BT3000 Table Saw Stand Cabinet

[BeauxTi]

Guys - I am trying to organize the shop half of the garage to make some room - Really looking at empty space. I have one of the BTU stands with the legs set at and angle. I was wondering - have any of you built anything under the saw in the stand to hold tools and supplies for the saw (eg, plates, wrenches, documents, etc..... I did a search on the site but after 3 full pages did not see what I was thinking of. Thanks for the help!

[vaking]

BT3000 had a stand with vertical legs, BT3100 has a stand with legs at an angle. Sounds like you have 3100. There are posts at the site about storage built for BT3000 with square stand, I don't remember anything about BT3100. Why don't you build your own mobile base? You can make it any size and height you want and it will give you the most flexibility for storage. I have BT3100 with wide rail kit uncut, so the full system stands 84" wide. I made my own mobile base so now my table saw includes router table, storage and the far end can even be used as light duty workbench, which I use for burning.

[mpc]

There's no law that says you have to maintain the factory splayed-leg assembly. Build yourself a box about as large as the rails with drawers and/or door cabinets and then attach the saw body to that. You'll gain dust-free storage area and a couple small shelf areas on either side of the saw to hold the fence, accessories, marking tools, etc while you work. There are several examples of such cabinets on this site scattered about. With 4 double-locking casters (they lock both the rolling axle AND the caster part) it can be mobile yet still be secure enough during use. That's what I use now for other tool stands and cabinets. One other advantage: by replacing the factory stand you can raise or lower the saw height to make it more comfortable for you to use.

I fit a 3-drawer box into the square-leg setup of the original BT3000 stand. The square-leg (or vertical leg) stand came in two flavors: with open sides or with sides that were almost closed off (only a mail slot opening at the bottom). Mine is one of the wide-open ones. Once my cabinet was done it occurred to me I didn't really need to preserve the original leg assembly after all... and I may yet re-do it to eliminate the factory stand and switch to double-locking casters. Not long ago I posted a pic of my BT3 and the infeed/outfeed tables I made; the site's SEARCH command should find it.

mpc

[BeauxTi]

I like the idea of building my own base - anyone have photos or links to what others have done?

[leehljp]

I like the idea of building my own base - anyone have photos or links to what others have done?

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ght=frankensaw

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ght=frankensaw


I can't for the life of me find any picts of the bases that so many people had with the BT3000 square base in which they made storage compartments for blades and tools. The only thing I have links to that still has picts are the two "frankensaws" above. This was a name that was given to custom bases made to accodomate two BT3X000 saws.

[Turaj]

I can't for the life of me find any picts of the bases that so many people had with the BT3000 square base in which they made storage compartments for blades and tools.

Here is a picture of an oldie but goodie made by Norm (in Fujino) that I had kept on my PC (I have a few more detailed picture):

[Black wallnut]

here ya go for ideas:

[mpc]

Here are pics of my setup - as it currently exists and the first iteration several years ago.

my current setup - see post #9

Post #10 is a better pic of the drawer setup I built to fit inside the BT3000 square leg set before I realized I could just replace the factory leg set. Norm's setup (pic posted by Turaj) was the one that got me moving on my drawer setup years ago. Also visible are pipes held on via "U" bolts to serve as wheelbarrow handles to move the saw - an idea I got from somebody else on this site.

I've since removed the pipes as they don't work with my extended rails. I use a regular mobile base (Delta 3-wheel unit... it'd be better though if the rear wheels were casters too) now instead of the Ryobi wheels. And I have double-locking casters on the support for the added rails.

mpc

[greenacres2]

I'd had a picture of Norm's blue unit open in a browser for a month or more, meaning to save the link and lost it...thanks for reposting!!

I've got the square base with a shelf added on the bottom and have to vac it on a regular basis so i'd been thinking of building as well. Last night i spent some time on my back under the saw with a toothbrush cleaning the lead screw and such. Do that about once a quarter. For those who mounted to a base--how do you attach the saw so you can gain access to do periodic cleaning?

Mark--i hadn't seen your pics in a while...i really like that set-up!! Sweet.

earl

[leehljp]

Thanks fellows, for posting the picts that you have. Good to have some picts still current.

[mpc]

Cleaning/access:
The drawer unit I built inside the factory square leg set isn't as tall as the leg set; it is just a tad higher than the front opening. That means it is about two inches lower than the total height of the factory stand. I filled that gap with a bent-metal tray/shelf (thin sheet metal from the BORG) to catch any falling dust. It's easy enough to vacuum out from the openings in the top of the stand (i.e. the gaps below the fence storage area) once in a while. Initially I had a small vac port at the rear of this tray but it didn't do enough to be worthwhile; maybe closing all the gaps (top of the factory stand plus the macaroni shaped port at the rear of the saw; a member posted plans for an articulating cover that would still allow the saw blade to tilt even with this port covered) would have helped. I get only a little dust accumulation in the tray anyway using the stock vac port plus a small hose I added to the blade guard. And to actually access (cleaning, lubrication, etc) the saw mechanisms I just unscrew one or both side panels of the saw.

One member long ago, on his design for a under-saw base, mounted the saw with a big piano hinge along one edge. Made access easy. Another member replaced the factory side panels with multiple smaller wood panels held in by magnets or something; it's been a while and I don't remember the details. If the front & rear panels of the saw are securely attached to something then the side panels are less essential; normally they're critical to the strength of the saw just like cutting off one side of a cardboard box leaves you with a flimsy mess.

mpc