Y'all remember the Biesemeyer fence clearance at Lowe's a few months agao. Well, I picked up a fence and was considering either building a new cart for the BT3100 or making a frame to fit around it to use the fence. Then, after getting some money for Christmas, a gift card from the boss, and a little more money for finishing my Master's degree on Dec. 15th, the idea of modifying the BT just didn't appeal to me.
The money and gift card led me to Lowe's, where for three days I ate, drank and slept on the idea of buying a saw to go with the Bies. I pulled the plug on Christmas Eve and bought the 36-979 after they dropped the price locally. So, my new toy is the Delta 36-979 with the Bies, a.k.a. the Delta 36-982.
It took me about 10-12 hours to set everything up. I managed to put it all together by myself, which explains why I can now sing soprano.
Seriously, the saw wasn't too hard to put together, and I really spent a lot of time fine tuning things like the cast iron wing extensions. They are perfectly flat to the main table, except where there is a very slight variation due to manufacturing. I do not like the splitter/blade guard. It doesn't work very well.
According to my best measurements, the blade is perfectly parallel to the miter slots out of the box. Angle gauge on the front appears to be spot on as well. I did have to adjust the miter gauge slightly.
Putting the Bies on was a different story. Once I opened the box, I realized that the manual and a few key parts were missing. I called Delta customer service, and the missing parts are on the way. One of the missing parts was the mouting template, but they gave me the info I needed to continue without it. Also missing are the knob for the fence and the indexer. Those parts should be on the way. The manual was not available at Delta or Servicenet. I found an outdated one on the web, which was marginally helpful. I finally just stopped using the manual and used good old fashioned "horse sense" to get everything together.
It took a little time to get the Bies dialed in, but it appears that everything is about as perfect as I can get without a dial indicator.
I've only made a few test cuts with the stock blade, but things look promising. The biggest problem with this set up is that it is big! I may have to ask you guys some advice about taking out a support column in my shop. That will be another thread.
I am considering modifying the extension that came with the Bies to become my router table. I have the Bosch/Craftsman that was on clearance a couple of years ago, but the saw is bigger than I anticipated, so more room may be needed.
Hopefully John from Pensacola will enjoy the BT3100. He and I met up today, and swapped cash for saw. Now, what tool should I get next? I have enough for that 17" Craftsman drill press for 179.99...
I was hoping to have pics, but can't get SWMBO out to the shop to take them. I think I'll head out a get a few before it gets too cold.
The money and gift card led me to Lowe's, where for three days I ate, drank and slept on the idea of buying a saw to go with the Bies. I pulled the plug on Christmas Eve and bought the 36-979 after they dropped the price locally. So, my new toy is the Delta 36-979 with the Bies, a.k.a. the Delta 36-982.
It took me about 10-12 hours to set everything up. I managed to put it all together by myself, which explains why I can now sing soprano.
Seriously, the saw wasn't too hard to put together, and I really spent a lot of time fine tuning things like the cast iron wing extensions. They are perfectly flat to the main table, except where there is a very slight variation due to manufacturing. I do not like the splitter/blade guard. It doesn't work very well.According to my best measurements, the blade is perfectly parallel to the miter slots out of the box. Angle gauge on the front appears to be spot on as well. I did have to adjust the miter gauge slightly.
Putting the Bies on was a different story. Once I opened the box, I realized that the manual and a few key parts were missing. I called Delta customer service, and the missing parts are on the way. One of the missing parts was the mouting template, but they gave me the info I needed to continue without it. Also missing are the knob for the fence and the indexer. Those parts should be on the way. The manual was not available at Delta or Servicenet. I found an outdated one on the web, which was marginally helpful. I finally just stopped using the manual and used good old fashioned "horse sense" to get everything together.
It took a little time to get the Bies dialed in, but it appears that everything is about as perfect as I can get without a dial indicator.
I've only made a few test cuts with the stock blade, but things look promising. The biggest problem with this set up is that it is big! I may have to ask you guys some advice about taking out a support column in my shop. That will be another thread.
I am considering modifying the extension that came with the Bies to become my router table. I have the Bosch/Craftsman that was on clearance a couple of years ago, but the saw is bigger than I anticipated, so more room may be needed.
Hopefully John from Pensacola will enjoy the BT3100. He and I met up today, and swapped cash for saw. Now, what tool should I get next? I have enough for that 17" Craftsman drill press for 179.99...
I was hoping to have pics, but can't get SWMBO out to the shop to take them. I think I'll head out a get a few before it gets too cold.
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