is this a good saw for furniture building woodworking

[frostp]

Ê
Craftsman 10 in. Table Saw, StationaryÊ

15 amp motor with dual belt drive powers blade to 4,800 rpm. Self-aligning extruded aluminum rail system ensures stable and accurate rip operation. Sliding miter table with oversized miter fence.
*
Adjustable bevel control for exact angle cutting
* Adjustable depth control to get the cut you want
* Bench top model features a heavy duty stand to support your work
* Includes blade
* Includes miter gauge
* Includes rip fence
* Includes table extension
* Induction motor provides smooth and reliable operation
* Single speed capability
$449.99
Sears Item #00922811000
Mfr. Model #22811
If not please recomend about same price range

[Craftsman Fan]

Paul
That is the Craftsman version of the Ryobi BT3000K saw.
Some people swear by them…some people swear at them.
It all depends on which camp you’re in.

If you like this saw and are intent on getting one my advice would be to wait a little while longer. I have heard that Ryobi is discontinuing this model and coming out with a newer version. If this is true then Craftsman will also update their version. When they do they put the older version on a fire sale. You should be able to get it for about half price.

CF John

[Bob Hobbs]

If that saw is the Ryobi BT3000k, it will make furniture. "Dave in Cairns" says he uses it to produce furniture you can view at

http://www.australianwoodart.com/default4.html

I would prefer to believe that Dave does it by magic as it would help my inferiority complex.

[Craftsman Fan]

Where is Dave anyway???

Haven’t seen him around these parts in quite a spell.

CF John

[Bill Kunert]

He recently posted on the Ryobi forum with pictures of some beautiful chairs. They are worth a look.
Bill

[daveferg]

Actually, think Dave in C' should be Ryobi's poster boy. He's a very talented person, and I'd love to see what he could do with a real saw ;)

Seriously, we're all not Dave's (at least the talented one), and if you do a serach here, you'll find much debate.

If your serious about making furniture, I frankly believe you'll have better luck on a full-sized table saw---if you check the measurements, you'll find that that model is a significantly smaller table size than the average contractors' saw.

With your budget, I'd suggest looking for a used machine. Jet, Delta and older Craftsman (pre-1998) are all servicible models. If you want a new saw, for $600, Rigid just came out with another version of their contractors' saw, which is supposed to have a vastly improved fence.

[frostp]

What is this shim thing I've seen in Ryobi's forum

[daveferg]

Shims have to do with alignment of the sliding miter table. It's a great concept, but, from comments, doesn't sound like it's easy to maintain.

[frostp]

that's miter table is what I like about it. So is it worth the trouble

[ASLNROX]

Paul,

Good is relative. I owned a Ryobi, made tons of projects on it and found that I was always trying to figure out out to make a jig or a technique designed for a "traditional" constractor saw work on my Ryobi. I also work with a lot of sheet good and the Rypbi is only about 100 pounds and has a small foot print. These are GREAT features for those who move a lot or have a small shop, but not as helpful for handling sheet goods! The saw also has the best dust collection I have ever seen.

I also found that it need to be directly pluged into a 20A 110V outlet to make use of its full potential. On an ext cord, I could not rip a 2X4 with a new blade.

It ended up not being the saw for me, so I sold in on eBay and got lucky...sold it for $20 more than I bought it for. Gave the $30 off.

My current saw and Ryobi are on my sight if you want to look, but I would ignore pictures and make some cuts. I thought I would like the movable rails, sliding table, etc, but NEVER could get used to the alum top, and the light feel of the sliding table and saw. The rails just slowed me down and frustrated me!

There are a couple, well documented, issues with the saw: shims and blade raising assembly. The shims, folks refer to, are small metal shims that protect the steel blade system from gouging out the soft alum tracks it rides on. If anything gunks up the works and you keep turning, the shim will pop out. Some have reported it being hard to get replacement. Ryobi sent me a couple for free when it happened to me. The other issue with the balde rasining mech. also involves steel and alum. When these two metals are next to each other, it is not a good match.

The BT3000 is gone, soon to be replaced by the 3100. Seen pictures but no one klnows if the shim issue, etc. have been addressed.

Like I said, try before you buy and visit the Ryobi site. VERY helpful users over there!

Blessings,
--Mark


Visit my shop at:

<http://home.earthlink.net/~maspaulding/>