One of the things that has always bothered me about the BT3000 is the plastic guides on the SMT. Yah, I know they are a glass filled Acetel IIRC. But they still wear. And if the saw lives in the garage in the Upper Midwest the cold is not kind to them. This week I tried a modification to the problem. Thursday after hours at work I set up the table on a Bridgeport and milled the webbing on the bottom side of the table between the Guide Mounting surfaces even with those surfaces.
Then using some left over Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba*) I made up two guide bars that bear directly on the side of the Table Guide Surface. In metal working I think of it as the ways
These provide much more surface area to act as a guide for the sliding able.
I may rethink the guide design as I would prefer to have something I can adjust with set screws rather than the ecentrics on the adjusting screws. I used toe ecentrics on one side and two concentric screws on the other. The table moves a little more stiffly than the stock set-up but seems to be pretty accurate from the test cuts I have done. Next up ZCTP with splitter. Oh. One other modification I did. I removed the cord provided and wired the end of a retractable cord reel into the switch. The end of the cord reel that would normally have the female receptical had its end replaced with a three prong plus. The reel is mounted to the right hand side of the saw cabinet using its original wall bracket. Now I always have an extension cord ready to go on the saw.
Then using some left over Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba*) I made up two guide bars that bear directly on the side of the Table Guide Surface. In metal working I think of it as the ways
These provide much more surface area to act as a guide for the sliding able.
I may rethink the guide design as I would prefer to have something I can adjust with set screws rather than the ecentrics on the adjusting screws. I used toe ecentrics on one side and two concentric screws on the other. The table moves a little more stiffly than the stock set-up but seems to be pretty accurate from the test cuts I have done. Next up ZCTP with splitter. Oh. One other modification I did. I removed the cord provided and wired the end of a retractable cord reel into the switch. The end of the cord reel that would normally have the female receptical had its end replaced with a three prong plus. The reel is mounted to the right hand side of the saw cabinet using its original wall bracket. Now I always have an extension cord ready to go on the saw.
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