I'm just full of questions... TS related this time...

[Jon Wilson]

The whole bunch of you have been insanely helpful with all of my questions so far, let's see if we can keep the ball rolling along!

So, I have a Skil 3310-01 TS (I know I need to upgrade ASAP)

I find the more stuff I make, the more I am finding flaws in some of my equipment This time around it's the TS's turn...

My question is simple, until I can get that upgrade are there any inexpensive "fixes" that I can do to this saw to make it even marginally better.

Thanks!!!

[Rick Potter]

My first improvement would be a simple sled to replace the miter gage. Second would be to figure out how to make zero clearance inserts for it.

Rick Potter

[Don Morris]

Rick's suggestions are dead on. A better blade (you said marginally) might be some help without being too much more expense, but you would have to be the judge at what point the cost of the better blade begins to be more expensive than "cost effective" for what you're looking for. A Baltic Birch zero clearance insert could be made inexpensively.

[Lee Schierer]

One of the best things you can do to any table saw is check the alignment of the blade to the miter slots with a dial indicator mounted to the miter gauge. Then align the fence to the same miter gauge slot. This alignment if done correctly will improve the performance of your saw immeasurably for nearly no cost. You can purchase an adequate dial indicator at any Harbor Freight store for under $20.

[Earl Rumans]

+1 First get everything lined up and squared. Without being able to make a square cut you will have a hard time getting anything to come out right. After you get it as good as you can then make a good sled and you will be surprised at how much better things work out.

[Jon Wilson]

I would LOVE to have zero clearance inserts for the saw, as well as a couple dado inserts, but with the design of the original inserts and the way they fit in the saw table I have not been able to come up with a design that both functions and is safe. If anyone has experience making inserts for this particular saw and would like to offer any suggestions, I would be so very grateful.
While we are talking mods to this saw... making a sled has it's issues also. The miter slot has tabs (2 on each side) to hold the miter gauge, which makes building a sled a pain in the butt.
I thought about grinding off the tabs but I'm not sure if that's a wise decision. Any thoughts...

Man, I can't wait until I can upgrade this saw!

[Brian Kent]

Jon, could you take a picture of the table top so we can recommend how to make an insert?
I had the Ryobi version of this saw. The guards seemed dangerous, but at least the splitter is absolutely essential. I got a couple of horrible kickbacks to the gut and to the hand when the body flexed under pressure and the wood touched the back of the blade (without a splitter). It is the one time in my woodworking career when I called my wife and said, "I'm getting a new table saw and I put it on the credit card. (I always save up for tool purchases. Not this time.) Now I will never use the saw without a splitter. Usually it is just built into the insert, but on the Ryobi there was no room for that kind.\

[Jon Wilson]

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A friend has my saw doing some flooring right now. Here's the best pic of the top I could find,
a pic of the insert & a pic of the tabs in the miter slots.

The problem with the insert is the 2 tabs on the rear that hook underneath and then the one in front that snaps it into place.
The insert in the pic is upside down.
The tabs speak for themselves.

[Rick Potter]

Jon,

This is a bit Mickey Mouse, but you could make a wooden plate to attach to the bottom side of your present insert, then fill the top side flush with Bondo, and sand it flush. It could be attached with epoxy, or even screws from the top, if it is thick enough to countersink for the heads.

If your saw does not have enough clearance between the blade and the bottom of the modified insert, get an appropriate circular saw blade (7 1/4"), which should do any work you should be doing with that saw. Nice Freuds at HD for good price.

Note....you will not be able to bevel with this setup, unless you get another insert from Skil.

Rick Potter

[Sam Stephens]

My first TS had the same problems. Ultimately I filed off the tabs. Mine was a craftsman which has the non-standard miter slots in addition. For my cross cut sled, instead of runners riding in the miter sled, I set up the runners so that they flanked the side of the saw. Mine, like yours, was not particularly wide so this was easy to do. Pretty easy to build IIRC. screw one runner on, snug it up real tight against one side of the saw, clamp it to the table, and screw the other runner to the other side. Same idea as the miter slot really. HTH.

Sam

[Jon Wilson]

I never thought about using the original insert as a base for the new insert. I may get a couple inserts and play around with this idea.

It may sound Mickey Mouse but it's the most usable idea I've come across so far...

Thanks!

[Jim Neeley]

Jon,

You don't say what size the blade is (10"?) but I used to have a Ryobi BT3000 TS and the greatest thing I ever did with that saw was to add a thin-kerf (3/32") Forrest Woodworker 2 40T blade. It made the saw cut like it had twice the power and the cut finish was amazing. When I later sold the Ryobi I re-installed the original blade and moved the WW2 to my 5hp Unisaw. That blade has been returned to Forrest several times for sharpening and I have added more Forrest, Freud and other brand blades to my assortment but IMO Forrest is the best. it was a major "non-sunk-cost" upgrade. I groaned at the ~$100 upfront but its paid back many times over.

Just my $0.02... YMMV..

Jim in Alaska

[scott spencer]

Blade, sled, and a workstation are about the only upgrades I can think of for a portable like that. You can file those tabs down to allow clearance in the miter slots. A ZCI would be nice if you can make one. Freud Diablo, DW Precision Trim, Irwin Marples, and CMT ITK Plus are all good budget blades that tend to run between $30 and $40.