Ridgid belt sander.

[Lew Hodgett]

It is amazing the number of non detail sanding applications I find for that tool.

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

Building a fiberglass boat exposes tools to more abuse in a month than most woodworking applications will in a year.

Fiberglass and fairing putty dust are unbelievably abrasive.

As a result, cheap tools are doomed to failure in my application.

Lew

[Teamcasa]

"Robatoy" snip

Pass - get the PC.

Say, why would a guy that makes a living with tools consider using a consumer brand? I know its not price as you seem to use Fes, Fein, and big red often.

Again, get the PC. After 15 years I've only had to replace the cord on mine.

Dave

[Robatoy]

These weren't the results I was hoping for. After the pleasant surprise when I bought the Ridgid 6" ROS from HD, this was a let-down.

The 2720 Ridgid belt sander has all the right stuff. Strong engine, solid cast chassis.... a lot of desirable features.

It has a very strong fan which sucks the dust right off the work surface and through gaps and spaces blows the stuff all over the place. In fact, very little ends up in the bag. I didn't bother trying to hook it up to my Fein because by that time I fell out of lust.

So close yet no cigarillo.

The base which supports the pressure plate looks flat, but the toe and the heel of the belt fail to push down equally. I found it impossible to keep it flat without either the heel or the toe digging in. I have years of belt sanding under my ..errrrrrmm...mm...belt. It is hard to describe the frustration when my old 352VS Porter Cable does a MUCH better job at staying flat on the work piece.

Reliability or longevity? WTF cares if the thing won't even do its very basic duty.

I tried all kinds of belts, speeds, materials... finally I said %%$#@%*^!!!!!!, packed it up and back to HD it went.

I posted a couple of pics on A.B.P.W.

*singing* "pardon me Lew, is that the Porter Cable Choo-choo....

[Lew Hodgett]

Think tenderhooks.

When you bite the bullet, you get off the tenderhooks, meantime, you just hang there and wiggle.

Lew

[Lee Gordon]

One of these bad boys just showed up on my doorstep yesterday. I have only had time to open the box and haven't actually sanded anything yet. I haven't even installed the front handle yet but I sure am glad it comes with one; the sucker is mighty heavy. I haven't even managed to kill my 30 year old Black & Decker so I'm quite sure I'll never be able to subject the Ridgid to the kind of abuse you general contractor guys could put it through. But I'll give ti a whack and publish the results.

Lee

[Robatoy]

My grandmother used to have a saying: (loosely translated)

"I'm too poor to buy cheap things"

I've got some hope in scoring one of the 504(3?) PC's when my sister comes and visits from Kansas over Christmas.

[nailshooter41]

Robatoy:

All I can say is.... crap. I always get my hope up when someone that knows how to use a tool tries out something that has a spark of hope. I would love for someone, anyone to make a good tool these days.

*Sigh*

For me, I still have three belt sanders that work well. An older Rockwell (yup, the red wreath and black lower case "r" are on it), a new model of that one that is an older PC, and my favorite, a 22 year old HItachi that was made in Japan. That thing is an unstoppable brute, and it is the one that I use to sand cabinets, display cases, etc. if needed.

I was hoping for a good report as I know these old horses can't last forever.

I have had great luck with all my Milwaukee tools, which you indicate you have a few. Have you ever tried their belt sander?

Inquiring minds are wondering. Oh yeah, and thanks for posting an honest review. You probably saved me more than a few hours of pissed off frustration of trying that sander out. I figure if a solid surface man can't make it work, what chance does a carpenter have? (I am being serious here... I know you guys use them all day long, and me only as needed).

Robert

[A.J. Hamler]

I can confirm that, since I'm the one who gifted Lee with the sander so he could review it for the next issue of Woodcraft Magazine. Hopefully, he'll work his butt off to put it through some contractor-like duties as he's checking it out for his article. Something you want him to do with it? Post it here, and he'll do it.

Or I won't pay him.

A.J.

[Robatoy]

You mean their bench-top floor sander? It was great. 4" swath of total carnage. With a 36-grit belt, I could level a parking lot. I used one for 20+ years till it was nudged off the 3rd level of a scaffold and augered into a concrete driveway. It was old, the casing destroyed and it was very difficult to control. When I tossed it, I went to the 4" PC which lasted about 5 years. Then a series of smaller PC's.. a Bosch... a Makita, which still runs but still doesn't want to track properly.

But when that Milwaukee was on... the mothers in the area would all tell their children to come inside.....

Why not a replacement? It was too bulky and you couldn't get too close to the edges.

From what I hear in this here Wreck ..., Noah used a PC 504.

Now *MY* dilemma is to chose between the 503 and the 504.

[Robatoy]

Thank you.

FWIW... reviews can be highly personal and therefore biased. What *I* expect from a tool, may not be what somebody else expects. My world is pretty flat. I can't have any kind of gouging. But maybe that wouldn't matter so much if a guy is taking paint off a barn.

That 2720 Ridgid simply did not do what *I* needed it to do.

[joe2]

Can?t comment on that belt sander. In general I was not a fan of Ridgid power tools, until I got my hands on a Ridgid 6-inch random orbit sander. I got it for fiberglass work, ended up using it for all kinds of things, but mostly fiberglass. It?s more durable than I anticipated, we?re on our 3rd year of heavy use. Fwiw, fiberglass is perhaps the worst material for power tools. The abrasive dust gets sucked into the vents and in and around the motor, then the tools dies. Some power tool warranties specifically state the warranty is voided if the tool is used on fiberglass. Ridgid does not disallow fiberglass from their tools? use.

Ridgid?s 3-yr warranty contains a 90-day satisfaction guarantee. It allows you to return the tool for any reason within the first 90-days for a full refund. I suggest you buy the Ridgid belt sander and try it out. If you don?t get enough tool-tingle, take it back within 3-months for a full refund.

is from the product description of the PC 504 belt sander: - Worm-gear drive delivers smooth and efficient power transfer from the motor.- Something I learned about windlass design is that worm gears are LESS efficient at transferring power. The loss of power from a worm drive is in the range of 20% to 30%, so to compensate the motor has to be bigger, and that means everything gets beefier, and everything gets heavier. I believe the power loss is proportional to the length of the worm gear. Can?t comment about the ?smooth? part of PC?s statement.

[Patriarch]

Robatoy wrote in news:design-670638.14284416112005 @news.bellglobal.com:

I bought one JUST to trim excess thinset between ceramic tiles in the bathroom remodel. Very cool. And it does many other things, too.

Patriarch