I went to the darkside

[Sawatzky]

I got at Ridgid TS3650 for by birthday. It was $100.00 off at Home Depot making the price $450.00, so now is the time to buy if anyone wants one. So far I am pretty impressed with the machine. It is very solidly built and I think will be a great uprade from the BT. I sold the BT to a friend so it will still be close by in case I ever miss it, but this new Ridgid saw looks to be pretty awesome. For those of you who own the Ridgid, any tips?

[Knottscott]

Congrats and enjoy. Once you put some boards through it, it'd be nice to hear your comparison critique.

[RodKirby]

Wait til you adjust it for a bevel cut

[cgallery]

Wait til you adjust it for a bevel cut

I'm not sure what you mean, are we BT3K users missing something?

[RodKirby]

I'm not sure what you mean, are we BT3K users missing something?

I guess it had to happen - I have avoided highlighting this til now...

1. I LOVED my BT3000
2. I HATED the single bevel/height adjustment wheel (from day 1)
3. Nothing beats having separate wheels for these functions

[JoeyGee]

I have to agree with Rod on this one. My old TS had 2 wheels, and I really miss that. Well, I had gotten over it...

Thanks for the reminder, Rod.

[cgallery]

I guess it had to happen - I have avoided highlighting this til now...

1. I LOVED my BT3000
2. I HATED the single bevel/height adjustment wheel (from day 1)
3. Nothing beats having separate wheels for these functions

Interesting perspective. I moved from a contractor saw that had two wheels where the bevel adjustment was prone to getting packed w/ sawdust (which made it difficult to turn). The first time I spun the wheel on the BT3K I was sold.

[RodKirby]

Interesting perspective. I moved from a contractor saw that had two wheels where the bevel adjustment was prone to getting packed w/ sawdust (which made it difficult to turn). The first time I spun the wheel on the BT3K I was sold.

Never had that problem - how often do you clean out/brush down the interior?

[rnelson0]

3. Nothing beats having separate wheels for these functions

Even though I had looked at a number of Ryobi models, new and used, this was the feature I required that pushed me to something else. I honestly don't use the bevel that much, but I like having the separate knob.

I didn't get to see a BT3K in person (purchased the TS this year so all BT3Ks were on CL or Ebay), but the Ryobi 10" TS has a really flimsy push/pull mechanism on it that didn't work worth crap at the store. Same with practically all other saws that had a single knob. Is the BT3K a little more solid? Next time I visit my brother, I'll have to give it a shot on his.

[cgallery]

Never had that problem - how often do you clean out/brush down the interior?

Probably not as often as I should have, but at least as often as I do on the Ryobi?

[jhart]

Rod, it always looks like in your pictures that you clean up after each cut!! Just kidding you of course.

[Gator95]

For those of you who own the Ridgid, any tips?

Great saw! I just got a 3660 a little over a month ago. Ridgid forum has all kinds of 3650/3660 specific stuff and tips.

Least mentioned feature: the 2" dustport on the Ridgid bladeshroud does a great job at collecting sawdust when connected to a shopvac. If you have the bladeguard in place and the shopvac on you'll get hardly any escapees.

Trunnion bolt adjustment and alignment is really easy with the Ridgid too, no reason not to dial it in under 0.002".

Stock blade is meh- cuts OK but had 0.008" runnout compared to 0.001" runout when I put in a Freud LU74 for comparison.

Enjoy the new toy.

[TheOne]

The best tip I got for a piece of iron like that was "wax".

Enjoy.