: Good day all,

: Well, I finally did it. I bought a saw!!! After much thought and
: many questions asked here, I decided to get the Ridgid portable
: contractor's saw. I wanted to post a review here for anyone
: considering this saw. BUY IT!!! I am so pleased with the
: performance as well as the construction of this saw.

: First of all, it folds up to about the size of a large chair, which
: is good for folks like me that don't have a "proper"
: workshop. All my sawdust making has to be done outside, so the
: whole shop is on wheels or folds up so I can move outside when I
: need to make a mess.

: The saw is well built, and actually comes with no assembly
: required. I was amazed that even the tilt indicator was dead-on
: when checked with a saw setup square/angle gauge. All I had to
: do was slightly adjust the marker position on the fence. The
: table on the right side of the blade slides out and the marks
: for measuring off the distance of the fence extend out like a
: tape measure as you extend the table extension. Also the handle
: of the saw cradle doubles as an extension when the saw is set
: up.

: Setting up is so easy- you just flip one lever and pull the handle
: and the saw raises itself up on the feet. There's no grunting,
: straining, or cursing involved in the process.

: Speaking of the fence, I absolutely love the fence. I did not find
: that it drifted when clamped down like some fences do. It has
: t-slots for attaching accessories, and it is very well made. I
: also love that the fence, push stick (included), kickback pawls,
: and adjustment wrenches all have storage slots built into the
: saw. Very nice.

: I also love the quick-release on the blade guard and riving knife.
: One flip of a lever and the guard comes off. A flip of another
: lever and the knife comes off. Another lever remvoes the
: kickback pawls. The only thing I have to do is to file down the
: riving knife to match the width of my thin-kerf blade.

: In the pic below you can see the saw set up and my thickness planer
: on top. The first test was done with that piece of mahogany
: which is 2" thick. I used a 7 1/4" thin-kerf blade to
: rip the 2" thickness into strips to build a paddle to match
: my Stand Up Paddleboard. The saw cut through this piece of wood
: like butter. First I trued up the edge by ripping a paper-thin
: strip off each edge, then I started ripping 1 1/2" and
: 1/2" pieces out of it. The saw never bogged down, and I was
: able to push the material through without any binding or bogging
: down. Honestly I felt it did better than my friend's Ridgid
: stationary saw with the belt drive. That saw bogged down just
: slightly a few times making similar cuts with the exact same
: blade. This direct-drive saw ate right through the board. You
: barely even heard a change in the sound of the motor as the
: board was fed into the blade. I was quite impressed, and I am so
: glad I went with this saw rather than the heavier bulkier
: stationary saw. The only thing I don't like is that the table is
: non-ferrous so I can't use magnetic attachments, but at least it
: doesn't rust.

Interesting, the mount of that saw looks to be an almost exact copy of the Bosch mount. Wonder if Bosch makes Ridgid tools? I've got the Bosch saw stand for my Craftsman table saw. Even with the new bigger basement shop, which still is a gross mess, I'll have all the large tools on wheels so they can be "put away" when not in use. I find it much nicer to be able to have a large open area to build boats without all the tools in the way.

Bill H.

Bill H.