Is Ridgid Going the Way of OTher Power Tool Makers ???

[Bob La Londe]

Is Ridgid Going the Way of OTher Power Tool Makers ???

I've been an outspoken fan of Ridgid power tools for a number of years. Their contractor grade tools have been very good since I bought my first Ridgid power tool.

I have over the years bought the following Ridgid power tools which all still work very well.

Table Saw Band Saw Jig Saw

1/2 Drill Pneumatic Framing Nailer Sliding Compound Miter Saw

I am sure I have missed a couple, anyway I have been pretty happy with them. Certainly for the price. On my recommendation my wife bought a Ridgid router for making cabinet doors. The other day I set it up for her in the new cast iron table saw extension so she would quit using the rickety router table she had. Its very nice to work with. While I was mounting it to the insert plate for the extension table I noticed the power switch was very stiff to turn on. I don't mean needing firm pressure, but needing all my strength with my thumb locked and painful to turn on. I asked my wife how long it had been that way, and she said since she bought it.

I plan to make a little switch box to mount on the bottom of the extension so it won't be a huge issue, but what if we want to use it not mounted up in the table. That's just plane dangerous in my opinion. In fact when I took it out of the bag it was turned on. My wife had left it that way because she couldn't turn it on at all without inserting a screwdriver behind the switch to give it a little boost.

Ok, everybody has an off day. I suppose even Ridgid can have a problem, so I contacted them. After finding their contact form I filled them in that I have been a long time Ridgid tool fan, the problem with the router, and asked if there was a fix and/or a fix I could do in the field. (I used to do warranty repairs for a couple other brands when I worked at Tool & Supply). After several days I received an email saying my response could be found on-line. Since I had not setup an account I didn't see how that was possible, but I followed their link which went nowhere, set up an account, and found no answer. I made a couple more enquiries and still received no response.

The issue with the tool bothers me on a safety basis since my wife will be using the tool. The crickets chirping on the Internet in lieu of a response however is a bit more disturbing. After having been a Ridgid tool fan for many years (decades maybe?) I am forced to down grade my opinion of them. They may still be great tools overall, but I will no longer pick them over another brand arbitrarily when am in a hurry and need something to get a job done.

Bob La Londe Licensed Contractor Commercial and Residential ROC103044 & ROC103047

[Leon]

Something to look into, the switch started doing the same on my Festool finish sander. I opened up the top and discovered that the grease in the switch rocker lever had dried out. A tiny touch of grease on the mating surfaces cured the problem.

[krw]

Ridgid makes all sorts of tools. It's certainly possible that they've sold their name to HD for their consumer grade tools but they do make drills, drivers, and saws that woodworkers would use. They're in Ohio, IIRC.

BTW, it seems they're owned by Emerson.

[Leon]

Kinda like what I was trying to convey. Emerson is a tool manufacturer. They build/built a lot of Craftsman stationary tools. They basically build a lot of tools with other tool names. Now, they very well may make all Ridgid tool but at one time Ridgid was a separate company manufacturing plumbing tools.

Strangely enough, you can buy Ridgid plumbing tools most any where, Ridgid power tools mostly only at HD and recon businesses.

I stand corrected on multiple manufacturers of Ridgid branded tools, now. IN the early years the Ridgid branded power tools were not all manufactured by Ridgid the plumbing tool company, IIRC the vac's were originally made by Emmerson and looked exactly like Craftsman. Robatoy pretty much insisted that an early Ridgid ROS was identical to one of the Festool ROS's.