The Rigid Bandsaw deal

[Ed62]

I was able to find one of the bandsaws Home Depot had for half price (BS14002). When reading a bit on the web about this saw, it seems several people have made modifications to it, right after setting it up. Has anyone here made any? If so, What did you do, and why did you do it? There seems to be a bit of a vibration problem, out of the box. I can't confirm that because mine is not set up yet. It came with a part missing. I'm waiting for it to be shipped.

Ed

[dewi1219]

Mine isn't set up yet either - I just got it yesterday. But, it looks like many people 1) balance the wheels, 2) sand the tires to remove high spots, and 3) sand/trim irregularities from the belt or upgrade to a link belt. I plan to do all of these and add an auxiliary table and fence. The stock table is pretty small.

[dbhost]

Not sure about the BS14002, but the BS1400 had a real vibration problem. I know owners of the older model, and they...

#1. Balanced BOTH wheels. (Removed them, took them to a machinist for balancing).
#2. Upgraded to a link belt.
#3. Installed Cool Blocks.
#4. Installed the tall Carter ratcheting tension knob and cobra coil.
#5. Upgraded the DC port to a 4" port (the owner in question copied the one on my HF bandsaw).
#6. Braced the base with plywood.

Aside from the vibration problem, and the base issues, all of the mods I have seen on the Ridgid, are the same ones you see commonly on the HF band saws...

Other mods that would help, but I have not seen them on a Ridgid Band Saw (but have seen or done them on a HF band saw, the Ridgid should be about the same...

#1. Grizzly tensioner upgrade.
#2. Riser Block kit. Not sure which one fits the Ridgid, check the Ridgid forum guys for that, they do a lot of them.
#3. Urethane tires. Carters are popular, Rockler also sells some tires that seem to work pretty well.
#4. Tire brush.
#5. Task light.
#6. Mobile base.
#7. Roller bearing guides. (I had them on my HF, swapped out for cool blocks, like them better...)
#8. Fence. Can be as simple as a good and straight 2x4 and clamps, or can be as complex as the Kreg micro adjustable fence which cost about what you paid for that saw...
#9. Motor upgrade. I am planning this upgrade myself since I could use the 1HP motor for a wide drum sander I am planning, but... I have seen these band saws with up to 2 HP motors installed. Not sure if the base on the Ridgid can handle that much, but I bet it would be okay if it were braced up well... I have a 1.5 HP Dayton 110V motor in with a friend of the family that does electric motors... Not sure if this one is rebuildable or not. If so, at a reasonable cost I will use that one, if not, I will probably order a 1.5HP motor from Grizzly...

[dewi1219]

Ridgid sells a riser block kit for the saw (I guess it's still available). I plan to do this mod as well. I *THINK* one of the other kits, possibly the Grizzly, will work as well. I will also do the cool blocks - I had forgotten about this.

The saw can be wired for 220V - I wonder if you do this if there will be enough power to get by with the stock motor. I don't do any/much resawing currently so I don't think it will be an issue for me.

[dbhost]

Wiring for 220v doesn't "give you more power" so much as it allows the motor to make power out of the amps available through the given wire... A 110/220 motor that is rated for 14a 110, and 7a 220 might be starved on a shared circuit for that full 14a, but on a 220v line might be more prone to getting the full amperage...

Given good blades, good setup, and an appropriate feed rate, even wired for 110V these saws work fine, just don't get in a hurry...

My plans for a motor upgrade are on the board since I also plan on a sander. This is more of a luxury upgrade rather than a need. Remember though, the Harbor Freight band saw is a 1HP band saw, the Ridgid is 3/4 HP...

[1woodbutcher]

I did get one of the half-priced Ridgids

I was able to take the last floor model at HD for $150. It had a tire missing and 2 guide blocks missing. I called Ridgid (after registering for the lifetime warranty on line) and they sent me the missing pieces.

Out of the box the saw is a P.O.S. I have made several simple (yet costly) modifications and I can now stand a nickle on edge, while sawing and the nickle will remain standing.

The modifications I made, First trash the oem blade and replace with 1/2" Wood Slicer from Highland Woodworking .com $30. This is the best band saw blade made (other than the $150 Laguna).

Next, I co-planed the wheels, removed the blade, tires and belt and balanced the wheels. There are hundreds of methods for doing this on the internet. On e method is just as good as the next. Find the heavy spot on each wheel and "dimple drill" the heavy sport or add weight to the light spot. cost $0

Replace the rubber tires with Carter Urathane tires. Cost for 2 - $60

Change v belt for 42" link belt. Cost $30.

Add Olsen cool blocks $15

Add Kreg precision Bandsaw fence. Cost $100.

Build my own bandsaw support (cabinet with bearing drawers) from Birch 3/4 plywood. Cost - Plywood $40

So now, I have $425 in this saw with a very precise table and fence, absolutely NO vibration cuts even thick, "pitchy" pine like butter. I also made the motor set-up quick adjust or quick change. For grins, I put a 3 HP 220 motor on it to test it. FANTASTIC!

There are 4 or 5 riser kits available for this saw (Ridgid, Grizzly, Jet and a few others for this Kit.

The Kreg precision fence, the Carter Accu Circle Cutter and the Kreg precision miter all "bolt" up with no modifications. Try that with a Craftsman!

The essential things are the same things you have to do with any saw regardless of the cost.
1. Co -plane and Balance the Wheels
2.Toss the OEM BLADE - GET A WOOD SLICER.
3. Carter Urathane (blue) Wheels
4. Olsen Cool Blocks (IMHO they work better than the bearing guides, which get "pitchy:

With these adjustments, this IS the BEST $425 saw in the market!

[tommyt654]

Hey Ed, After looking at all the aforementioned mods, What are you going to use it for. If re-sawing make the mods relating too that. If not here,s what I would do, Get the Rockler urethane tires at 1/2 the cost of Carters overinflated prices for starters, Go to Iturra Design and order part no.10025, thats a lower wheel brush that you will need,its nice that Ridgid put one up top.but thats not where its needed as most of the sawdust stays in the lower portion of the wheel area,next balance the wheels, real simple remove blade,spin wheel and mark the lowest part with a magic marker,spin again if it consistently shows up in the same area then go to a bike shop or motorcycle shop and look for some lead Tape-A-Weight, they are adhesive backed lead weights thart can be cut to size and place them opposite the marks on the wheel and spin until you get some resemblence of balance, Check your wheels are co-planer and shim accordingly,Get the Iturra Solid Ceramic Guide Blocks, part no.10008 for $16.50 and the Non-Rotating Ceramic thrust bearing, also $16.50,spending 30-40 bucks for a link belts kinda high if ya ask me,Go to a good auto parts store and get a belt that matches your length but one thats v-notched for 1/3 the price, factory belts are just junk anyways, I recommend a Goodyear belt if they have them. Defintely shore up the stand, Place a 3/4 inch piece of plywood under the saw and bolt to the stand and the saw to the plywood then build a shelf out of the same material to fit under that on the stand. Get another saw blade, Factory are junk, make your choice from dozens out there or whats on sale at the time again but for what your sawing, You may not need a 1/2 inch blade right now.Iturra,s no. is 904-642-2802 in Fla. With any order you get a new catalog that has tons of free info on how to modify your saw for best performance. I,d stay away from the roller bearing style guides unless your re-sawing as they tend to cause more damage to blades of smaller size. You won,t need the springs or any other junk unless your trying to impress someone with all the fancy brohaha or one breaks IMHO,and the DC mods not necesarry unless your re-sawing either afaik,Tommyt

[aggrex]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions about turning the Ridgid BS into a winner! TommyT654 you not only bring the best deals but you tune them too....thanks

[Ed62]

I appreciate the replies. I don't expect to do any re-sawing at this time, but that could be in the future.

The part finally came in, and I got the saw put together, and started it late this afternoon. During the time I was waiting for the part, I put a piece of 3/4" ply under the base, below where the saw stands. The motor was put on another piece of 4/4" ply, and a mobile base made out of 2 bys was added. I also bought a new "V" belt, but found out I bought one a little too long, so had to put the original belt on instead. Also bought a set of cool blocks, and have a new blade coming.

After making all the normal adjustments, I turned the saw on. The blade stayed right where it should be, but I have a lot of vibration. My time is very limited in the shop now, but when I get the time, I guess the next step is to balance the wheels. Hopefully, I'll have it running a little smoother before Christmas.

Ed

[BrazosJake]

Congrats on your find. The Ridgid BS was my first real "find" too, when the grey tools closed out. It often gets berated, but I'm satisfied with mine. Vibration has not been a problem, it will even pass the "nickel" test.

I did pretty much everything described above, and put a 4" DC port in the lower cabinet - much better dust collection. On my "roundtoit" list is a below-table port (I removed the factory 2 1/2" port).

Unless you know for a fact you will be resawing stock wider than 6", I wouldn't sweat the riser kit. I have one on my saw, but have never needed the extra capacity. In my opinion, it reduces the tension that can be applied to the blade because the column has more flex. The 105" blades are slightly more expensive, and, for someone only 5'10", it puts the tension knob where I have to stretch to reach it.

Consider that Michael Fortune has been building furniture professionally for over 30 years in Toronto with a 1974 General 15" bandsaw that has the same resaw capacity as your Ridgid.

[1woodbutcher]

The Rockler Tires ARE Carter tires

The Urathane tires that Rockler sells for $32 each are Carter tires. You can order the tires directly from the carter web site for $25 each and pay no sales tax. In my state, you must pay taxes on rockler purchases.

The Kreg Precision fence is better than any other fence I have ever used and the internet price on that fence is around $80 or $25 less than the Ridgid price.

Harbor Freight has adjustable link belts 5 feet for $25.

At most cabinet or wood forums almost everyone recommends the Wood Slicer blade from Highland. I was a dedicated Timberwolf user until I tried the wood slicer. The difference is night and day. However, this blade costs $29 and is almost never on sale.

At a minimum ( I don't do "minimum" work), the wheels need to be balanced, the OEM blade replaced and the belt changed and the stand reinforced.