Ryobi BT3100 on clearance

Roy Smith wrote:
>
> I say go for it. I had a BT-3000 (virtually identical to the 3100) as my
> first table saw. Used it for a few years, expanded my skills and
> eventually upgraded to a "real" saw. I gave the 3000 away to a friend in
> exchange for some favors, and now he's getting good use out of it.
>
> There are certainly better saws you can buy, but I don't think you can beat
> it for $200. If they're still shipping the same blade I got with mine, the
> blade alone is worth $50. The stand is no big deal; you can build one out
> of plywood and 2x4's that's just as good as the one that's supposed to come
> with it.

thanks Roy and KC for the tips and advice. I think I'm going to head
up there and take that deal. Appreciate the help.

mjd wrote:
> Roy Smith wrote:
> >
> > I say go for it. I had a BT-3000 (virtually identical to the 3100) as my
> > first table saw. Used it for a few years, expanded my skills and
> > eventually upgraded to a "real" saw. I gave the 3000 away to a friend in
> > exchange for some favors, and now he's getting good use out of it.
> >
> > There are certainly better saws you can buy, but I don't think you can beat
> > it for $200. If they're still shipping the same blade I got with mine, the
> > blade alone is worth $50. The stand is no big deal; you can build one out
> > of plywood and 2x4's that's just as good as the one that's supposed to come
> > with it.
>
> thanks Roy and KC for the tips and advice. I think I'm going to head
> up there and take that deal. Appreciate the help.

I'll third that. Still have my BT3K and I compare it to a poor man's
Inca.

Check out www.bt3central.com for more information.

Thanks,
Phil

I has a bt3K for many years and really got alot of use out of it. Just
finally upgraded to a Unisaw. In between I bought a powermatic 63 but it
didnt get much use. The table was not that flat and it vibrated alot. When
I went to sell it, I took the time to perform a nice tune up by leveling the
wings with shims, cleaning up the table and squaring the fence and it ended
up working ok but I still sold it. The guy I sold it to did some additional
work on it and got it to pass the nickel test so there is hope for it. I
didnt care much for the grid style wings. While its a powermatic its not in
the same league as the powermatic name would suggest I would not pay more
than 3 or 400 for it max. . Then again, the BT is also not in the same
league however I was able to cut anything I needed with it and there is a
great web site bt3K.com that provides a huge amount of info on the tool.
Contractor saws take up alot of space with the motor hanging off the back so
keep that in mind.

KC
"mjd" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> been researching for a 1st time table saw purchase, and thanks to this
> group have found a lot of very useful info and tips. My budget and
> expected usage (weekender, small diy projects) has me leaning towards
> the Ryobi BT3100. A friend has one and claims to be very happy with
> it. The borg near me has one left, marked down to 249 on clearance,
> missing the stand. The tool guy says no other stores have any left and
> claims they've heard from Ryobi they will not be getting any more
> 3100's, but no info about any newer models. He wound up offering to
> take $200 for it as-is, but was unsure what the OEM would do about a
> warranty since it's been on borg's shelf for a year.
>
> I'm tempted, figuring I could build or buy a stand. Has anyone heard
> if Ryobi is coming out with a newer model to replace the BT3100? The
> other thing I'm watching is an e-bay listing for a Powermatic 63
> Artisan. Perhaps a better way to go in the long run, but a bit big for
> my 'corner of the garage' shop layout. Any thoughts/tips are welcome;
> thanks in advance. Sorry to bore everyone with yet another
> newbie-looking-for-table-saw post, but what the hell, it is what it is.
>

mjd <[email protected]> wrote:
> . . . been researching for a 1st time table saw purchase, and thanks
> to this group have found a lot of very useful info and tips. My budget
> and expected usage (weekender, small diy projects) has me leaning
> towards the Ryobi BT3100.

I bought the same saw at Home Depot. Similarly, it is my first
table saw, and I've been learning a lot with it. After having used
it for about six months or so, I'm happy with it and have made a
number of things with it. In a few years, I'll likely want something
bigger, better, beefier and with more power, and that'll probably
cost 3 to 4 times as much. :)

> Any thoughts/tips are welcome; thanks in advance.

You can live without the stand. It should be easy enough to make
one for it. My suggestion would be to get the accessory kit (model
BT3KIT). I seem to recall this was about $100, but the kit includes
some very useful stuff:

o) Dust bag.
o) Dado throat plate
o) Zero clearance throat plates
o) Miter table clamping kit
o) Miter slot insert
o) Router table kit
o) Wheels for the stand

Obviously the wheels the for the stand aren't going to do you any
good, but the rest is pretty handy. You'll espeically want that
dado throat plate and the miter slot insert are very useful.
Hopefully one of the local Home Depot stores will have one of these
kits still in stock.

Regarding the miter slot insert, in the kit. The BT3100 comes with
a "sliding miter table" which you can use to make miter cuts and
it does work pretty well. But when you get ready to try some things
like making a simple box joint jig[1], having a standard miter gauge
comes in very handy. And for a miter gauge (which you don't get
in the accessory kit), I just recently picked up the Incra V27 on
sale at Woodcraft[2].

[1]: http://www.sawdustmaking.com/Box%20Joint/boxjointjig.html
[2]: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4787

In article <[email protected]>,
"mjd" <[email protected]> wrote:

> been researching for a 1st time table saw purchase, and thanks to this
> group have found a lot of very useful info and tips. My budget and
> expected usage (weekender, small diy projects) has me leaning towards
> the Ryobi BT3100. A friend has one and claims to be very happy with
> it. The borg near me has one left, marked down to 249 on clearance,
> missing the stand. The tool guy says no other stores have any left and
> claims they've heard from Ryobi they will not be getting any more
> 3100's, but no info about any newer models. He wound up offering to
> take $200 for it as-is, but was unsure what the OEM would do about a
> warranty since it's been on borg's shelf for a year.
>
> I'm tempted, figuring I could build or buy a stand. Has anyone heard
> if Ryobi is coming out with a newer model to replace the BT3100? The
> other thing I'm watching is an e-bay listing for a Powermatic 63
> Artisan. Perhaps a better way to go in the long run, but a bit big for
> my 'corner of the garage' shop layout. Any thoughts/tips are welcome;
> thanks in advance. Sorry to bore everyone with yet another
> newbie-looking-for-table-saw post, but what the hell, it is what it is.

I say go for it. I had a BT-3000 (virtually identical to the 3100) as my
first table saw. Used it for a few years, expanded my skills and
eventually upgraded to a "real" saw. I gave the 3000 away to a friend in
exchange for some favors, and now he's getting good use out of it.

There are certainly better saws you can buy, but I don't think you can beat
it for $200. If they're still shipping the same blade I got with mine, the
blade alone is worth $50. The stand is no big deal; you can build one out
of plywood and 2x4's that's just as good as the one that's supposed to come
with it.