Long term users- what keeps into this saw and not upgrading?

[Timmymacnj]

I see lots of long term users in here with some advanced skills, and I'm genuinely curious what keeps you using this saw and not upgrading to a more expensive one?

I've only used my saw a few times, and just a beginner, but long term I don't see myself progressing past anything beyond intermediate projects, and do to size constraints I think this might be my permanent saw so it's not an issue here, but just wondering what the advanced users find appealing about it enough to not upgrade? Example: in my case, even when my skills advance, I think the sliding miter table is enough to keep me into it so I don't have to deal with building (and especially storage) of a crosscut sled.

[capncarl]

Speaking for myself, I just like this site, that is what keeps me coming back. I have long ago sold my BT saw (Craftsman version) to a younger woodworker as his start up saw. For safety reasons I have a SawStop contractor saw nested in a cabinet saw sized cabinet. The SawStop doesn’t change my fondness of the BT saw.

[leehljp]

For me - why I continue to use this saw is it does what I need and I also want a saw I can move around. I often take/took my saw to one of my three daughters when they needed some work done on their house or around their house. I had a heavy cast iron 12" saw my dad had left me, but it was a bugger to keep in tune. I got into the BT3x00 saw when I lived in Japan (1986-2011) and didn't have a lot of space over there, plus at the time I got it, this same saw was available there at twice the price of the US.

It was billed as a "precision" machine and if handled with decent care - it could produce some great cuts. For me, it still does. I do not use it enough to justify a new saw and I would have to spend at least $1000 to find a saw as versatile and accurate as my own BT3100.

I had a BT3000 that I took to Japan with me, and in early 2000's I bought a 3100 for my state side saw to use here when I was back here. After I moved back to the States, I gave the 3000 to my son in law in Dallas and kept the 3100 for me.

[Timmymacnj]

For me - why I continue to use this saw is it does what I need and I also want a saw I can move around. I often take/took my saw to one of my three daughters when they needed some work done on their house or around their house. I had a heavy cast iron 12" saw my dad had left me, but it was a bugger to keep in tune. I got into the BT3x00 saw when I lived in Japan (1986-2011) and didn't have a lot of space over there, plus at the time I got it, this same saw was available there at twice the price of the US.

It was billed as a "precision" machine and if handled with decent care - it could produce some great cuts. For me, it still does. I do not use it enough to justify a new saw and I would have to spend at least $1000 to find a saw as versatile and accurate as my own BT3100.

I had a BT3000 that I took to Japan with me, and in early 2000's I bought a 3100 for my state side saw to use here when I was back here. After I moved back to the States, I gave the 3000 to my son in law in Dallas and kept the 3100 for me.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[Black walnut]

The list of what I have made with mine is rather long. My saw has always done everything I have asked of it. I do not do much fine woodworking any more. To replace it I would have to spend thousands to get a saw with a sliding miter table. I just do not anticipate doing woodworking on a scale that would justify that. I have plenty of other hobbies. Should the motor lose it's smoke I hope I can find parts. Just about everything else mechanical I could manufacture with my metal working tools.

Years ago I made a fixed saw cart that uses the wide table kit. To the right of my saw I have a built in router station with I think a Triton router, Rockler mounting plate, a number of blank zero clearance inserts and "t-track". A shop built router fence with dust collection port. I have a Porter_Cable dovetail machine (a jig) mounted to a board that has holes and t-bolts to securely attach to the end beyond my router station. When I use my Ryobi thickness planer I can use t-bolts to attach it as well near the router station. Beyond the saw station I have an outfeed table the full width three feet deep, with a notch and moveable platform to accommodate the SMT extended. If I am not using the SMT I can move the platform to the right for full support of outfeed to the left of the blade. That has become a work table for many other things from loading shot shells to butchering hogs. Cutting and wrapping other meat. With a couple of roller stands I am set up to be able to break down full sheets of plywood safely by myself. Although I would probably get help lifting the sheet into place if I tried that today.

[LCHIEN]

Ah, I started my woodworking when I got involved as a den leader for my son’s boy scouts and we had a number of small projects. I found I liked woodworking on my own but quickly outgrew the cheap and small compact table saw.
I found myself attracted to the BT3000 I saw at Home Depot, I think. It was a bit unconventional from the big cast iron tables that was the obvious next step.
Things that appealed to me:

• It was only 100 -some pounds, compared to a potential 300 pounds for a cast iron saw
• It had a cut depth of more than 3.5 inches, more than enough to rip a 2x4 or 4x4 the thick way and some other saws could not do this.
• It had lots of neat looking accessories and I am a sucker for accessories than can be customized. The t-slots were mesmerizing although I didn’t really masater that until years later.
• I liked the idea of the sliding miter table, It seemed vastly superior to the miter gauge especially for long heavy pieces; looked more accurate and could be positioned to push the center of a long piece instead of the ends. I have since gotten a 12” miter saw for most long crosscuts but the SMT still does a great job for shorter works.
• At the time I liked the idea of the router mounting

So I’ve had it since January of 2000, I think I passed 25 years without incident.
Things that have endeared itself to me so I have no serious interest in a cabinet saw:

• Its not a heavy duty saw with an indestructible induction motor which is fine. I would never be ripping long thick boards all day long. My work like that is occasional, I do it in spurts and rest a lot, I’m slow and deliberate. The saw gets to rest a lot and not overheat. Its lasted me 25 years as a hobby saw
• Well, I haven’t really moved it in years despite its being on a mobile base. I have the folding outfeed table permanently unfolded.
• Its been spot on – no adjustments needed for square or zero. I have the rip fence ruler set to read from the right of the blade to the rip fence and the fine cursor is just spot on – I can split an inch mark with the cursor and the width will be about +/- 5 thousands of desired. I find I can be really accurate with it.
• Holds square on the miter and the rip fence. The big miter angle indicator on the SMT is so easy to read and set
• Love the accessories – the micro set rip fence positioner, the miter clamp.
• Over the years I have made a lot of jigs for it.
• The aluminum has been very easy to take care of compared to iron tops.
• I take fairly good care of the saw so I have few problems. I tend to listen carefully and stop at signs of unusual distress until I can figure out what is wrong.
• I have bought lots of spare plastic parts for it one at a time with the philosophy if you have spares, they are much less likely to break, and if they do you won’t be stuck searching for it at a later date.
• I feel like I really know all its quirks and idiosyncrasies – its not perfect but it suits me well.

[mpc]

First, define "upgrading" - it implies the BT3 is lesser! haha, I know what you mean though. A lot of supposedly better saws do not have some of the BT3's features: I had a rather lengthy reply but it was getting out of hand. I sill use my BT3000 (an original 13 amp version from when they first came on the market!) because it simply works well. It has a few tricks up its sleeve that many saws can't do, or need $$ options to do. The sliding miter table (SMT) works well, the riving knife is a major safety upgrade from "splitters" that were standard on US saws until the last decade or two (many ebay and FB Marketplace saws still have splitters), good dust collection, etc. It would be nice if the motor was more powerful but all that really means is I have to slow my workpiece feed rate when cutting thick or dense stock. Not a big deal. A quieter motor - that would be nice. But hearing protection would still be required so that too isn't a big deal. Assuming a saw doesn't have mechanical wobble or free-play in its mechanism (which not only leads to ugly cuts but is also a safety hazard) the cut quality is generally a stronger function of the blade quality than the saw itself. And installing the right blade for the type of cut being made: rip blades, crosscut blades, fine-tooth blades for plywood, etc. is more important than the price of the saw generally. Combination blades are the 80% solution for most cuts... but most can't quite match the cut quality made by blades specific to rip or crosscuts let alone sheet goods with thin veneers. Being able to slide the fence rails left/right for oddball cuts (e.g. bevel cuts where it is better to have the fence on the left since the BT3 is a right-tilt saw) is a big advantage. More area in front of the blade would be nice for crosscuts but how much is enough? I'd always find a need for more...

My BT3 does what I need a table saw to do. Money I don't spend on "upgrading" to a different saw is money I can use for some other tools! I did make large infeed and outfeed tables that let me cut full size plywood sheets on my BT3... they supported 100% of the plywood weight so all I had to concentrate on was steering it against the rip fence. (pics are somewhere on this site) But that was still somewhat uncomfortable to do. Now I use a circular saw with a quality blade and a "saw board" to cut sheet goods down to size; a shop-built approximation to modern track saws. (Missing the riving knife and plunge capability that track saws typically have) I've looked at the Laguna Fusion 2 and 3 saws, and some Sawstop offerings... they'd probably have stronger and quieter motors but the "what can I actually do with that saw that my BT3 can't do" does not justify the price. Like many folks on this site, I've accessorized my BT3 quite a bit - growing its capabilities. If all I had was a bone-stock BT3 then some of those newer saws would probably look slightly more attractive.

Had Ryobi build the original BT3000 from something other than aluminum sheet metal and cast aluminum for the tabletop there probably would have been a lot less derision or "looking down their nose" at the saw. That would have increased the price too. It had a lot of new thinking... too much for folks entrenched in their ways. Not having a miter slot meant many of those folks dismissed the saw on Day 1 and never looked back. Reminds me of the people that just can't get past the "there's no substitute for cubic inches" when it comes to car/truck engines. The 2.5 liter 4 cylinder turbo in my current daily driver is flat-out amazing in its power, response, and fuel economy.

The BT3 entered the market at something like $600 way back when... a lot in 1980s dollars. It embarrassed what few benchtop saws existed (most were suited to cutting two-by stock for construction grade work, not furniture grade work... still the case on many saws today) and made a lot of "contractor" style saws that cost about the same look clumsy too.

Quite a few folks on this site began with BT3s and later purchased larger saws; many still hang around here for the camaraderie and the Q-and-A learning opportunities. Not all table saw or woodworking websites are this friendly! A few are downright ornery unless you use the saw they prefer.

mpc

[cwsmith]

Good question Tim.

For me, the answer goes back to when I was fourteen and helping my father on a job one night in the summer of 1958. That night he lost three fingers to a table saw. He drove the mile home with his left hand hanging out the window of the drive home, where my older cousin rushed him to the hospital. I walked back to the job site and cleaned up the blood and the remnants. The next morning I found the whole left side of the car covered in blood, even the the back bumper, which I had to clean.

A month later I started highschool and shop class, avoiding the woodshop and taking metal instead to avoid going anywhere near a table saw. But the following year, woodshop was unavoidable. After the first two weeks my teacher noticed my avoidance of the table saw and asked what was my problem. I explained and he introduced me to the RAS, telling me it was far safer beause you always could see the blade and what it was doing! (That's highly argumentative of course!)

So several years later I bought my first stationary saw, a Craftsman 10-inch RAS. I used it for everything including building a large 18 x 25 ft deck, both ripping and crosscut, and still today, it's my preferred cross-cut tool.

But for ripping stock, it's neither efficient or ergonomic (rippiing stock you are too far away from the shutoff switch). Over the years I hesitantly looked at various table saws, and my memory of my father's accident just kept me away. Then around 2003 we got a new Home Depot in our area and the BT3100 caught my eye. Higher RPM, unusual design with features I had not seen before,. But again I hesitated. Then in 2005, we bought a large old home (built in 1887) and with the renovations we planned, I decided a table saw would help and thus made the BT purchase. They were in closeout at the time and I snatched up one on clearance, along with a couple of accessories.

The BT3100-1 has been a great saw and I love it's precision. It now sits in the center of my small 12 x 20 shop and I've used it for several projects, including a complete renovation of our kitchen, installing new trim, etc. We converted a large upstairs room into a library, and with the BT I made all the bookcases, window seats, shutters, trim, cabinets and even a couple of tables. Also renovated the basement, with more bookcases and storage.

At the same time, I worked on our last house and being 75 miles away, I didn't want to transport my BT3100 back and forth, so I bought a portable Ryobi BTS 21 which has a folding wheel stand. Like the BT3100, it also has the sliding miter table which I had come to love.

With the BT3100, the ease of operation, higher quality cutting, precision setup, and lighter weight are all real positives. On my BT, I have it mounted on a 'Herc-U-Lift" which allows easy movement within my work area.

A very big part of my love for the BT3100 was this forum. Wonderful membership and I've found it a real foundation of knowledge and friendship.