Ridgid R4330 Planer PROBLEM

[psjbob]

Well I took the plunge this weekeng on the R4330 planer. It really looks great.
I got to fire it up and run some stock through this afternoon. All seemed well however... as I worked I noticied the hight adjustment controll backing off. While the machine ran the vibration seemed to cause it to raise the cutter head. I called Ridgid, they said it should not do that. The manual does not show any adjustment for tensioning the hand wheel. I guess it is going back.
What a shame for the first time in use. Please let me know if I may have been doing something wrong. I was only taking 1/32 in. cuts. There was a fair ammount of tear out too. I ran maple and rosewood no more than 4 in wide so I don't think I was abusing the thing. I would appreciate any advice.

[tewilk]

any updates?

I'm looking at this planer, did you happen to pick up a new one? How is it working for you?

[ragswl4]

Well I took the plunge this weekeng on the R4330 planer. It really looks great.
I got to fire it up and run some stock through this afternoon. All seemed well however... as I worked I noticied the hight adjustment controll backing off. While the machine ran the vibration seemed to cause it to raise the cutter head. I called Ridgid, they said it should not do that. The manual does not show any adjustment for tensioning the hand wheel. I guess it is going back.
What a shame for the first time in use. Please let me know if I may have been doing something wrong. I was only taking 1/32 in. cuts. There was a fair ammount of tear out too. I ran maple and rosewood no more than 4 in wide so I don't think I was abusing the thing. I would appreciate any advice.

I don't have that planer but my Dewalt has little to no vibration when in use. Tearout can occur due to the direction of the grain on the wood. Make sure that it is planed with the grain, not against. Beyond that if you have a lot of tearout taking 1/32 then something is wrong, bad or loose blades most likely. If this is a new planer I would return it.

[gsmittle]

Well I took the plunge this weekeng on the R4330 planer. It really looks great.
I got to fire it up and run some stock through this afternoon. All seemed well however... as I worked I noticied the hight adjustment controll backing off. While the machine ran the vibration seemed to cause it to raise the cutter head. I called Ridgid, they said it should not do that. The manual does not show any adjustment for tensioning the hand wheel. I guess it is going back.
What a shame for the first time in use. Please let me know if I may have been doing something wrong. I was only taking 1/32 in. cuts. There was a fair ammount of tear out too. I ran maple and rosewood no more than 4 in wide so I don't think I was abusing the thing. I would appreciate any advice.

Did you have the cutter head lock on? On my older Rigid planer it's the lever just above the height adjustment wheel.

g.

[cwsmith]

The new Ridgid R4330 does not have a cutter head lock. The head mechanism is supposedly supported/adjusted via a four screw mechanism (one screw at each corner of the head assembly) that supposedly provides a very stable adjustment system. This new design is said to be one of the main improvements over the older R1300. (The R4330 also has an improved chip ejection system as well as a 3-cutter head.)

However, this is about the 6th or 7th report that I've read where the head appears to wander on it's own.

When the R4330 was announced, I ran to my local HD and bought the last TP1300 they had. It's still in the box and hopefully I'll have a chance to set it up before summer's end. At the time I didn't have a clue as to what improvements might be initiated with the R4330, but I did know that the TP1300 had a darn good reputation. As time passes, my confidence in that decision is improving.

CWS

[tewilk]

I'm seeing reports that go both ways... the thing that I notice is that it is common for people to have the sniping issue with the R4330. I like the "price" of the R4330 and blade replacement seems low as well. I'm looking at the dw735 and folks are in the same boat... it seems that some love it... some hate it. On the demo unit at HD the dw735 crank handle seems very clean/quiet while the R4330 was the opposite and the cutter head assembly seemed to lower with lots of shaking which has nothing to do with it ability to plane... just something to mention. DW735 with tables is going to run $550 with tables and the blades I hear are low quality... Maybe I should look at the DW734... one model down for $379 which is only $10 more.

[Knottscott]

This machine is fairly new out. It'll be interesting to note whether it's an isolated defect, a short term problem limited to a bad run, or a systemic problem that'll effect many units. I suspect if it was common we would have heard more about it. Let us know how you make out with the next one.

[rcp612]

I have the R4330 and love it!!
I have no snipe issues with light cuts, 1/32" like you say you take, and the settings have stayed in place for me while planing about 300 lin ft. of oak.
Maybe it's not mounted solidly enough to keep vibrations to a minimum?
Perhaps it just passed through QC with problems?
IMHO this is a great machine with a superb dust control system. I wouldn't give it up for any others costing much more just because of a few reviews. This unit is too new for many reviews to be written yet, that don't just compare "features" that I don't find to be necessary.
(The above statement is mine and not necessarily that of the general public, or anyone else)

[gsmittle]

The new Ridgid R4330 does not have a cutter head lock. The head mechanism is supposedly supported/adjusted via a four screw mechanism (one screw at each corner of the head assembly) that supposedly provides a very stable adjustment system. This new design is said to be one of the main improvements over the older R1300. (The R4330 also has an improved chip ejection system as well as a 3-cutter head.)

Thanks for the info! I haven't been to the BORG in a while and haven't scoped out a review anywhere. Summer is supposed to be vacation, but I'm as busy now as when I'm teaching. Something wrong with my lifestyle somewhere...

g.