Ridgid oscilating spindle sander. Experience needed...

[Chris Konikowski]

I am looking at desktop OSS's/Edge sanders and have been looking at the Ridgid. It combines the two very well in appearance. The question is, with this setup, what are the shortcommings of it. Is there anything that I cannot do on this that I can do with seperate units or is this a goto machine...
Thanks for any help.

[Robert Reece]

I believe Fine Woodworking did a review and the Ridgid was liked very well. You might want to check that out.

[Dan Gill]

I have one and it works well, although I haven't used it a lot, so I can't report on durability.

[Joe Scharle]

I like mine, use it 2-3 times a week. Bought it recon $139.00 @ HD on-line. Klingspor carries the sleeves/belts.
Much better than my DP drum box, although the DC is not as good.

[Tom Hintz]

I used the Rigid spindle/belt combination and think that is what you are speaking of. It was a very good machine and I used it a lot. I have since gotten bigger sanders (the deals were right...nothing wrong with the Rigid) but the guy who bought the Rigid from me is still using it with no problems.
I have a full review of this sander at the link below if that would help.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/rgideb4424rvu.html

[Chris Konikowski]

Good review Tom. Very helpful. I am pretty sure this is the one that I am going to be getting.

[Ray Dockrey]

I love mine. I have had to for a couple of years and have had no issues with it.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

The only downside I see is that the spindle size is limited to 2" dia. I have found that I use 3" sanding spindle on my drill press very often. However, the belt option sure looks nice and probably makes up for it.

-Jeff

[Greg Mann]

I have had trouble with the tracking adjustment on the belt sander. It seems I am forever fiddling with it, either it's drifting down or drifting up depending on my adjustment. I did not have the problem when it was new but I don't really have much time on it even now. Anyone else have this problem, or better yet, had the problem and solved it?

[Ray McGrath]

I have the Ridgid sander, the only problem I have with it is that the adjustable table is aproximately an eighty of an inch proud of the fixed table in the center six inches or so. I have had narrow pieces catch and stop the spindle. As I see no way to adjust this I assume its cause is inproper cooling at the Injection molding process.

Ray

[David Giles]

Some trouble keeping the belt tracking straight. The knob tightens during use and requires pliers to loosen. But it is light weight and well worth the $140 or so paid for it. Much better than using a drill press.

This is not your heavy duty Powermatic / Sawstop quality level sander. But it is great value for the price and more than adequate for an intermittent user.

[Bill White]

Like mine. No probs at all.
Bill

[Cary Falk]

I use the belt less and less due to tracking issues also.

[Chris Konikowski]

Anyone else with tracking issues? Is this a major issue or only a few incidents?

[Mike Henderson]

No problem with belt tracking. My only complaint is having to change out from the belt to the spindle sander, or the reverse. I'd really like to have two dedicated machines (but I don't have room).

Mike