Writing about a Mafell Erika put me in mind of an old friend: the fairly large and no longer made Ryobi BT3000.
This hunk of aluminum with a stamped steel, bolt-together base was a central unit in my shop as a young carpenter. Surely I bought it on price—it’s been so long, I don’t remember—because moving it was a bear and a half.
However, as I used the tool and my skill set improved, I came to like its features, its light weight (compared with other saws with this feature set), and what I considered to be its stout construction. The fence was as good as anything I’ve used since, if memory serves.
While I never used the sliding table—it had a sliding table!—I would today for stuff like post caps (see video) or miter gauge work or router tabling. It’s incredible that it had these features built in. I see little reason that this unit wouldn’t hold water to this day. Sadly, I only see it for sale on eBay.
It’s the kind of saw that is also a bookmark in tool evolution as brands and businesses jostle for shelf space. Have you used it? What did you think?
