Anyone willing to demonstrate BT3x in Galveston Bay area?

[dbhost]

I am the owner of a Ryobi BTS-21, which so far has been a pretty decent saw, but the lack of T-tracks on it has been annoying, the BT3x and the Craftsman re-badge model both seem to have decent tracks on them, but I was interested in seeing WHAT that model can do for me different than my 21... I am fairly new (again as it were) to wood working , and am trying to figure out what makes one saw or another, good or bad...

[LCHIEN]

do you mean tracks for miter gauges and miter gauge-like accessories or do you mean T-tracks for mounting things on the fence and rails?

[dbhost]

Well, I know what to do with the track for miter gauge and similar accessories. I have no clue what to do with tracks on the fence or on the rails... Those make no sense to me. Why are they there?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I am trying to learn is all...

[LCHIEN]

i think the BTS21 nad the BT3x both lack miter tracks. The BT3x has some add-on ones available in the accessory market and ways you can add them yourself. The Sears 21829 also lacks miter tracks... there are some on the auxiliary/router table but they cannot be used effectively for sawing.

The fences:
The BTS21 miter fence uses a piece of the same extrusion as the BT3x miter fence.
The BT3x uses the same extrusion again for the rip fence, but not so with the BTS21.
The T-slots in the rip fence/miter fence are useful for attaching extended fences, high fences, short fences, hold downs, stop blocks, and sacrificial fences. Not much else though.

You might try e-mailing Lago, who lives in Lago Vista just off I-45. He's an on and off active member here, not 100% sure he has a BT3x or not.

[pelligrini]

You might want to take a look at this thread:
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=37679

It contains some links to some Videos on Youtube.

[dbhost]

Very impressive. That explains a lot about both the BT3x, and somewhat indirectly about the BTS21...

I think I am going to keep on with my BTS21 for a while, it is giving me smoothe, straight, accurate cuts... But the BT3100 / accessory kit is well worth the time and effort in the long run it looks like...

The Sears rebranded version with the folding stand is DEFINATELY a must do for me though. The storage footprint is a big deal for me... Which is part of the attraction for me with this saw. I can eliminate my router table / cabinet with this saw / accessory kit and even have the T-slot where the miter table currently is for more "regular" shop made jigs...

If the 21 gets in the way of me being productive, or maybe I can talk my wife into the Craftsman rebrand as a Christmas gift I may just have to end up with one this year...

[pelligrini]

I've got the Craftsman one. The stand and the SMT is what really sold me. My 'shop' is really a little shed so the saw/router station goes in and out every session.

If your saw uses some of the same aluminum extrusion profiles be sure to check out T-Nuts.com for any fasteners for custimization. He's got great service and products.

[dbhost]

Don't get me wrong in the slightest. I really like my BTS-21. But that 21829 with the router table add in, is a real space saver. After seeing what the BT3100 is, I would much rather have the Craftsman version due to the folding / jobsite saw stand instead of the fixed legs. My shop is a very undersized two car garage which barely could fit a standard cab Ford Ranger in end to end.

I am learning how to work around the SMT somewhat. I am not sure why folks fuss about the fence. Mine seems to be dead on square. But in my case, the problem with accuracy is the operator, not the saw...

That video showed a different technique to cross cutting a wide panel that I think would really work for me...

In the long run I may want to step up to the Craftsman 21829, but honestly, just to keep things "in house" as it were, I am definately planning on nudging Ryobi into bringing out a 21829 in Gray and Blue... My shop has a LOT of Ryobi, and don't see a need to change labels to get what I want if I don't have to... Heck if I could grab a good used 3100 with a decently swapped over folding stand I would be good. It's that storage space thing... A BIG reason I bought the BTS-21 in the first place!