Almost a new owner!

**bigstick509** · 02-09-2006, 05:47 PM

**JimD** · 02-09-2006, 05:53 PM

I bought my BT3100 at the nearby Home Depot. I am very happy with it. I have had no trouble with any of my Home Depot purchases. Sorry your luck has not been so good.

Jim

**cwsmith** · 02-09-2006, 05:53 PM

Salty,

Home Depot is the exclusive dealer in the U.S. for both Ryobi and Ridgid products. No, they are NOT made cheaper for sale in HD stores. If you check out the "Bargain Alerts" forum, here on BT3Central, you'll see that a few folks have made purchases locally with the current sale at $249.

Regarding Ryobi's return policy, it is 30-days (for any reason). Home Depot has a 90-day return policy if the item is in like new condition and returned with all items in the original box. (In other words, it needs to be good enough to put back on the shelf, I think.)

Regarding the BT3100: I'm sure if you read through the many posts here on BT3Central, you will find that this saw has a tremendous following and there are a large number of experienced and skilled woodworkers who are very willing to share their grand opinion of this saw. Personally, I've been looking at the BT3100 for at least a year and comparing it with many other saws. I'm pretty well convinced that for the money it is a fantastic bargain and it contains a wealth of features, even when compared to saws costing substantially more. It is a saw requiring a craftsman's touch though and is not a tool that can be hauled around and abused. For the kind of work that I intend to use it for, I'm convinced this is the saw for me. I finally bought mine back in December.

CWS

**Salty** · 02-09-2006, 06:23 PM

Thanks all for the quick responses and welcomes. I should have realized that if there was an issue with the saw from HD it would have shown up here many times over. [^] I'll get one this weekend and let HD wait 6 months for their money. I can find enough wood to get the bill up to $299 without a problem.
And I'll keep reading and adding a comment or two.

Years ago I worked in a lumber yard and did the assemblies of Delta tablesaws for display. This one looks to be a bit more of a challenge but I'll get it done.
Maybe I'll put up a few picks of it before I get it all dusty!

Thanks again all.

**monte** · 02-10-2006, 02:43 AM

Welcome to the group. Be safe and enjoy your new saw.

**Jeffrey Schronce** · 02-10-2006, 12:49 PM

IMHO, you can only hold the retailer to a certain level of responsibility for the quality of the products they sale, as they have only limited input into manufactoring of the items.
Your security light that failed would have had the same probablity of failure if purchased at Lowes. In todays market so many of these items are made by the same folks with different badges. Think Home Depots exclusive Rigid line which has a jig saw which is identical to a much higher priced Metabo. Or Bosch and Ryobi sharing the same platform for a belt sander (I think they are no longer doing this.)
I don't know what type of security light you purchased but they are pretty simple items. However, could have been an installation problem. You could have experienced a surge during that time. Any number of things could have caused this failure, but again I think HD had very, very little to do with it.
BTW, welcome to the forum. You will find some really great folks here. Stay out of the bargin section or your significant other may block the site on your computer!

**Larry David** · 02-10-2006, 02:10 PM

I thought the BT3100 was going to be a challenge to put together also. But it actually was quite easy and straight forward. I just took my time and followed the directions in the owners manual. No problems at all. It was the first table saw I ever put together.

**gmack5** · 02-10-2006, 05:20 PM

This post is kind of like a "Do not open till Christmas" thing.
Do not read till you get your BT3100. [^][

)][:0]

Welcome Dale,

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 one before it, 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.

The Illustration shown below is of a BT3000SX.
Most of the accessories shown will also fit the BT3100.

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 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.

You might also want to check out the "FAQ" shown in the link below.
http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=12490
It'll answer a lot of your questions.

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.

**Salty** · 02-10-2006, 05:35 PM

Thank you gmack5. I had read much of your advice in another area and it is good reading and good advice. I like the wax paper idea!
I found this link to be a good read for aligning the saw and will review it again. http://benchmark.20m.com/tools/BT310...mentindex.html
Tomorrow afternoon I will be at HD to get the saw. I called today to make sure they had plenty and that it would still be on sale.
As for the quality of products sold by retailers I'll say this and let it rest. I have been in the purchasing field for many years and have bought everything from paint to tools to nails and I KNOW there are deals made.

Salty

**silverfox** · 02-12-2006, 09:18 AM

Welcome to the cult, Salty! Hey...when you buy the saw bring along a phillips screw driver and an alan wrench set. Check to see if the phillips head throat plate screw is frozen or if the 2 alan screws on the front of the rip fence are frozen. If any of these screws are frozen select another saw until you have one that the screws will turn. It will save you a lot of headaches when you get the saw home.
Mike

**Salty** · 02-12-2006, 09:31 AM

Good one silverfox. Mine is already together though. The screw on the throat plat was tight but it came out. I didn't check the ones on the rip fence. I checked it with a table square and it is dead on. I'll check it later with the 4 sided cut method. I have yet to go through the final setup/adjustments. Got some other things to do first.

**Never2old2start** · 02-18-2006, 04:45 PM

Welcome Salty- you are now addicted, but, you don't know that yet, lol. This is a great saw. Everything will come together once you fine tune your fine tuning skills.

~ Paul ~

Almost a new owner!

Almost a new owner!

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