I made a belly pan dust collection for my BT3000, using a commercially available, cheap dust pan from one of the woodworking supply houses with a 4" hose fitting.

It seems to work effectively very simple DC belly pan under BT3000. Not tightly fitting I wanted to allow air in to carry the dust to the DC, pulling on a closed cabinet is not a good idea. So the plywood sits on the stand, not screwed down or anything. So there's air coming in thru the ends and the Shroud dust port arc....

So you want to buy a BT3 clone. Been out of production for a while. Shopping on Craigs list or for sale ads is hard

You have to keep an eye out and you have to be used to spotting the appearance giveaway features of the various models... Ryobi BT3000, BT3100, Craftsman 22811 and 21829
There are certain things that clue you in and there are many ads that don't give model numbers and have crappy photos. Search for keywords RYOBI, Precision, System are often used in ad listings and...

BT3000 tall rip fence

09-12-2021, 07:58 PM
I have had a tall BT3000 fence for a number of years, I should have used it a few days ago but I didn't because it was too much trouble, And I paid the price as the tall item was a little unstable and I had a hard time controlling it as the two pieces separated and wallowed out a bigger kerf than I wanted at one place.

Anyway the BT3000 tall fence is generally held on by the T-slots in the side of the rip fence. This is...

I am finally going to use my BT3000 extension rails.
My objective is to have some easily attachable rail extensions rather than a full time wide BT3000 using two full rails taking up a lot of space and requiring table support under the right side as many do.
I just want some wider support but not to do full 4x8 sheets of ply... if I need that, I'll break the sheet down on some sawhorses with a circ saw and some guides.

I think I am going to cut my extension...

BT3000 Safer Power Switch Modification by Jim Frye This add on to the BT3000 came about from a question on the tool forum concerning problems turning the saw off in an emergency situation. I have “missed” the switch cover many times because I was concentrating on the spinning saw blade, the work piece, the cut off, and my left hand. The stock BT3K switch cover is only 2.25 square inches in area and positioned where it is, can be a difficult target to hit the first time. There is a large switch on the market that measures something like 12” square, but my tool budget is a bit pinched. I came up with what amounts to an extension for the stock switch cover. I used a 6” wide by 10” long piece of thin rigid plastic. This produces a larger target of 60 square inches. This could be 1/8” plexiglas or thinner also. It doesn’t have to be very strong, just stiff enough to cause the switch to turn off when struck. It also can’t be very heavy or it will turn the saw off by it’s own weight. This cover extension is mounted on the existing cover with double sided carpet tape. This tape has fabric in it and is very strong. The extension could also be mounted with small screws and nuts if they were positioned to clear the switch mounting screws under the cover. The extension is mounted with 1” of it above the existing switch cover and centered on the cover. The bottom of the extension is then flush with bottom of the upper horizontal stand rail. This arrangement allows the entire cover to be raised to turn the saw on, or to remove the screws that hold the switch in the cabinet. It’s easy enough to slip your hand under the cover and turn the saw on without completely raising the cover. The larger surface area of this cover makes it easy to blindly reach down and shut off the saw with out looking. ...