The $800 half pint of finish- Rikon BS Gloat

[Curt Harms]

And Curt, I think you have the bar that mounts the fence installed backwards. (Another of the confusing manual diagrams - the picture does not match how it states for it to be mounted....) My fence is mounted left of blade, and I am able to remove the fence without having to take the fence off the mount. Also I have good adjustment on the lower thrust bearing on my saw. Finally, I am glad to hear that Rikon customer support was that good in their response to your problem. With a two year warranty, it makes me feel much more secure.

Once I got it all adjusted, and put on a good Timberwolf blade, the cut is excellent!

All in all, I am really happy with this new saw!!!!!!!!

Hi Jim

Wouldn't be the first time I got something bass ackwards I moved the fence to the right side of the blade and am going to leave it there for a while. If it doesn't work I'll try something else. My new motor should be here tomorrow. I did try ripping a piece of jointed oak scrap. .10+/- .01 thickness over 24 inches and not too rough with the factory blade. I'm looking forward to T'wolf blades.

Curt

[Bob D.]

I too recently picked up the 10-325, and echo Curt's and Jim's comments. I will add that bolting the saw to the floor does not reduce the rocking of the base. I drilled and installed 4 Hilti 3/8" drop-ins and then leveled and bolted my BS and it did not reduce the rocking. Still, I can stand a nickle on edge and start/run/stop the saw without knocking it over. I think that the saw would benefit from a base constructed from heavier gage metal. I also think the base should come assembled and welded from the factory which would make it sturdier along with using heavier gage metal throughout. The mounting bolts used to fix the BS to the base seem a little undersized to me, I think they were 6 mm (about a 1/4"), I would have preferred to see something like a 5/16 or 3/8" bolt, or the equivalent metric size.

I had purchased an HTC-3000 mobile base which I had planned to use under the Rikon but instead will put my old 12" BS on it and tuck it away in the corner so I'll have it to use for lighter work without changing the blade in the Rikon.

I also had the paint problem that Curt saw, I wonder if the paint was not fully cured before they went in the box?

The manual is bad and needs serious work. The Rikon Rep told me they copied it over from the 18" BS manual but that some pieces did not get edited to make them specific to the 10-325. One item is the handwheels; the manual says there is a large and a small one and the photos show two sizes, but in reality the 10-325 uses two handwheels the same size, it's the 18" BS that has a large and small handwheel.

I spoke with Rikon also about the light and they say they are thinking of moving it up a couple inches on the frame.



As far as dust I find it does good, with as previously stated almost no sawdust left in the lower wheel cabinet. However, some sawdust does spill out from under the table where it glances off the guides. This ends up on the floor but it is not a large amount.