Some questions as a new owner

[mxw031]

Hello, I posted here recently and received some pointers about my saw. I have the Craftsman version and it is my first table saw.

I have some a couple more questions and though I've searched the site am still a little unsure.

1. Regarding using the SMT, should I be concerned about the workpiece to the right side of the blade being unsupported as it cuts through the blade? Could this lead to a poor cut? For this reason, should I plan for the piece I am keeping to be the piece resting after the SMT fence? Or is this a non-issue? I have looked through the stickied jigs and fixtures and am not seeing a modification to the SMT fence that supports the other side of the cut, which leads me to think it is either not a good idea to support that side of the piece or is a non-issue.

2. What modifications are suggested for a beginner owner to this saw to improve its general function and versatility? I know this is largely dependent on the use-case. I bought this saw because I am currently remodeling our entire 1200sq ft home. I also have a 10 inch sliding miter saw but thought the table saw could be helpful. Some projects I am encountering: building built-in bookcases, closet shelving, all baseboard and trim work, and installing a tongue and groove ceiling.

Some jigs and fixtures I have seen in the stickies that I have considered but am unsure if will be helpful for me: a stop block for the SMT fence, an extension table for the saw made of wood (my saw came only with the base around the blade, the SMT, and the router table insert, I'm wondering if making an extension table insert myself to support wider cuts is something I will actually need), a featherboard to be locked to the SMT, and some fixtures to apply to the rip fence though they seem somewhat complex to me as a beginner saw user and am unsure of their function.

Any input about suggested modifications to prioritize would be really helpful to me.

3. I have a Ryobi router, it is a corded 1.5HP fixed base router that I purchased used. I expected the holes to line up as it is a Ryobi, but the router is somewhat newer so I am not surprised that they don't. It does have a plastic scuff plate installed, which I plan to remove to see if the holes on the fixed base will line up with the router table. If they don't, I've read about modifying and drilling new holes, though am unsure how frequently I'd use the router if connected to the saw. Is it common for people to leave a router installed to the table, even when primarily using the table saw? I have a very small garage, which is part of what appealed to me about the saw itself and to some extend to potential for using the router table.


Thank you for any help, I understand I have a lot of questions so even some perspective on a couple of them would be helpful. I'll continue digging through the site as well. Cheers.

[LCHIEN]

item 1, I wouldn't worry about short offcuts on the unsupported part of a SMT crosscut, you of course know that the rip fence must not be used in such a cut, is it could trap the cutoff and twist and spin it and throw a huge kickback. The squarer the offcut the worse it is

item 2 "paint the red line" if you search for it on this site, means paint a red line in the groove leading to the blade. Helps remind you to keep the SMT miter fence fully to the left of the blade, a lot of cut off plastic tips as the miter fence can be adjusted way to the right. Also helps keep other things off the cut line.
I have a 12" dual compound miter saw iI used for most crosscuts but I use the BT3 a lot for dados, grooving, rips and short crosscuts. I pick and choose my weapon. The BT3, or at least mine, with the rip fence indicator set up and calibrated, and the micro rip fence adjuster can be used for very accurate measured cuts sometimes that take longer on the miter saw.
I have a lot of custom accessories to make my saw more useful, convenient or accurate including mountings for the rip and smt, also t-nuts to attach tall fence, hold downs. Look at my many posts. I have half rail extensions, the micro adjuster and other stuff. The T-slots and modularity of this saw make it an excellent platform for customization and attaching things.

item 3. I had a couple of routers attached to the Auxiliary/router table. A word of warning about the 21829 is that the miter slot on the aux table is not very useful. Unless you have the rear rail lock clamp for the aux table, the rear can swing a bit b/c only the front is locked. The routing fence being the rip fence is not fixed relative to the slot. I think I made some posts commenting about the router hole patterns... they changed over time in the BT3, the BT3100, the 21829 and there were discussions. TBH I have no personal hands on with a 21829. I see it has 3 holes in a triangle, the popular Bosch, dewalt, porter cable and others all use a triangle pattern (4 inches between holes) but some user I suggested this to said it didn't fit. So I don't know. There lots of discussions on mounting and choice of routers for the table in past threads on this site. Read them. When I had a router mounted, I just retracted the bit below table top. I usually kept either a roundover or a bevel bit with bearing for edge trimming that don't require a fence. I exclusively use my dedicated router table these days; I sold my router mounting kit. I have a Bosch 1617 and a router raiser in a Woodpecker table with homemade fences and I'm pretty happy with that.
The 21829 does not require a separate plate to mount the router and then mount the plate to the aux table. The 21829 has an area with thickened bosses as mounting points for predrilled holes. Adding additional holes risks putting the holes in unreinforced areas of the 21829 aux table.

[Jim Frye]

The Articles tab at the top of the page will show you lots of jigs, fixtures, and tips for the saw.
https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles