Greetings from Colorado

[LaVike]

I found this site as I was looking at different saws for sale on craigslist. This looks like the place to come for information on the BT3K model of saws.

About me - I'm still south of retirement age but I have been thinking about getting into woodworking. Especially to have as a hobby when I am on the other side of retirement age. I have a part of a two car garage that I'm looking at trying to use as a shop. I should have figured out the shop first before buying my saw but sometimes things don't happen as planned. Hoping to learn a lot from folks who have been around these saws and saw systems.

What I bought - I ended up getting a BT3000 and it came with a Ryobi 1 1/2 router. I paid $125 and I think that wasn't too bad. I have very few other woodworking tools so I can see needing to save for "stuff". My sliding miter table has a lot of play so I'm guessing I'll need to look on here for the best way to adjust that. The saw seems to be in pretty good shape. Not much saw dust inside the cover. The blade goes up and down smoothly. The saw does run as does the router. When tilting, the lever seems to want to move out of the tilt position so you have to hold it. Not sure if that is normal for these or not.

Since I haven't been involved in woodworking since high school woodshop over 30+ years ago, I have a lot to learn. My number one priority is to have all of my eyeballs and fingers after finishing every project. My saw didn't come with a guard or riving knife. Kind of a big concern for me. I did see that the SharkGuard is mentioned on here quite a bit. Right now, I'm kind of like a kid at Christmas and want to start building something so the 7 week lead time will be taxing. I've also seen that Microjig makes a splitter and was wondering if something like that would work well. I'll probably be springing for the GRR-ripper soon.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. I have downloaded and read the latest FAQ but I'm sure I'll read it a couple more times.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for letting me join what seems to be a great community.

[LCHIEN]

Welcome to the forum, I'm glad you downloaded my FAQ.

Have fun with your saw.
Wax the ways on which the motor bracket sides up and down and keep the interior clear of sawdust, that's how you make the shims last.

[leehljp]

Welcome to SawDustZone. Look forward to seeing your work and joining in on dialogs. If we can help in any way, please ask. Lots of friendly advice here.

[twistsol]

Welcome aboard. There's no shortage of advice here so just ask, and there are no stupid quesions. As for a blade guard, I highly recommend the Shark guard and had one on my BT, and use one on both my shopsmith and my Ridgid saw. I even bought one for the brother in law after seeing his pristine (never used) stock blade guard haning on the wall.

[Slik Geek]

Ditto on the Shark Guard. I NEVER used a guard on a table saw until I bought the Shark Guard. Now, I (wisely) feel vulnerable when I use a table saw without the guard. The Shark Guard is an excellent safety feature in that it:

• Helps keep your fingers out of the blade
• Keeps material from being thrown into your face / eyes (around your safety glasses)
• The riving knife reduces the odds of a kickback
• Gives you the ability to capture sawdust from the saw

I learned the hard way that saw dust can mess up your life. Use a N95 or N100 dust mask, a shop vac or dust collector with a highly effective filter (HEPA-grade).

[cwsmith]

Welcome to the Sawdustzone!

Terrific family of members here that are welcoming and from which there is much to learn and share with. I hope that you will enjoy as much as I have over the years.


CWS