Ridgid Model TS3650 Table Saw opinions?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I'm looking at the Ridgid TS3650 due to the sale HD is having right now/the fact that I have $225.00 in HD gift cards.
The reviews on the HD website are nothing short of glowing - avg. rating is 4.9 out of 5.
The only real complaint anyone has is the lack of a factory dado insert.

With all the features listed, this seems to be an extraordinary deal for the money - $549 minus $100 sale minus $225 Gift cards = $224.

[Ken Massingale]

I'll be the first of probably many to respond. With around 3 years on my 3650 I am still as happy as the day I brought it home. At $224 you should be tickled pink!

[Todd Hoppe]

I have this saw and love it. I made a dado insert with some scrap B/B ply, set screws to level, and a flush trim router bit. It took probably 20 minutes.

If you want to get an even better deal, check out the AARP website. You typically can purchase additional HD gift cards there at a discount, if you know someone with an AARP membership number.

One caution, I have had poor luck with a full kerf Forrest WWII blade. The saw cuts better with HD bulk pack Freud Diablo thin kerf blades. You will not regret buying this saw.

[J. Z. Guest]

If your shop is not big, the Ridgid TS2400 is also excellent.

I made zero clearance inserts for mine and it handles dadoes just fine. I too have had great luck with the Freud blades that HD carries. The Ridgid blade that comes with the saw is very good too. I don't know if it is a rip blade or what. It has the tooth count of a rip blade, but the alternate bevel teeth of a general purpose or crosscut blade. At any rate, it cuts smoother than you'd think for having so few teeth.

[J. Z. Guest]

Oh, regarding the zero clearance inserts, if you don't want to mess around with set screws for leveling, electrical tape as shim material and some patience also works.

[Craig D Peltier]

I had one for a year. Good saw, lacked power for me. Good fence.Good DC I thought as well. Lacked ability to easily mount any type of outfeed table to the unit.
As far as a dadoe insert, I used 1/2 inch ply, traced the circle from the old one and cut it out on bandsaw. Drilled hole for start point and cut out dado hole with jigsaw. A little block planing or sanding to fit snug in hole. No levelers screws or tape and it worked fine all year.

[Mike SoRelle]

If your store stocks them, see if you can get a 3660, they sell them both under the same SKU and are mostly identical, but the 3660 has slightly better instructions, and a little bit stiffer of a frame, it's also in only one box instead of two. The rest of the saw/fence is identical between the models once put together.

I continue to love mine, though I've had the opposite experience of Todd in that I ditched a Freud LU83R010 thin kerf blade in favor of the WW2 full kerf and have been ALOT happier, I am using a stiffener on the forrest which does limit my depth of cut, but generally I don't have a problem with it, and when I do I just remove it. The Freud seemed to want to deflect too much for my taste which I attributed to the thin kerf. I figure I'll use it as a backup for when the Forrest is out for sharpening.

The table was very flat from the factory and I was able to get the heeling dialed into .001" after some trials and tribulations with the super touchy trunnions. The fence was basically perfectly aligned as it went together, though there is a small area with a .002" deflection in the center of the fence (it's a concave area in relation to the blade, so it's not a problem, I was actually impressed by the accuracy and total lack of play in the fence)

My available time to make sawdust is pretty limited so I opted for the Leecraft RG-1 zero clearance insert it's made of phenolic resin and has a melamine surface on the top so it's nice and smooth, also has leveling screws and a retention tab in the back.

The miter gauge in typical 'comes with the saw' fashion leaves something to be desired and has a fair amount of slop, but nothing a good after market one won't fix.

For the money it's a spectacular saw once you take the time to set it up and dial in the tolerances.

Mike

[alex grams]

Many people agree the saw is a good buy for the money. I recently added extensions to mine though (in regards to Craig's comments). I actually found it pretty easy to add a side router table (which has been indespinsable in regards to using the existing fence, and its space saving). The back table was surprisingly easy to mount and add. I still have to put a folding table on the backside, but even the extra foot on the back is a huge help.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

I've had my saw for about 4 years, had HD order a dado blade insert took about four days to arrive.

Greg

[Joe Chritz]

I run a Freud 40T combo industrial in my 3650 and it runs it fine. It starts to struggle on 2" thick hardwoods, but it is a combo blade and only 1.5 horse so that is to be expected.

Mine has held set up very well and has given me over the value easily. There are many bonuses it has that are standard features. Machined pulleys, multi rib belt, good fence and some others I am not thinking of. The ridgid forums has much info on it.

Until I purchase a cabinet saw it will stay.

Joe

[Prashun Patel]

Does this saw have an enclosed motor?

[alex grams]

Shawn:
No, the saw sits on the backside of the frame and hangs out. If you look at my picture, i built the attached extension table to stick out as far as the motor on the backside, so that when I add a folding extension it will hang down perpendicular to the floor and right against the back of the motor.

Hope that description helps.

[Rob Luter]

I'm real happy with mine. I added an Incra Miter Gauge, a zero clearance insert, and a good blade. Regarding horsepower: I've rip cut 1 3/4" thick hard maple using a full kerf combination blade without too much trouble, although I'm not trying to set any speed records (Mine is wired for 220V for what that's worth). I'll be adding a Bench Dog router table wing eventually.

[Rob Luter]

Alex - I like the looks of your table extensions. Do you have any shots from below showing how everything is connected?

[allan cripe]

Hey there Rich,

I bought a 3660 about a month ago, that sale happened to coincide with my birthday...I also bought a forrest WWII .125 40T blade (thru the creek's link to amazon) and I have been extremely pleased. While its very true that there are a lot of better contractor style saws out there, for the money you are talking about here, I believe you HAVE to buy this saw for what it brings to the table. The fence is top notch, cast iron table and wings, and the mobile base feature is just plain cool. I am only a hobbiest, but for my needs this is prolly more saw than I'll ever need. I have not had any issues yet with the thicker kerf WWII. I haven't even tried the blade that came with the saw, but I have heard more positive than negative regarding it performance. You can go to the Ridgid website and order a dado insert if you want to buy one from them, they DO make one now. However, it really is not that difficult to make your own, as mentioned above. Happy hunting

Al