Ridgid BS1400 - yay or nay?

[Cochese]

One has come up on CL here locally that seems like a decent price, and I wanted to get some updated opinions from the ones here who have owned it (and there's at least one or two judging by old threads).

Were the vibration issues easy to solve, or is it a dead end? Anything else I should know?

[sweensdv]

Double Nay because the software told me a single nay was too short to post.

[dbhost]

Check it out, some shook really bad, some were smooth as glass. If you find one that is a good runner on the cheap, grab it... Just remember, it's a bit under powered, but that can be fixed (insert evil grin here...)

[Cochese]

Yeah, I have read about tuning them up with various home cooking to get them very nice. I think for the price, I have to go check it out if it's still available. Said it was barely used, so my spidey sense is telling me that I bet it has some vibration.

[Cochese]

Someone is already headed to look at it. If it's Tommy, I'll kill him.

[dewi1219]

I have one...but it's still in the box in my garage waiting to be assembled. It's more likely than not that it will have some vibration. But if you follow the remedies around the net and in the magazines it should be fairly easy to eliminate.

[jonathan55]

I have had one for about 7 years and love it! I've made literaly hundreds of bandsaw boxes with it. Installed a riser block made for a Grizzly and it works great!

Jonathan

[BrazosJake]

I bought mine almost 7 years ago. It was my first stationary WW tool (after a junky Craftsman TS I returned). It's worked wll for me, even passes the nickel test when the blade is tracked and tensioned properly. If you expect to push stock through like in the MM16 demo videos, you will be sorely disappointed (the MM16 is a 5hp saw). But with a good, sharp blade and the right feed rate, it does a good job.

I have an original Ridgid riser kit on it, though sometimes I think of taking it off. I don't see a need to resaw anything wider than 6" when that's the limit of my jointer.

I should mention that mine is the old grey model built by Emerson.

[Cochese]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I missed out on the one I was looking at. As well I should have, it was a great price at $185. Unfortunately I couldn't just take off of work and go grab it.

The plan right now is to save a bit each week and possibly order a G0555P in a couple of months, the regular version if they've stopped making them at that point. And if I see a great deal on a Jet or this model before that, I may jump on it.

Any other models used I should look at, please let me know.

[dbhost]

I know I am gonna get knocked for this, but if you can find a Central Machinery 4 speed 14" (#32208) at a good price, even though they aren't as feature rich as some others, (about on par with the Delta), jump on it. Mine has been a great performer. LOTS of resawing and curve cutting done on mine so far...

[drlien]

I had the Ridgid saw for 3-4 years. I was never truly happy with it. I spent a lot of time dealing with vibration issues. The wheels were very difficut to balance (lots of drilling). I replaced the stock belt with a link belt and tried to stiffen up with base with plywood. I also added cool blocks, a Kreg fence, new tires. After all that, I found a Grizzly 555x that was in the scratch & dent areas at their Springfield store. I've been very happy with that saw. It runs with very little viration and I really like the quick release blade tensioner and the enclosed cabinet below the saw. Overall, after dealing with the Grizzly saw, I wish I had held out and bought the Grizzly originally.