Any owners of the Ridgid TS out there?

[lcm1947]

I thought by doing a search I'd find hundreds of discussions about this saw but - NOT! So anyway, I was at HD and noticed it runs about $540.00 or so and looks to me to be a pretty solid machine. I know overall Ridgid seems to make some pretty deceit tools so was wondering what actual owners thought of it after using it awhile. Anybody?

[havighurst]

I know you can find reviews here in their forum section.

http://www.ridgid.com/

[sacherjj]

I've done quite a bit of research on it and most think it is a good deal for the money. Each time I think about upgrading, I get into the motor hanging out the back and the lack of SMT. Searching "TS3650" here gives plenty of results, as does Google. I love my BT3100 on the Herculift. If I couldn't have that, I'd probably be buying the Ridgid.

[LarryG]

If you put any faith in magazine reviews -- and I find them to be generally pretty useful, although not necessarily infallible -- then you'll be pleased to know that WOOD Magazine tested a batch of 11 contractor-type table saws a while back, and they picked the Ridgid as the winner. I re-read this test just the other night as I too am contemplating a table saw upgrade.

The Bridgewood was the next closest contender; as I recall they gave the nod to the Ridgid mainly because the Bridgewood was more expensive.

The Ridgid had the widest rip capacity of all the saws (36" vs. around 30" for most saws, and down to 25.5" for the hybrid-esque Craftsman). They liked the way the Ridgid's fence locks at both the front and rear. The built-in mobile base (Herc-U-Lift) was seen as a big plus. The only thing they complained about much was the unusually large number of turns required to raise the blade all the way ... something like 33, versus around 15-20 for most of the other saws in the test. Otherwise, this saw rated right at the top of the heap for almost every criteria.

Ken Massingale owns the Ridgid, and I know that he likes it very well.

[ironhat]

I've had mine for two years and I like it a lot. I'll address some of the prevailing issues.

1. Wobbly legs. There was a long argument on the RIdgid forum about this. Some stating that they are and others the opposite. I haven't had that problem. There a couple of solutions presented; adding larger washers behind the lateral support and others added a wider lateral support closer to the casters. I've done neither.
2. Bad threads on the arbor causing a problem with dado sets. This has been solved and is, apparently, no longer present. On the saws that did have the problem they replaced the part. Mine did and it was replaced.
3. Raising the blade take quite a few cranks to maximum elevation. I guess this is a personal use issue. How often do you need to and how much does it really bother you. OTOH, many cranks implie greater sensitivity in your depth of cut (maybe not the right word for it).

That's all I can think of right now. I also really like the Hercu-Lift and use it often. The saw is maneuverable and sits solidly when the lift is lowered although, some have trouble with the initial setup of it. I did but it didn't take long to sort it out. Mostly, people tend to over-tighten the bolts connecting the lift to the legs.

OK, I''m done. PM if you'd like, lcm

[Ken Weaver]

Ken Massingale has one and he loves it - better than his wife (chuckle - Tina will kill me!). I'm sure he'll wade in shortly.

I've used his and it is a sweeet saw. If I didn't have a good BT - that's what I would be looking at (which I will do when the BT wears out-if ever).

[sweensdv]

I've had a RIDGID contractor saw for almost five years now and have been extremely happy with it since day one. Some of the "problems" some owners have claimed to have had with their saws I think can be traced to improper setup procedures when putting the saw together. When putting my saw together I took extra care and time to follow the setup instructions to the letter. I never experienced any of the "problems" that some other owners claimed they had.

A great feature of the RIDGID contractor saw that doesn't receive enough recognition IMO is the built-in system for aligning the saw blade's parallelism to the miter gauge groove. AFAIK, RIDGID is the only manufacturer to offer this as standard equpiment. For anyone familiar with the PALS system, this feature essentially does the same thing.

Another great feature that the RIDGID offers is the easy to remove and replace blade guard/splitter. The assembly can be removed easily for any cut that requires the blade guard/splitter to be removed by just loosening a thumb screw. The assembly can then be remounted to the saw without any necessity of realigning the splitter.

You will not regret buying this saw if a contractor saw is in your future.

[agent511]

I have one and I am very happy. I formerly had the Ryobi BTS-15, and that saw, to me, was like having a circular saw mounted upside down on a table, with lots of cool options like the SMT. But you need something much more powerful as well as stable for precision work. I imagine that if I was more familiar with large cabinet saws, I would likewise see an exponential difference, but for the work I do as an amateur, the TS-3650 fits the bill perfectly as well as being mobile.

[lcm1947]

WOW, I didn't realize it was that well liked or that many people had one. I'm impressed. Sounds like a good enough saw then. The other thing I really felt was less then desirable was the knife/splitter. Standing behind the saw and pushing on the knife to the right I was able to move it quite a bit. I don't really mean moved but more like it would bend or lean over. That didn't seem like it would keep a board from pushing against the blade to me. Has anybody experiences any problems along those lines?

[rockybrown]

hi mac-

i live near austin and if you'd like to try mine before you take the plunge, let me know.

rb

ps. i thought the legs were a bit wobbly so i made a dust collector/stabilizer for it.

[ironhat]

The riving knife/ splitter is adequate for the task. Your lateral pressure was likely applied to the top of the entire assembly which provide undue leverage. The wood between the fence and the knife is at the strongest part - the base. Additionally, because there is only a slight gap between the wood and the knife the there can be almost no momentum to bend or deviate the knive/ splitter. I don't know if I took that in the wrong direction so, ah, it works fine.
Later,
Chiz

[lcm1947]

Well I just finished reading about it at the Ridgid forum and thanks havighurst for the site. I never even knew they had a forum. Man, there sure was a lot of talk about wobbly legs that dates back to 2004. You'd think they would have corrected that problem by now. Thanks RB for the offer. I may just contact you if I get real serious about getting one. Thanks Chiz for the reply. Well I suppose maybe I could have pushed towards the top of the knife so since I'll be in again tomorrow I'll check it out better. I don't remember the legs being that wobbly but will check that out too.

[kwgeorge]

Well I got my 3650 for my birthday last year or Christmas I can remember and the wife is not helping much since she can’t remember either so in any case I either had it a little over a year or a few days less than a year. So with all that I think by now I have put it through its paces so I think I can speak to it. I originally bought this saw mainly due to the good reviews it had and its table size. My shop is small and space is very important so the large cast-iron top is a big plus.

Now when I went looking at saws I also looked at many cabinet type saws and at that time all the saws like this in my price range had stamped steel wings and I did not want that. As a bonus the 3650 table is extremely flat and very well ground.

To the issues noted with the saw;

1) Table wobbly, well I don’t seem to have that issue at all so either I got lucky or maybe read the instructions when I assembled it.
2) Arbor Problem, I bought mine after this issue was resolved so I never experienced it. However the arbor could be just a bit longer as I had to get a thinner washer to get a ¾” dado stack installed.
3) Too many cranks to raise the blade, well more cranks means finer threads and that means finer adjustment abilities. I am good with that.
4) Fence locking handle plastic and breaks easy, has anyone ever broke one? Or is all this based on the Home Depot displays? Anyhow I have had no issues, the fence slides nicely and locks tightly. The saw cuts accurate and smooth.
5) Motor hangs out the back, yeah this is kind of a pain and sucks up shop room but you learn to deal with it.

All in all I really like my saw and do not regret my purchase at all. For what I do it is all I need and I am very happy with it. I like being able to make a ZCTP in 5 minutes and the saw performs very well for me. I was able to tune it easily and it is dead on. When I use the scale on the fence and I set it for a measurement you can bet that’s what it will cut.

Oh BTW, dust collection is not very good on the saw and someday I intend on fixing that but for now I just vacuum under it.

My .02

Ken

[drumpriest]

The ridgid seems pretty nice, I was tempted by one when I got my bt. Beyond price, I have 2 issues with the ridgid.

1. Splitter - ie no riving knife, I don't think that I can go back, a riving knife and a good guard are VERY important.

2. DC - contractor saws in general have poor dust collection, and require modification to do any. Even then, because of the motor out the back issue, it can only get so good.

For me these were important enough to forgo the Ridgid, might not be as important to others. My new saw, which still hasn't arrived, is a PM2000 cabinet saw, and has both good DC and a riving knife. The only saw I could find other than the BT ;-)

[SARGE..g-47]

I can't truthfully say I don't always put a lot of faith in Mag reviews. I question if the machine was set up properly before the test was run or just came off the pallet and full steam ahead. I just read a BS review that said that the machine being tested was flawed as the guide bar flexed which consequently twisted the blade on re-saw.

The head-line topic was "Flaws in New 18" Steel City Bandsaw". I know for a fact the reviewer didn't get flex on the guide bar as you can't flex a hardened steel guide bar on this machine enough to make it flex without breaking the blade. I went down and took my guide bar off the machine and tried to flex it by hand clamped in a vise with all my weight I was so upset. Maybe in a high speed impact on slow motion camera.

He did not state what blade or width he was using.. the amount of tension applied.. any effort to adjust or why he didn't catch a bad weld line up in pre-check before the machine was ever turned on. He said the bracket was mis-aligned that attaches the guide bar and conseqeuntly the twist of blade in re-saw. The Steel City has 4 adjuster bolts on the guide bar housing that allow precise adjustment to the bar from ground zero to full height without having to adjust bearing each time when raising or lowering the guide bar height. Even if the bracket was bent in shipment or a mis-aligned weld, it can be aligned so that twist could never occur to the degree of major blade twist.

The saw should have been properly checked before it was even started. If so.. the guide bar bracket in that condition would have stood out like a sore thumb to someone experienced with WW machines in general. It tells me the saw was taken off the pallet and full steam ahead without proper adjustments that are required on any band-saw including Mini-Max.. Laguna.. Aggazani or even factory level 36" Tannewitz's.

Please excuse my rant as I am not one that gets upset easily... but I have the new Steel City 18" and several on another site have purchased them on my very through examination and comparison to other competitors before buying. My saw has been almost perfect and the others that purchased it agree as so has theirs. So.. my take on the absolute worth of some of the tool reviews and reviewers. I am skeptical of a reveiw that I did not personally witness and what actually was done to achieve conclusions that so many have total faith in. Because the reviewer works for a magazine does not automatically qualify him to be deemed an expert on the subject.

With that said.. (sorry again) I have heard very little negative about the Rigid contractor saw and much good. A reviewer I do trust has stated that it is hands down the best contractor saw out there. He worked with it for weeks in the shop he manages and has extremely good feed-back on it. He did mention the number of turns to raise and lower, but felt it was far out-weighed by other excellent points on the saw.

That reviewer is Mr. John White who has written a book about maintaining WW shop machines. He is also the Shop Manager for Fine Wood-Working Magazine and the saw was used in their shop by him for weeks. In this case the reviewer has my highest respect as Johh knows more about machines than most of the reviewers I have read combined. And he is fair in his appraisals and conclusions as he knows what to do to come to a proper one.

So.... thumbs up on the Ridgid from my point of view. A few dis-advantages when compared to a good cabinet saw.. but a great contractors saw that should still be standing when the smoke clears! "Git er done"...

Regards...