BT3000 repair or buy something new

[danielboone]

I have a BT3000 that I bought about 10 years ago. I burned up the motor a couple months ago when I was putting too big a load on it. I hear it costs about $200 to buy a motor. This evening I attempted to pull the old motor out and although I came pretty close I could not get it all the way out. I decided to throw the towel in at least for tonight and maybe for good. I keep wondering if I should just buy a new saw. I would ideally like to buy something like the BT3100 that hopefully is interchangeable with the stand & some of the other things I have on mine. I did buy the accessory kit with the 3000. The main thing I use on this is the casters. Is the 3100 the most current saw that is in the same family as the 3100? Where would you buy this at? I would appreciate any recommendations you have. Thank you in advance.

[Larryl]

First, Welcome to the forum. I will relate my experience with owning a BT3xxx. My first "table" saw was a gift from LOML and was a cheap little C-man table top saw on a stand. As cheesy as it was it actually built some decent projects after tuning it and learning to work within it's limits. Then I upgraded to a BT3100 and thought I had the ultimate saw for a hobby shop. The saw with a Shark Guard was all the saw I would ever need, however, every time I would get around a CI topped saw at a store and feel the smoothness of sliding a CI miter gauge, or a T-square type fence I would secretly want one. When I finally decided to sell the BT3100 and upgrade to a CI saw I have missed the riving knife and the dust control of the BT3, but the accuracy and robustness of a CI saw has more than made up for the lack of these items. I have made sleds and jigs that have more than made up for the features I gave up. While I have gone over to the dark side, this forum is still the one that I support with my money and the first one I look to for advise and ideas. Good luck with your decision and, again, welcome.

[LCHIEN]

if you want to stick with the BT3 family, then there's lots of BT3100 saws out there, look in Craig's list at all the table saws, many of them are BT3100s, they sold a LOT of them. You can often pick one up pretty cheap.

Also the Sears 21829 is a BT3 under it all, currently sold at Sears. A few improvements.

You might want to ask for the BT3 FAQ (see my sig line below) it has all kinds of info on whats worth fixing or swapping out and whats the diff between saw models and what swaps and doesn't.

[danielboone]

Thanks your response. I am always amazed what ever little hobby you have there is a forum out there & it is full of nice people always willing to help you. Since posting i have given it more thought and am more convinced that fixing this thing does not make a lot of sense. I do know know that a cast iron top would be very nice. My only concerns is right now I don't want to spend quite that much money and the other concern is the weight at least I assume they are heavy and more difficult to move. In order to use the saw I need to roll it out first. I saw a BT3100 on craigslist listed for $275 and it said it was new in the box. I would say that is probably a pretty reasonable price particularly if I talk him down to about $2225. I think I have read they were about about $300 new. Are most parts interchangeable between a 3000, 3100 and even the Sears 21829 model? I dont want to keep a bunch of junk around, but would keep what might be useful.

[Black wallnut]

A simple answer is that all parts are interchangeable with a few exceptions. Most notable is the shim area, you'd have to change several parts if you swapped the new shims in to the old, but since you have an old saw and wish to by a newer model I doubt you would do this.

[TiminIndy]

If you do buy something else, I would be interested in your rip fence and/or other accessories.

Or, see my thread here - just bought a used BT3000 missing some parts, but the motor seems to be fine (in case I decide not to put the money into replacing what's missing).

[dbhost]

I love my BT3100, and have cranked out a LOT of learning on it. The selling points for me were the riving knife, the SMT AND the miter slots, and the dust collection. The nice thing is the BT3100 I have is fitted with a Shark Guard 10.4 (Current model, 4" dust port). There is a VERY short list of saws I would like to upgrade this to, but most specifically I am interested in the Grizzly G0691 and have it fitted with the Grizzly sliding table attachment, and a Cast Iron router table wing.

So I guess the question is, do you want to put $200.00 some odd dollars into keeping your old BT alive, or do you want to drop $2,000.00 + to replace the same functions the BT has...

[Uncle Hook]

I bought my Bt3000 from home depot when they were selling for $400.00. Over time the price dropped to $200.00. I still use my saw and have no regrets about purchasing it or the price I paid. I consider it a very good value.

There are many happy owners of table saws with cast iron or granite tops. One of the things I love most about the BT3 is it's portability. I love to be able to roll it out of my workshop / garage and work outside.

[cwsmith]

I bought my BT3100 about four or five years ago, when they were on clearance. It's my first table saw and I love it! Does everything that I want and more.

I've got mine mounted on a Herc-U-Lift wheel system and in my little basement shop that mobility has proven ideal.

I don't have many places to look at other saws, other than Lowe's, Home Depot, and Sears. Frankly, I am rather disappointed in what I see. Bigger doesn't mean better and I'm amazed that my BT3100 usually offers more support area, has a much nicer fence, and there's nothing out there that rivals the SMT. I keep running into fences that don't lock down properly, or that "bump" when moved across the table, or simply don't move at all smoothly... at least as compared to the BT.

Obviously I'm a BT fan. The only weakness being that you don't have a big torqueing induction motor to cram your stock into. Other than that, I'm pretty darn happy with it and will probably keep it as long as I can, even to the point where I might buy another one if I can find it locally, just for the parts!

CWS

[L. D. Jeffries]

My BT3 is about 10 years old and to date I have not had to replace ANYTHING on it (knock on wood). For what I need it fits the bill. I have made lots of things using it from nice furniture to you name it. A cast iron fence would be nice along with a left tilt blade but hey, you learn to adapt. I'll just keep on making sawdust till the ole girl gives up the ghost and needs something really expensive.

[danielboone]

So far this guy on craigslist has not responded. I am wondering if it is a dead listing. Beyond this I am having trouble locating a complete 3100 saw. Any recommendations on finding the saw online or anywhere else? It seems when I search for them all I am finding are parts & accessories.

Do you have any suggestions on a place to buy a complete BT3100? My craiglist guy so far has not responded so I may have to look elsewhere. Any searches I have done online have usually only gotten me to parts and accessories. Is there much chance on getting a new one? I would be concerned buying a used on particularly if I was not able to check it out ahead of time.

[LCHIEN]

So far this guy on craigslist has not responded. I am wondering if it is a dead listing. Beyond this I am having trouble locating a complete 3100 saw. Any recommendations on finding the saw online or anywhere else? It seems when I search for them all I am finding are parts & accessories.

Do you have any suggestions on a place to buy a complete BT3100? My craiglist guy so far has not responded so I may have to look elsewhere. Any searches I have done online have usually only gotten me to parts and accessories. Is there much chance on getting a new one? I would be concerned buying a used on particularly if I was not able to check it out ahead of time.

they're very common on Craigslist, just got to be a little patient.

[dbhost]

They come up usually in batches here on Craigslist. In the October / January time frame I have seen no less than a dozen in my area.