New to woodworking

[dgee28]

Hi,

After reading all the praises for the Ryobi table saw in the forum. I went into Home Depot and bought the BT3100 with the $50 rebate. About a month later, I learned from the Bargain Alert that Ryobi had dropped the price to $250. I went back to the manager and asked for a price adjustment. He said it was too late because HD would do price adjustment with 10 days. I told him that I will return the saw and get the store credits and turn around and buy the saw again. I told him in a nice way that only make work for the both of us. He agreed and gave me $50 back. Last night I got my rebate check for the saw. I'm very happy to get the saw for $200.

Now here is the question. What have I got myself in to? I do some miner repairs around the house and enjoy reading wood working magazines. I know nothing about wood working. After see some of the projects that was posted here, all I can say is "You CAN do that?" I am hoping to learn from all of you that inspired me to get the saw in the first place.

David

[JimD]

David,

Welcome. The BT3100 is very accurate and will do anything that a 10 inch saw can do. It has less horsepower than some cabinet saws but it has about as big a motor as will work on 110V. You should set it up and then pick something you need or want and start making sawdust.

Jim

[ErikS]

Welcome (though who am I to say that )

You're lucky to have found this place - been on a lot of WW forums & this one ranks at the top. My thought is "if they can't tell you how to do it here, either you shouldn't be doing it...or...you don't need to do it".

Hopefully the standard "safety briefing" will follow soon.

Congrats on the saw!

[Ken Weaver]

Welcome aboard David. Watch for gmack's post which will be coming. Make sawdust, have fun, be safe, and paint the red line.

[Russianwolf]

To answer one question: Yep, you CAN do that, and a lot more.

Another one: You've gotten yourself into a whole kit and kabootle.

The BT3 is a pretty dang good saw and will make quite a few projects all by itself (with your guidance of course). But you will likely want to pick up a few other things to make them "prettier". Sanders and a router are two of the basics. From there "the sky's the limit", or maybe it should be "your bank account's the limit"

Have fun, and show us what you make.

[sacherjj]

Welcome. As a relative newbie to tablesaws as well, make sure to learn about kickback. There are some good safety posts here about why it happened and what should have been done other than what was done. It is always easier to learn from others mistakes. There have been a couple times that I was planning a cut and it seemed to make sense, but I remembered a comment from here and it avoided a potentially bad situation. Be safe and have fun. My first project was a crappy bookshelf/printer stand out of free MDF. Now I'm making much nicer things. Just keep building and keep the mistakes to yourself, then no one will know.

[just4funsies]

It's all about making an enormous pile of sawdust, as quickly as possible. Just take care that there's no blood in the pile...

[sacherjj]

If you don't already have a decent sized shop vac, you will want one. Or you can skip that route and go directly to the HF 2 HP Dust Collector that many of us graduate towards. Although a Shop Vac is handy even if you upgrade to real dust collection later. This makes working with the BT3100 much cleaner. I use the bags inside the vac and just toss them wehn they are full. Hopefully I won't run out of bags before I get my Dust Collection system installed.

[greencat]

If you don't already have a decent sized shop vac, you will want one. I use the bags inside the vac and just toss them wehn they are full. Hopefully I won't run out of bags before I get my Dust Collection system installed.

Now Why Didn't I think of that. Duh

I have a large shop vac that I have been huffing and puffing to empty. Of course I wait till its very full of sawdust. The garbage bag is a great idea. Some day I will have a DC.

[woodrowB]

Welcome David, and to all the rest of you, thanks.

I sorta' sneaked in this forum a few weeks back and didn't introduce myself or anything, but wanted you all to know that it's great to be a part of this. I'm not really new to making sawdust, but I have learned a few things in the last few weeks none the less. But back to David...... although there are certainly a lot of things that you can learn from everyone here and from tons of books as well, hands on guidance from a qualified instructor is IMHO the best way to keep all your fingers(on your hands). Of course, this depends on just how 'green' you are. My wonderful father taught me a lot about woodworking, but the most valuable lessons I learned were of safety. Which means, that as of today, I still have all of my fingers!! (and both eyes and all my teeth.) Knock wood!! So have fun exploring and learning, and above all, be safe.

Now a question for everyone; What is the best avenue for someone starting to get serious about woodcraft to learn the techniques necessary to SAFELY produce quality projects? (Or should I just start another thread?)

[gsmittle]

Welcome, dg!

My advice is RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!!

Seriously, this is a great group of folks, ready to share their expertise with anyone who asks, including complete newbies like me.

No question is too dumb to ask, especially if it involves not sawing off a body part.

Anyway, welcome, and be sure to look for Pappy's jokes....

g.

[gmack5]

Welcome David,
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.

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 top of the Main Page, in the Wooden Bar across the Top
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.

NOTE: Some of the links referenced in this post are not operational right now. We've got Brand-new software running the Forum and it's not totally "on-line" yet, just be patient and it will be before long.

[lcm1947]

Yes welcome David. You are in for a treat but if you're like I was so eager to do it all it gets a little frustrating at times. But just take your time and enjoy. That's the main thing in my opinion. The learning is just as much fun and wholefilling as the actual cutting. Ok that's not true but it is fun in itself. Hope you enjoy your new toy, she's a good one! Don't make her do stuff she wasn't designed for and she's do her job accurately and safely.

[Deadhead]

A great way to get started is to practice on a few things for the shop. In fact, the first thing I did was make the featherboard using the instructions in the manual.
Lowe's has a few plans for projects that may help get you started:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...WW/Novice.html

[Pappy]

Welcome to the Asylum, David. One good site for simle, easy to follow plans is http://www.am-wood.com/index.html Also, check your local library for back issues of wookworking magazine. Wood is common in most libraries and has projects aimed at different skill levels.