Remote site table saw use...newbie

Ed · 10-06-2005, 07:23 PM

One other item I'm curious about. Is there a problem if I don't have a dust-collection system hooked to it?

Thanks again,
Ed
South Alabama

**mpc** · 10-06-2005, 11:24 PM

Mitering: the BT3x00 will do a pretty credible job stock. But if you take an hour or two and make yourself a 90 degree miter sled you'll out-perform even a miter saw. Basically it's just a flat sheet board with two hardwood strips attached to it making a 90 degree "V" Take the time to make this a perfect 90 degrees and everything you make on it will in turn be perfect. Even if the "V" isn't exactly centered on the sled you'll still get 90 degree corners - just 44 and 46 degree angles on your window frames instead of the ideal 45 degrees. The "Articles" section has lots of very useful jigs/fixtures to improve the accuracy of any decent saw.

The BT3x000 is mostly aluminum so it should survive humidity pretty well. The motor is what you'd have to worry about. The plastic bag is definately a good idea. I'd get some of those dessicant bags (those little tea-bad sized things tossed into many new tool cases, etc.) that you can keep in the bag too. Just don't put them on TOP of the saw... those things have lots of silicon in them and silicon migrates to everything... and messes up any wood it comes into contact with. Stains and silicon make lousy bedfellows. Plain old paste wax (furniture wax, NOT CAR WAX which will have silicon in it) liberally applied to the saw case parts (inside and out) during assembly will go a long way to making it last longer. Do NOT wax the rip fence mounting rails though; that just screws up the rip fence's ability to clamp.

Dust collection: the BT's have a much better than average dust collection system to begin with - most of the blade is covered so the bulk of the sawdust self-ejects out the rear port. A plain shop vac gets even more. If you're using the saw outside that's probably enough. When cutting known nasty stuff (pressure treated, MDF, etc) a face respirator is a good precaution. Every so often Home Depot puts their Rigid vacs on sale, the recent WD1245 model was a deal and works quite well as a dust collector in my garage. (I've never tried a real dust collector for comparison though.) The WD1245GV version is the identical vac with an extra filter, more hoses & fittings, etc. often for the same price - that's the one to look for. Also, look for the links to the "Shark Guard" which is a great safety upgrade to the BT3x00... it improves finger safety AND dust collection to boot!

Just as an example of what can be done on the BT (browse the completed projects section of this site for lots of examples): when I edge-join boards I find the joint is perfect with my BT3000's cut alone (with a Freud 80 tooth finishing blade installed) and that running the boards through my benchtop jointer doesn't help a whit.

mpc

**twistsol** · 10-07-2005, 06:56 AM

I'm not certain the BT3100 would be your best bet. Ripping, it will do a wonderful job and I don't think you'll find a better solution in the price range.

Mitering on a table saw is great for shorter stock, 5' or less. I use mine for doing window trim, but baseboard and crown moldings are too long to cut accurately. The primary problem is that with a table saw, you move the stock through the blade. With long pieces it is difficult to keep the entire piece moving at the same rate and you won't get good results.

A miter saw, by contrast, moves the blade through the stationary stock. Ripping on a miter saw, unfortunately, is impossible.

There is one solution that will do both. A radial arm saw, and you can pick them up on eBay for $100 up to a couple thousand. Note though that while ripping is possible with an RAS, it is DANGEROUS! I've fired a number boards into the concrete wall in my dad's garage with his and the wood tends to explode when it hits the wall. Mitering very long boards works well with an RAS.

**BobSch** · 10-07-2005, 07:09 AM

quote:Originally posted by mpc

Mitering: the BT3x00 will do a pretty credible job stock. But if you take an hour or two and make yourself a 90 degree miter sled you'll out-perform even a miter saw. Basically it's just a flat sheet board with two hardwood strips attached to it making a 90 degree "V" Take the time to make this a perfect 90 degrees and everything you make on it will in turn be perfect. Even if the "V" isn't exactly centered on the sled you'll still get 90 degree corners - just 44 and 46 degree angles on your window frames instead of the ideal 45 degrees. The "Articles" section has lots of very useful jigs/fixtures to improve the accuracy of any decent saw.

For the miter sled, take a look at one of Ron's furniture-quality jigs: http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=22561

Ed · 10-09-2005, 03:45 PM

Ok, second try at responding....first try went to the great bit-bucket in the sky![B)]

First, thanks to everbody for your replies. After reading the replies and doing some more research here and elsewhere I've decided to go with the BT3100. Just seems for the price to be the most bang for the buck and with so many folks giving it a thumbs up I don't think I'm making the wrong choice.

The saw will first be used heavily for ripping battens for the outer wall and will then be used for trimming out windows and doors. If I run into a problem with the length of the pieces I might spring for a miter saw, but I figure I can at least give the BT (and me) a chance to see if I need to or not.

Most of the wood will be old barn/house wood...predominately heart-pine.

When I make the 60 mile trip to HD and go on my feeding frenzy is there anything extra I need to purchase?

Paste wax (non-silicon)?

Different blades for rip and miter cuts?

Extra belts?

I've got some aluminum squares, aluminum straight-edges, and tape-measures. Do I need something else (better) for aligning/tuning the saw?

Clamp recommendations if I need a couple?

It's a long way to HD so I'd like to get any "essentials" while I'm there.

One more question? ...will the BT work ok without the stand, sitting on a long table rather than on the legs?

Thanks!
Ed

**mpc** · 10-09-2005, 06:01 PM

Take a look at the jigs & fixtures area of this site and see if there are any projects that catch your attention. Get supplies for them on this trip too. There are good tips & techniques too for aligning the saw. The BT3x00 saws align differently than most table saws by the way... the BLADE is the BT3x00 reference; most saws use the miter slot as a reference. No special tools are needed; a simple jig makes the process easy and quick.

The stock blade is pretty good (it's supplied by Freud if I remember correctly) but I did get better results switching to the Freud 80tooth finishing blade - at least for crosscuts. It works fine for rips as well, just a little slower. I use the factory blade for general rips now and the 80tooth for crosscuts or for fine-tuning a coarse rip. Most of my rip cuts though are done with a circular saw anyway. I think HD and Freud still have the 60tooth blade deal going (buy one, mail stuff to get a 2nd one for just a few bux shipping). The wax is a good idea. You won't be able to buy replacement belts in the store; they're an order item. And available from other companies linked to from this site - and those places will ship to your house anyway. If you listen to the saw you'll hear it bogging down if it's having trouble, it really has to bog bad to make the belts fail... you'll have plenty of warning to abort a bad cut.

No stand? Attach it to a sheet of plywood, MDF, or even a rectangular frame made of hardwoods to keep the base square and forget about the legs. Lots of folks have done something similar. It doesn't take much - the plywood/MDF can have a large square opening for access... you'll see some examples in the projects. Look specifically for the big saw table that has the saw mounted to a hinged board - you'll see that all the saw really neads is something to tie the 4 bottom corners together to prevent racking.

Other things to think about: those clear plastic drafting triangles are often way more accurate than carpenters squares (a tip I learned from another board member) and are just a buck or two. Scrap wood for sacrificial fences, stop blocks, etc. comes in handy. Clamps? Look at the demo saw in the store and see what will and won't clamp to the accessory plate (the one with the router hole) and that won't stick up too far. Clamps like that are handy for jigs/fixtures.

HD sells a Rigid brand "Flip-top portable work support" doodad (again, another tip I learned from this site!) that is a pivoting piece of hard & slippery plastic on a height-adjustable stand. It's often not on display, ask around for it - one of my local stores didn't carry them; another had them high on a shelf but not on display. Very very very handy. It'll work as infeed/outfeed support, sawhorse, or a side-support for trimming long boards. I've got 2 of 'em and use them all the time. Do a SEARCH on this website; there was a long thread showing them and some interesting mods.

mpc

Ed · 10-09-2005, 09:46 PM

quote:Originally posted by mpc

Take a look at the jigs & fixtures area of this site and see if there are any projects that catch your attention. Get supplies for them on this trip too. There are good tips & techniques too for aligning the saw. The BT3x00 saws align differently than most table saws by the way... the BLADE is the BT3x00 reference; most saws use the miter slot as a reference. No special tools are needed; a simple jig makes the process easy and quick.

Well, right now I'm only concerned with ripping the battens and then moving on to installing some windows and doors. I'll look around at some of the miter jigs and see if there's any hardware I need.

quote:Originally posted by mpc
I use the factory blade for general rips now and the 80tooth for crosscuts or for fine-tuning a coarse rip. Most of my rip cuts though are done with a circular saw anyway. I think HD and Freud still have the 60tooth blade deal going (buy one, mail stuff to get a 2nd one for just a few bux shipping). The wax is a good idea.

Is the OE blade that comes with it one of the 60tooth? Maybe I need to pick up an 80tooth for when I need it?

quote:Originally posted by mpc
No stand? Attach it to a sheet of plywood, MDF, or even a rectangular frame made of hardwoods to keep the base square and forget about the legs. Lots of folks have done something similar. It doesn't take much - the plywood/MDF can have a large square opening for access... you'll see some examples in the projects. Look specifically for the big saw table that has the saw mounted to a hinged board - you'll see that all the saw really neads is something to tie the 4 bottom corners together to prevent racking.

Ok, sounds good. I was thinking about making some thick rubber washers to place between the saw and the table, but then you mentioned the "racking" issue. I'm taking this to be the saw wants to "twist" or something and the washers might not be a good thing. You wouldn't happen to have the footprint deminsions for the saw, would you?

quote:Originally posted by mpc
Other things to think about: those clear plastic drafting triangles are often way more accurate than carpenters squares (a tip I learned from another board member) and are just a buck or two. Scrap wood for sacrificial fences, stop blocks, etc. comes in handy. Clamps? Look at the demo saw in the store and see what will and won't clamp to the accessory plate (the one with the router hole) and that won't stick up too far. Clamps like that are handy for jigs/fixtures.

I've got a fair amount of scrap wood, mostly treated 2x stuff...not sure about hardwood. The plastic drafting triangles I'll check at Office Depot or somewhere. I've got a couple of smaller triangles that I use with my RC airplane hobby...how big do they need to be?

Any particular "type" of clamp? Like maybe to hold a piece of stock against the saw table? In other words...simply spring clamps, or screw-type clamps, or..???? I'm a rank newbie.[:I]

quote:Originally posted by mpc
HD sells a Rigid brand "Flip-top portable work support" doodad (again, another tip I learned from this site!) that is a pivoting piece of hard & slippery plastic on a height-adjustable stand. It's often not on display, ask around for it - one of my local stores didn't carry them; another had them high on a shelf but not on display. Very very very handy. It'll work as infeed/outfeed support, sawhorse, or a side-support for trimming long boards. I've got 2 of 'em and use them all the time. Do a SEARCH on this website; there was a long thread showing them and some interesting mods.

Thanks mpc, I'll look for these at HD. And thanks for the other info.
Ed

**Pappy** · 10-10-2005, 07:24 AM

The stock blade is a 36 tooth combination blade and does a decent job of both ripping and croscutting. If I am going to rip a lot of lumber, I switch to a 24 tooth Freud ripping blade. It has deeper gullets that carry the sawdust out of the kerf better.

**stoli** · 10-10-2005, 10:27 AM

quote:Originally posted by Ed

The saw will first be used heavily for ripping battens for the outer wall and will then be used for trimming out windows and doors.

When I make the 60 mile trip to HD and go on my feeding frenzy is there anything extra I need to purchase?

I don't know how long your battens are, but if they are more than about 4' long, I'd suggest some infeed and outfeed support tables. I picked up a nice fliptop outfeed support at HD a couple years ago, don't know if they still sell them.

Will you be ripping to a consistent width? If so, some featherboards would be useful, even moreso with long stock.

Will you be ripping to narrower than 6"? If so, a push-stick is a must (everyone has their own comfort level on how narrow they want to go with bare hands).

The last two items (featherboards and pushsticks) can be made or purchased, although I don't know if HD carries them. If you have a Lowes near the HD, I'd check their tool section out for these safety items.

You will of course be wearing safety glasses and hearing protection, right?

-=[doug]=-

**Wood2Dust** · 10-12-2005, 10:05 AM

I'd recommend getting the small 6" steel rule that HD carries. Shouldn't be more than $2-3. It's a lot more convenient than a tape measure for setting the rip fence. I keep it clipped on the leg stand with the sliding pocket clip, and I'm suprised how much I use the little thing.

As for clamps, grab at least one of the Irwin 6" Quick-grips. It's a must to hold the featherboard (Assuming that you're using the featherboard from the BT manual, and attached to the SMT with the bolt from the SMT fence.) You could get some more of the bigger sizes (12" etc), but the 6" is a nice size for attaching stuff (stops, featherboards, etc) to the BT.

Good luck, happy ripping, and stay safe.

Michael

**gmack5** · 10-12-2005, 06:40 PM

Welcome Ed,

Congratulations on the acquisition of your BT3100 and welcome to the "family".

One of the first things you need to do, after you get your BT3100 Saw assembled is, following your Owner's Manual, go thru the entire set-up proceedure, step by step, in the sequence laid out in the Manual. Each set up proceedure builds on the preceeding proceedure, so you MUST keep them in sequence.
Usually the Saw is set up properly, right out of the box, but you should still check it as this gets you familiar with all the adjustments on the saw and assures you that everything is as it should be.

Here's some free plans that'll keep you busy for a while. http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/r...ex.php?cat=102

And here's some additional information about your Saw that you may find useful.

Regardless of what you've read or others have told you, NEVER use any wax or lubricant on your saw that contains Silicone, this includes all automobile waxes and polishes and most spray-on furniture polishes. The reason is simple, most of them contain Silicones and they will make your projects difficult to finish.
Silicones repell liquid, making "fish eyes" in your finishes, this will force you to remove the Silicones from your project and start over. That stuff (Silicone) migrates all over every where, don't ask me how, it just does.
If you put it in one place, eventually it will be all over the
entire saw.

Your best bet is to use a "dry" lubricant, such as Teflon (PTFE), Powdered Graphite, or Candle Wax for the Raising/Lowering and Tilt mechanisms below the table top.

Then use either Johnson's Paste Wax, Minwax's "Finishing Wax" or Butcher's Wax on the working surfaces, table tops (All three of them) and the Rip Fence.

Do NOT Wax the Front and Rear rails or the Miter Fence. As a mater of fact, you may want to glue 220 grit sand-paper to the front face of the Miter Fence, cause you don't WANT things to slide on there.

You might also want to check out the "Articles" section on the www.BT3central.com site. Lots of good maintenance information on your saw and some of the Jigs and Fixtures that BT3Central members and others have designed for it. Located here: http://www.bt3central.com/articles/ The only thing you'll need to access the information is a recent copy of the Adobe Reader (It can be downloaded from the BTcentral site). One of the Articles mentioned is a "Check List", written by Jim Frye. You can find it here: https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...nce-check-list

This list contains all the different areas on your saw that need to be periodically inspected or given some sort of special attention. In other words, a "Preventative Maintanence Check List" or PM. Performing this PM on a monthly basis would be a good idea. One of the other things you'll find there is an on-line copy of the User's Manual in downloadable pdf format (a handy thing to have).

Something you might think about is the use of a set of Draftsman's Triangles instead of the Carpenter's Square that they show in the Owner's Manual for setting up your saw.
An accurate Carpenter's Square is almost a myth!
A good one will cost you quite a bit of money, $40 - $75, or more. I would recommend that you consider using a pair of Draftsman's 30 -60 and 45 degree triangles instead. You'll find they're not near as expensive and are far more accurate than a run-of-the-mill Carpenter's Square. The 30 -60 triangle should have one 12" leg and the other leg would be 9" long. The 45 degree triangle should have at least 8" legs on either side of the 90 degree corner. That way either one can be put up against the side of the Saw Blade without touching the saw teeth.

Just remember, regardless of which measuring instrument you choose to use, check it(them) to be sure they're accurate. When checking the Miter Fence for Square to the Blade with a triangle, use the 12" 30-60, if possible.

One of the other "tricks" that I've discovered is to take a piece of "Wax" paper, fold it several times and rub it in the grooves that the "T" nuts that lock your Rails in place ride in. Makes the Rails move smooth as Butter.

Last, but not least, don't forget to paint the RED line!
It's a line that extends the line-of-sight from the saw blade to the front edge of the table to remind you NOT to let your Miter Fence or your FINGERS get in the way of the saw blade. Just put red paint, nail polish, or what ever, in the grove that extends towards the operator from the front edge of the saw blade.

Remote site table saw use...newbie

Remote site table saw use...newbie

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