# Sled for Ryobi BT3000



## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

I bought the Ryobi tablesaw a few years ago but didn't think about the unit itself. It's a decent TS but lacks the miter grooves of other brands. I would like to make a few things as a sled for cutting angles as the factory miter isn't the best. Any help for a sled is appreciated or suggestions as to make my saw a bit better.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

I had the original BT3000 forever ago, And loved the saw. I eventually sold it to another BT3 user who mounted 2 of them together. I found the BT3 central forum a great resource for tips and advice.

The sliding miter table is very accurate, you may have to follow the instructions on tuning it. If I remember right there are some square pieces on the bottom that take out the slop.

You can make a miter slot if you want one, or make yourself a sled that hugs the motor body.


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## Knot2square (Jul 11, 2015)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I had a Craftsman saw that was similar to yours and could not find a reasonable solution to the same problem. The saw worked fine for what it was intended for. Basically a potable jobsite saw with limited capabilities. Mine had tabs in the miter slots so aftermarket gauges and accessories could not be used. Some people would take a grinder or dremel and cut out the slots, but the miter slot was still useless because it was a 5/8" instead of the standard 3/4".
As for runners, you can make your own to fit. 
I know this wasn't much help, but maybe someone else will chime in with a bit more info.


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## BTimmer (Feb 7, 2015)

I’ve had a BT3000 for many years (I really like it) and recently built a small sled for it. What I did was to position the table top that moves perpendicular to the blade 3/4” from the fixed table top. That became my miter slot for the runner on the underside of the sled. I could post some pictures later if you would like.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

For the BT3000 saw that I had, First bought the Ryobi Miter Slot Insert, which UPS seemed to have towed behind their truck all the way here, from it's appearance when it arrived. I sent it back, Then I made a table extension piece that fit between the rails and put an aluminum miter slot extrusion in it. I removed the sliding table and installed this any time that I wanted to use a miter gauge or a jig that required a miter slot. It worked quite well.

I gave the BT3000 saw and every accessory and option that I had bought or made for it to my son in law about 18 years ago when I found a 1983 Unisaw in good condition, I think he is still using it.

Charley


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I haven't given Ryobi a look since my first experience with one of their old saws. So I looked the BT3000 up and found a pretty thorough review. The 5/8ths miter slot is a deal breaker for me, but I think Ryobi is changing its spots, or something. Here's the review: Ryobi BT3100, Woodworking Tool Review - NewWoodworker.com LLC


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Tom,

The BT3000, as it was sold, didn't have a miter slot at all, so none of the jigs that require a miter slot will work on the BT3000, unless you come up with a way of adding one or modifying each jig somehow. Ryobi later came out with a narrow table for use on either side of the main table and blade, but it worked much better if you used it on the left side of the blade. I liked the idea and ordered one, but UPS kicked or towed it all the way to me, making it a heavily damaged and unuseable aluminum extrusion, so I sent it back and then made a similar design from wood with an aluminum miter slot extrusion for an insert. Both the Ryobi version and mine had the standard 3/4 X 3/8" slot so it readily accepted the standard jigs that were on the market. 

What comes with the BT3000 for cutting miters is a sliding table with an angle adjustable fence, It will fit the rails on either side of the blade. The slot in this sliding table was for the T bolt and knob to lock this angled fence at the desired angle. The slot itself without the T bolt and fence is too small and too short to be very useful for anything else. This sliding table was also almost 1/8" higher than the non moving part of the saw table around the blade, making accurate cut depths of dado cuts very difficult. The blade arbor only allowed for about 1/2" max dado stack widths as well.

Another idea that I had for adding a miter slot to my BT3000 was to have the right edge of the miter sliding table machined square, and then weld or epoxy a standard liter slot extrusion to it. The miter slide table had a lock to keep it from moving at it's centered position, so if it had a miter slot along it's right edge the sliding table could be locked in place whenever using the miter slot was desired. This idea seemed good, but I never went this way because, at the time, I didn't have the machining capability or the aluminum welding capability that I have now..

The BT3000 had some very good design ideas incorporated into it, but it was also sadly lacking in some places.
Quality of construction and the lack of a good accurate miter slot being two of them. For me, the saw was also quite under powered and the blade height adjustment way too fragile. A good table saw has an induction motor and the BT3000 saw has a Universal AC-DC motor with brushes, so it screams until you put it under load and then slows to less than optimum speed for clean cuts. I couldn't tell you how many of the little timing belts that go between the motor shaft and the blade arbor that I had to replace in that saw while I owned it. Still, it was a better saw than the base models of cheap plastic cabinet table saws that were available at the time, but it was nowhere near the reliability, accuracy, and power that is available with a Delta Contractors Saw, that also had two standard and accurately machined miter slots and a relatively quiet induction motor that maintains it's speed naturally by the AC power line frequency.

Charley


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Thanks to all. I have a Ryobi bandsaw and the miter slot is also 5/8. I looked at the Ryobi miter but it was not, IMHO, good quality. Made my own out of scrap wood. kp91, I'll look at the forum to get more on this.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

use a quality miter and adapt the rail from the Ryobie saw to your quality unit...


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

@Knothead47 Here's the current address for the BT3 central forum. LOTS of info on the saw. https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/discussions/bt3x00-related-discussions


". Buy a couple of pieces of miter slot extrusion from Rockler or Woodcraft or Incra. Get a 1.5" thick piece of wood and put a dado groove in it for the slot. Then mount the wood either side of the main table with some adjustments to make it parallel to the blade as the BT3 blade is NOT guaranteed parallel to the table. Or instead of a thick piece of wood, laminate some 3/4" wood leaving a slot in the top layer by cutting two pieces. "

https://www.sawdustzone.org/filedata/fetch?id=785924


https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/discussions/bt3x00-related-discussions/54986-my-new-cabinet-saw


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

kp91, I have some track from another project that went by the wayside.
BTimmer, will see what I can devise.


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