I'm new to this - SMT doesn't slide easily

[Enuf2BDangerous]

Hello helpful people and thanks to everyone that keeps this site up.

I haven't used a table saw since 2003, but I recently purchased a used BT3000 for a home renovation project here in Louisville. I've been troubleshooting some things (with varying degrees of success) and I'm now stuck on the SMT. The Miter Table Top will only slide along the Miter Base if I really apply some force. From reading through the manual, doing some google searching, and looking through the forums here on SawdustZone, I'm a bit confused about how to diagnose the problem and then deal with the issue. I'm wondering if the Slides are screwed on too tight, thereby restricting their ability to slide along the Miter Base, but I don't want to just start unscrewing them because the language in the Manual about adjusting the SMT says that as soon as you start unscrewing anything, "these settings need to be reset." (Not sure what they mean by "these settings" and how to properly reset them.) Not to mention it seems like a lot of time/work to go through all the checks/adjustments in that part of the manual (remember - I'm basically a novice at all this and have rather little experience with anything mechanical).

Anyways, If anyone has suggestions for how to check for the cause of my "sticky" SMT, I'd really appreciate some feedback. I think that's a good place to start for now, maybe we can eventually work toward how I go about fixing the problem.

Thanks everyone!
-Devon

[dbhost]

Devon,

I have had a similar problem with my SMT when I got the saw initially and mine too was used.

I am hopeful members that have had more experience with the SMT fixes chimes in here though as mine was an obvious simple fix...

In my case, there was debris in the slides that I was able to clear out with compressed air. Not blaming prior owner as it could have gotten there on its trip accross Texas in the bed of my pickup, BUT.... it was there. I simply slid it a bit, blew, slid, blew, slid blew, cleaned out with a Q tip where I could until it started moving easily.

I'm not sure if in some circumstances dry lube may help as well.

What you do NOT want to do is use any kind of sticky or wet lube as that will attract dust and debris and really gum up the works...

[mpc]

First, have you found the full BT3 owner's manual? That will have all the info on the SMT alignment. Second, read the BT3 FAQ by user LCHIEN on this site. The link is in his post signatures.

The warning you referenced makes it sound like touching SMT screws is doom-and-gloom. It's not. SMT alignment and calibration is actually fairly easy as long as you follow the steps in order. Typical SMT hard-to-slide issues are:
1: crud/dirt accumulation on the track or the (fragile) black plastic slides on the underside of the SMT.

2: Look at the black screw nuts visible in the SMT upper surface. They are nuts, right - not screw heads? If the screws are inserted incorrectly they can drag on the fixed plate. You should see the screw nuts on the SMT surface if they are correct. It looks upside-down...

3: One SMT screw/nut is used as a pivot point for the alignment process. The others are then adjusted laterally to barely eliminate lateral slop/motion (so the SMT runs straight/true); if the others are adjusted too tight then the SMT squeezes the track edges rather than riding along the track. If your SMT fence is 90 degrees to the blade (NOT necessarily parallel to the edge of the main table... BT3's align everything to the blade as it may not be parallel to the table edges) try loosening just the outer (left-most) two fasteners; that way the inner fasteners maintain the alignment. This assumes your SMT is mounted to the left of the blade. If your SMT 90 fence is off relative to the blade then your existing alignment is poor and you will need to loosen stuff anyway. The track should be parallel to the blade too since the SMT rides on that. Get the track aligned first, then align the SMT screws to get 90 degrees on the fence basically.

SMT slide lubrication: a bit of paste wax on the track part works wonders. Do NOT use automotive paste wax - or any wax containing silicone - as that will migrate everywhere and eventually contaminate your workpieces. Silicone plays havoc with wood finishes... it has absolutely no business being in a woodworking shop! Furniture style paste wax, or the stuff sold at Woodcraft stores, works well. These waxes are also good on the table top to make it easier to slide your workpiece (especially big sheet goods) across the saw, along fences, etc. And they work well on cast iron tables (e.g. bandsaw work table) to prevent rust. The various spray-on lubricant and rust preventing products sold in woodworking stores are an alternative. I use paste wax on everything. Simple, inexpensive, doesn't drip/run, doesn't stink.

mpc

[leehljp]

Below is the BT3000 Manual in PDF. Hope it helps.

Welcome!

[LCHIEN]

There are four slides that align and then let the SMT slide... The alignment has to be parallel to the blade which the way the BT3 is made, is not necessarily parallel to the table top like other saws. That is why the SMT is alignable.

The four slides have four screws, one of which is a fixed screw and the other three are eccentric screws which allows them to move sideways to accomplish the alignment process.

I suppose an improper adjustment will make the screws on one side too tight and binding on the SMT.

I will think about it some more but that's my first reaction. So it may require doing the entire SMT alignment procedure if they are not adjusted correctly. Frankly, I have never had to touch my SMT alignment it was good enough from the factory and has always slid smoothly. A used saw you never quite know what's been done to it.

[Black walnut]

Welcome to SawDustZone! It's even easier than these others have mentioned. One screw is fixed, that would be the right front IIRC. The Right rear is used to adjust parallel to blade. Both left screws/nuts are for adjusting tension to the base.

Have you found our articles yet? After you read the below guide perhaps you will discover the actual cause of your issue. Please do return and let us know what you found or ask more questions. We want to help you solve the issue.
https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...-guide-service

[mikepwagner]

I have read the article, and I want make sure that I don’t fat finger something.

When I want to adjust the eccentric screws to align the SMT and to remove some slack.

Before I break something, I adjust the eccentric screws from the bottom - ie, the nuts on top look to me be capture - I won’t need a socket on the nut.

Presumably I turn the screw clockwise or counter-clockwise to move the table to the right or to the left.

Is all of this correct?

[Black walnut]

Hi mikepwagner. That is correct. You may turn the screw from below or you can turn the nut from above. One or the other, not both.

[Enuf2BDangerous]

Well thanks so much everyone for the responses! I've gotten side-tracked for a couple days, but I'm going to go through these suggestions and take some action to see if I can get this thing sliding properly. I'll reach out again with further questions or a review of how things worked out. Based on these comments, I'm assuming I have to go through the full adjustment/alignment procedure from the manual. So be it. I may not be very experienced with mechanical things like this, but I do consider myself competent.

Specifically thanks to:
dbhost for sharing your specific experience (this thing was super dirty when we bought it - i had to take it apart quite a bit and vacuum out a lot of sawdust and cut ends that had fallen between the blade and the throat plate)
mpc for the detailed insight
leehljp for the manual (amazingly, the person we bought the saw from still had the manual and almost all of the components that should have come with it in the original box. frustratingly, the dude didn't have the wrenches that are used to change the blade... still trying to figure out that dilema)
LCHIEN for your insight and for the FAQ pdf. I found that before I posted this question, perhaps I'll review the FAQs related to the SMT before attacking the procedure in the manual.
Black walnut for the link to the information about the adjustments. That may prove very helpful.

Thanks again everyone! Updates to come...

[LCHIEN]

The first question I would ask myself, does the SMT need aligning?

If it is properly aligned it will slide perfectly parallel to the blade. In that case, maybe just the left two (as described in Black Walnuts post) need to be adjusted to not put so much tension which is traded off for some small play.

If it is not aligned properly then the whole alignment procedure probably needs to be done as someone has messed with it.

[Enuf2BDangerous]

Wildly delayed update.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I wound up working my way through the whole SMT Alignment Checks/Adjustments procedure in the Manual, with a little extra help from the article suggested by Black walnut. The SMT slides better than it did before, but still seems a little sticky compared to videos I've seen on YouTube showing people using the BT3000. Anyways, it's definitely an improvement so I'll take it. We also ordered some thin wrenches to replace the Large and Small wrenches (used for adjusting/changing the blade and installing the blade guard). Those seem to work alright, so for now, I think I have a decently working BT3000. Very exciting. Funny story though... still haven't cut anything with it. Ha! We'll get to a part of our remodel project in a week or two where we'll need to use the tablesaw, so I'm glad its in working order.

Thanks again to all in this great community for all the help!

[dirtmover]

It should slide easily and smoothly. Is it evenly sticky? If just at a certain part of the travel there's a possibility the aluminum base has been damaged or distorted in some manner, maybe by a drop. Also check for dirt buildup up on the aluminum where the plastic parts slide. Wood dust can be quite sticky especially if your cutting a lot of pitchy wood such as pine.

BTW, I prefer to use a dry film ptfe based lube on these parts.

[furthermore]

I have just performed the SMT alignment recently, and it took me about 2 hours to get it as parallel as my cheapo dial indicator would allow (0.0005 +- according to the error of the instrument) and it cuts extremely square. I put some Johnson's paste wax on the rails and it slides nice and smooth.

[Dedpedal]

Welcome to the site. There’s a lot of good info and advice here. I used paste wax on the slides of mine to free it up after a good cleaning with 000 steel wool. It helps on the saw top too. I’ve made a number of sleds and jigs for mine over the past few years.
how’s the weather up there? I used to ride my bike around Oldham county when I still lived up in Independence.