What to thank everyone for the info provided for this saw. I did go look at one today and did purchase it.
I do have another question. I noticed that the pulley driving the blade is a ribbed one. Has any one replaced this pulley so that a link belt can be used with this saw? Or is it really necessary to replace the belt? BTW it is a 3650 model.
Paul T.
If by ribbed you mean that the saw uses a serpentine belt, that is probably a better belt than a link belt.
I have had one of these table saws for 4 years now and not had any problem. I would not worry about changing belts.
Randy
I haven't seen a need to change to a link belt. The ribbed design seems to flex well and I haven't noted that it never took on a set after sitting for long periods. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Fat finger fix: ...I haven't noted that it **never** took on a set... Apologies!
I bought a Rigid table saw years ago at HomeDepot. I bought the slightly cheaper model with the stamped metal extensions, not the cast wings. Home Depot replaced my first saw as the bearings developed an out of round sound after a few days of use. The replacement eventually also developed this sound, but as far as I can tell the arbor still runs true with no blade wobble, and the bearings have not seized up on me. Mine also has the ribbed belt. I don't know which is better a ribbed belt or a "V" belt, but mine runs true and has never popped off the pulleys.
This saw is limited to a right side rip of 24", left of 12" while newer models go to at least 30". (You can still get an effective rip of greater than 24" by ripping the 'other side' but your measure must include the width of the blade.)
Does Home Depot still sell Rigid saws?
My saw still works and until the economy comes back to normal I don't want to spend the money to replace it with a newer one. However I do have an eye on the new SawStop contractor saw.
I did too, until I saw the price tag. You can get a cabinet saw for the same money, who are they kidding?
-Kevin
It IS an expensive saw. It is also a very well made saw. It does have most of the features you would need in a good table saw such as a riving knife instead of the usual spreader.
The safety feature that the saw adds is worth the price under certain conditions. If you are an employer what you will save in insurance will more than pay for the extra cost of the saw. SawStop knows this, and it is factored into the price. Eventually the very existence of this saw with its safety feature will result in product liability lawsuits that will put Delta, Jet, and others without this feature out of business.
The irony is that most accidents involving table saw blades happen to professional wood workers and not so much hobbyists. Probably because the more you use a table saw, the less you think about safety. I still respect the damn thing. However I am getting on in years and my vision and coordination are not what they were 20 years ago. A bit of a safety edge might be the difference between giving up the hobby or not.
I still think that 'kick back' is a bigger threat to safety from a table saw than contact with the blade (though the former can be a factor in the latter). Using a push stick and avoiding cuts that could jam the work between the fence and the blade is important.
Yeah, and I could see maybe $1000 for it fully loaded. But $1500 for stamped wings and a crappy fence? Come on. By the time you get cast iron wings and a real fence on it you may as well have saved your money a little longer and bought the cabinet saw version.
And the riving knife is starting to show up on much less expensive saws. The new ridgid saw that isn't quite out yet has one, and a granite top, I think for $600.
-Kevin
It has to bee on any saw in the US, starting 2009, so it's no longer any sort of indicator of quality.
I believe it'll be on the 99 dollar jobbies.
Sort of. UL987 is a standard, not a regulation, and the only penalty is withholding of UL approval, which is a big hammer for something subject to building codes or OSHA regs but not all that much of one for a consumer product. Further, it only requires a riving knife on new designs, it doesn't require that production of older designs that lack that feature to be discontinued.
Incidentally, UL987 does not simply require riving knives--it's a general spec for power tools that runs some unGodly number of pages, sells for a thousand bucks a copy, and even the Consumer Product Safety Commission admits they aren't too clear on some of the requirements.
Par for the course.
Saying years ago states what you want.
Think Sears. Tools went up in quality and then down, down, up, up, down....
Depending on the budget and vendor the metal was great to so-so...
Same with Rigid - I suspect a different vendor or spec .....
Mart> PHT wrote:
I put link belts on a lot of my tools, but I don't think I would on my 1650..
When assembling it, I looked at the pulleys and belt that came with it, and decided that they seemed to know more than I did and that the belt was a good match for the saw.. The main reason that I put link belts on tools is ease of belt replacement and less noise. I don't have either problem with the 1650, so I'll leave it like it came...
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
If I was buying again, I'd be VERY interested in the granite top.. Living in a humid climate and having the TS on the carport, I spend a lot more a year on Topsaver and buffing pads than I ever expected and still have a reddish-orange table..
Oh.. salt air must be a big factor, too... For the first time in over 25 years, the "stainless" steel tubes of my shopsmith are rusted..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
Ok Fat Finger's, should the second "never" be "ever"? '~)
mac davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
When I first saw one a few weeks ago in an ad, I was skeptical, thinking "well everything's going to granite." I've got to admit though, the granite top would seem to solve quite a few of the moisture problems.
The only problems I foresee would be cracking the granite on a movable- saw, or maybe cracking it from dropping a heavy object on it. Of course, that'd cause problems for a cast iron top, too.
Puckdropper
"Puckdropper" wrote
Are you reading this Robatoy??
How about installing granite tablesaw tops?? You could retrofit old tablesaws! Maybe even take a vacation and take care of Mac's saw.
And then you could expand into bandsaw tops, miter saw tops, jointers, planers, etc.
Heck, I bet you could even come up with a small granite extension for a Domino!
You got a CNC machine now. Put it to use!!
And if all else fails, you can use some of that fake countertop material that you use all the time.
No, I'm not.
I wouldn't use granite, I'd use quartz (eStone). Much stronger and no fear of fissures. It also lends itself to better adhesives for threaded inserts and such. Quartz would be ideal... even the 3/4" stuff would be plenty rigid and flat.
..and maybe catch a little fish. I hear there's them marlins down there.
Bandsaws maybe. As long as we're dealing with bolt-on trunnions, I can see it working. No need for planers. Jointers would be way too complicated with the dovetail races etc.
How about a display pedestal for the Domino?
Don't you worry. That thing ran for 8 hours today. No need for me to be looking for things to do for it.
BTW, tooling for quartz is very, very pricy, and my CNC doesn't have the balls to machine quartz.
LOL HEY! That fake stuff allows me to afford a few real dreams.
I'll lay odds that the fracture toughness of cast iron is greater than granite. The next time I'm near a Charpy tester, I'll try to find out. Might have to wait a while, tho. It's 20 years and counting as of now...
todd
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