the rails will look twice as long as normal; there is a joint between the original rails and the add-on extensions.


Looking at your back/outfeed rail pics... the rail looks wrong to me. It almost looks like another front rail? Did you get a wide table kit with your saw by any chance?

When mounting the fence on my BT3000, I have to tip/angle it outfeed end downwards a bit and get the small finger catch into the back rail first, then I can lower the front of the fence onto the front rail. Trying to mount the fence while holding it level won't work on my saw.

mpc

[luckysawdust]

Looking at your back/outfeed rail pics... the rail looks wrong to me. It almost looks like another front rail? Did you get a wide table kit with your saw by any chance?

mpc

Ding ding ding! That was exactly it -- the saw did come with a wide table kit, and I had mistakenly put a 'front' rail on the back -- ... and when I tried to put the wide-table extensions together, I then realized that the 'profile' for the front extrusion does not match up with the extrusion for the back rail! As soon as I corrected that error, I was able to slip the fence right on!

Thank you much!

[LCHIEN]

I love happy endings.

[luckysawdust]

Figured I'd post a picture of the success -- bought this to assist with our home renovation, which, as you can see, is still in progress.

Used it last night to cut strips of lauan to make a template for our stone countertops.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao7AQg0IrptQul0Q0fYGqcCQQyku

Thank you for the help!

Looking forward to exploring more of this saw's capabilities!

Would have uploaded the picture, but I can't seem to upload attachments?

[nicer20]

(Resurrecting this thread since my question is Rip Fence related).

Hello Gurus,

The rails on my saw are correctly setup and the rip fence marker matches the width of the board ripped.

Having said that what I find is, the rip fence only goes to ~19 inches. At that point the little "Stub" inside the fence mechanism hits the plastic end piece. So I cannot really go beyond the 19 inch mark. I can remove the plastic piece and gain about an inch more. But after that the fence is really unstable as most of the right side of the fence "T" gets unsupported.

Clearly I have something not set up correctly as the saw is supposed to have a 24 inch rip capacity. But can't really figure out what it is .

Any ideas or thoughts?

(I am finding more nuances as I use the saw more & more).

Thanks in advance for all the help I am getting,

NG

[mpc]

The BT3 fence rails slide over "bosses" machined into the front and back of the main saw tabletop piece. Hand levers (underneath the rails) clamp the rails to those bosses, locking things in position. You can loosen the 4 levers and slide the rails left or right to increase cut capacity to either side of the blade as needed. In the pic you posted last November it appears the primary rails are more-or-less centered on the saw... normally they are offset with more rail length on the right side of the blade. And the wide table kit rail extensions attach to the right side of the saw normally as well - not to the left side as your pic shows. For a "standard" BT3 setup, the sliding miter table (SMT) would be to the left of the blade; the amount of fence rails on the left side of the saw is usually just enough to support the SMT so most of the rail hangs off the right side of the saw. The right side then gets the "accessory table" (the table with the router/jig saw hole in it - you have two of these but I don't see the SMT in your pic) that can be mounted anywhere along the rails to the right of the blade - it can be positioned touching the main saw body or can be slid towards the ends of the rails when cutting/ripping wider workpieces.

I'm guessing you positioned the front rail based on the measuring tape stuck to it... lining up the pointer to the "0 inch" mark when the fence is just kissing the blade teeth, right? What if you moved the pointer to the other side of the fence's "T" arm? You'll see another mounting screw hole there. When you do that, you'll find you need to shift the rails, to the right, about 5 inches to get the "0 inch" to line up again. There's your missing few inches of rip capability! That's assuming the measuring tape was actually attached to the correct position on the rail in the first place; the BT3100 fences are different than the BT3000 versions; I have a BT3000 and thus I am more familiar with its nuances.

I too have the wide table kit though I did the "half rail" mod like so many others. Using full-length wide table kit rails makes the saw have too big a footprint for most shops and requires good support legs on the extensions. For folks like me that have their saw on a mobile base, the full wide table kit ends up too unwieldy. I never needed THAT MUCH rip capacity so I cut the rails to a shorter length - a common thing on these boards. Many folks on this site in fact went "halfsies" when buying rails from folks parting out saws so each got half-length extensions. When I need crazy rip capacity, or if I want to bevel cut something, I'll slide the rails right or left as necessary for that cut, then restore them to the normal position so the measurement scale is again useful. You could slide the rails so the joint between the original rails and wide table rails is close to the blade - you don't have to leave the original rails in the factory position when adding the wide table kit. As long as you can actually clamp the rails together; the brackets can interfere with the mounting bosses. I don't use the Ryobi wide table kit bracket pieces - they got in the way too often - so I made my own. Mine are wood + aluminum "L" channels that fit INSIDE the rails (like "floating tenon joints") and are locked in place with small screws through the bottom and inside faces of the rails. They're never in the way now! I posted pics of my setup long ago.

mpc

[nicer20]

Thank you mpc for a detailed write up. But you may be confusing my situation with someone else's. I don't have any rail extensions nor extra tables. My complete setup photo is attached. It is pretty much the basic saw.

But yes, the rails are setup according to the measuring tape. Honestly, I did not change the setup since I bought the saw in used condition. I believe it currently matches what is specified in the manual. As the actual cut width matched with the indicator, I never bothered until I needed to do wider cuts and discovered the fence doesn't move past the ~19" marker.

But I like your idea of moving the rails a few inches to the right and moving the indicator to the right panel of the fence T. Guess I will be giving up on the left/SMT side but as you said may be it doesn't matter that much.

Nonetheless, I was a bit puzzled that the factory setup doesn't work with the stated 24 inch rip capacity. So thought there may be something that either I am overlooking or the previous owner might not have setup correctly.

Thanks,

NG

[LCHIEN]

(Resurrecting this thread since my question is Rip Fence related).

Hello Gurus,

The rails on my saw are correctly setup and the rip fence marker matches the width of the board ripped.

Having said that what I find is, the rip fence only goes to ~19 inches. At that point the little "Stub" inside the fence mechanism hits the plastic end piece. So I cannot really go beyond the 19 inch mark. I can remove the plastic piece and gain about an inch more. But after that the fence is really unstable as most of the right side of the fence "T" gets unsupported.

Clearly I have something not set up correctly as the saw is supposed to have a 24 inch rip capacity. But can't really figure out what it is .

Any ideas or thoughts?

(I am finding more nuances as I use the saw more & more).

Thanks in advance for all the help I am getting,

NG

Nicer, you can slide the rails over to the right hand side more distance, but the scale just won't indicate correctly anymore.. A minor inconvenience. You can use a tape measure to set the blade to rip fence distance. There should be enough rail length to do so and still keep the SMT mounted, you can take off the SMT and slide the rails over even more. Or, get some extension rails and supports and make a wide rail BT3000.

The front rails and rear rails each have two attachments to the saw body; a lever at each one allows loosening it to slide right or left as your needs may dictate. Then lock it in place again. I usually keep my front rail set so that zero on the scale is with the rip fence at the bald (zero width rip).

[leehljp]

OK, I see your problem - it is the understanding of the "rip". You understood it to be as standard set up - but the meaning is with movable rails - unless a wide table kit is used. I move mine all the time. It takes less than 2 minutes at the most. I knew that when purchasing my first one and it was my trade off for spending for the wide table kit which I would have had to order, or spend $1000 or more for a larger table saw with wide set up.

It is a tad aggravating when I need shift the rails, but the time needed to set it wide and reset it back - is not nearly as bad as the anticipation. And it sure is nice to be able to rip a sheet of plywood both length wise and across with the correct supports. I can't remember the number of times the sliding rails made me happy. And yes, I do often take the various top side table spacers off and re-place them as needed. But the time it takes is very little.

I got far more aggravated at changing belt speeds on my first lathe! And then changed it to a EVS.

BTW, I carried my BT3000 with me overseas to Japan, made two moves while there, and brought it back with me. It has been a good work horse and very versatile.

[nicer20]

Ok thanks LCHIEN & leehljp - so looks like moving the rails is not a bad proposition after all. I faintly remember reading somewhere not to touch the rails once the saw is tuned as moving them might throw the alignment out of the door. May be I read it wrong.

leehljp: yes indeed I am discovering more pleasure working on the saw. Wish I had used it more but then again life got in the way including some neck injury a couple of years ago that made it gather dust in the garage. And after all which saw in the world can boast such as a great fan followership and support from so many great people with genius minds.

Thanks and looking forward to creating more sawdust

[Black walnut]

Moving the rails should not effect the accuracy of either the SMT or the rip fence, as long as they are not bent. The tape is a useful feature for rough work but for anything resembling precision it is useless. Stick to one single tape measure for the entire project for best results.The other acceptable method is the use of a story stick.

[twistsol]

... which saw in the world can boast such as a great fan followership and support from so many great people with genius minds.

The ShopSmith Mark V series has equally ardent and helpful fans but we aren't supposed to discuss religion here.

[LCHIEN]

One thing about moving the rails is that when you release and then lock the rail locking levers, the rails may take a bit of vertical play. If you are real fussy about having the SMT and the main table and the Auxiliary table all line up perfectly flat across them, then it takes some care. That lining up is most important when doing precision grooving and dado cuts affecting depth. You don't want air under the board and above the throat plate when doing so. And I'm talking about amounts of say 0.050" for the critical users.

In my very early days on the Ryobi power tools forums I complained about the height of the SMT matching the main table and was advised by all to use some shims where the SMT rode on the rails to lift the SMT. But eventually I found that carefully setting the height of the table before locking the rail levers would do the trick.

[nicer20]

Black walnut Thanks - Given my OCD I am using a tape measure with 1/32" markings to set the fence anyways. And yes, great advice to stick to a single tape measure throughout the project. I am horrified to see the difference between two tape measures

LCHIEN : That might explain why I do see some tape under my SMT and the SMT does ride a tad bit higher than the main table. Now I don't know if the previous owner applied the tape or Ryobi started using it with BT3100s after listening to you