New Ridgid TS3650!!! (I'm so excited.)

[RudeDog]

Received my HD 20% off coupon in the mail yesterday. Went to town and brought back this baby:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b41/MuckyMutt/TS1.jpg

I've been "making do" (or making doo-doo), with a cheap $100 Skilsaw table saw. It was not fun to use. I did not like using it. I tried to avoid using it. I hated it! It was probably an OK construction site saw for cutting 2X4s to length - but not much good for anything else. I've been able to get by with a nice bevy of hand-saws, but there has been lingering desire for a nice table saw. Now that I finally have acquired one, I'm really excited about using it. I'll finally be able to make some accurate cuts and not have that horrible screeching angry whine when I start the motor. :)

It was raining testerday, so I waited till this morning to unload. I had to take one piece out of the box at a time - that baby weighed in at 287lbs! Started at about 8am this morning. I had to wait till the temp got up to 28. :) Do you now how quickly cold metal sucks the warmth right out of your fingers? Spent most of the morning fumblimg around with numb fingers. I'll have to finish it tomorrow when they're predicting a high in the mid-50's. Made good progress though. Here's the pic at the end of the day. I still have to mount the motor, but I got the top cleaned and waxed.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b41/MuckyMutt/TS3.jpg

[deathwish2]

Having made the transition from shaky benchtop to steady contractor myself about 8 years or so ago . . . I can say you are definitely in for a treat!

Hopefully your Skil was a 10" and not an 8-1/4" like the Makita that I had on semi-permanent loan from my dad . . . I had to get blades of every flavor after buying the saw!

I can't wait for the day I move steady to that next level . . . . until then, I am happy. :)

[Cody Colston]

Man, that thing looks solid!

I'll bet you ARE excited about that upgrade. Congratulations and how about a detailed review when you put it through it's paces? I've seen other threads asking about that very saw.

Still waiting in Tyler. :-(

Cody

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep
for that which he cannot lose.

[stretch2187]

Don't worry Cody. If you end up waiting too long, I'll have moved out there and I'll help you unload the bad boy you ordered. I've still got the purpose built ramp I used to unload my planer.

[stretch2187]

Nice Scott. I've checked out that saw several times. It ought to be a pleasure to use for a long time. Congrats.

[WoodMangler]

"Went to town and brought back this baby"

Wow... you bought a truck and there was a saw in the back! .... how cool is that!! ;)

You are going to think that old saw of yours is a door stop when you fire that rascal up....

Congrats!

[CajunRider]

Dat's a nice one.

Congratulations to my fellow "lack of good formers".

[RudeDog]

>You are going to think that old saw of yours is a door stop
>when you fire that rascal up....

I'm not sure that old saw would even make a good door stop. :)

Cody - I'd write a review, but I really feel like a beginner on a table saw. That, and there's some really good reviews out there on this saw. The review that I read that convinced me this was the saw to buy was in the June/July 05 issue of Wood magazine. It got the Top Tool rating in their review of mid-priced saws.

Actually, I was initially looking at the Ridgid TS2400. I had heard good things about it and it was a definite upgrade from what I had. I also liked the fact that it had wheels and could fold up - important considerations when you're trying to make the most of limited shop space. However, when I went to HD to check out the TS2400, they had the 3650 right next to it - and when I saw it I went WOW!!!! I really liked the size of the table and the fact it was cast iron. The price was also appealing. In addition, it had the built-in mobile base, so even though it would take up more space, it would still be easy to move around. So I came home and found the review in Wood Magazine, and to top it all off, someone in the Before I Buy forum mentioned a 20% off coupon. So it was a pretty easy decision.

I'm also glad that this is not my first table saw. I am really going to appreciate all the features of a saw like this after struggling with the POS I had before. For instance, I had no idea you could cross-cut a board wider than 6" on a table saw! The TS3650 can handle up to 13" ! There was no way I could cut with any accuracy on the old saw. Even a cross-cut on a 3" board would not come out at 90 degrees. That's bad enough on a straight cross-cut, but if you set the blade at 45 dergrees for a miter joint you couldn't even get close to a nice looking joint. I swore I would never make anything that required a miter joint - until now. Now I want to make boxes with splined miters. :) But first I'll be making all the necessary jigs, fixtures, feather-boards and push sticks. Yup, the table saw is going to become a tool of choice, rather than a tool to avoid. :)

[wlantry]

Scott,

You're gonna love working with that saw. It's versatile as all get out, and you can make mods on it to do just about anything. I'd show you the first generation of mods I made on mine, but the forum search function is acting up. Sean did some great things with his. We both posted pics, so check 'em out if you can get the search function to work.

First, you can slide the rails to the right, and get about 48 inches to the right of the blade. Put a really good piece of plywood between them, and you've got a really stable fence and support table. It's already drilled on the right and left side: use some scraps to make some supports, put some plywood behind it, and you've got one heck of an outfeed table. The fence lends itself well to featherboard holddowns. The list goes on and on... I'm on the second generation of mods now. But even though all that, I still find the splitter/pawls/guard assembly great. You hear about some people taking them off other saws and leaving them off because they're a hassle, but not the 3650: they come off and go back on in literally 30 seconds, and they've saved me several times when I did really stupid things. One word of advice: take some time aligning it, it's worth it, and check it after a month or two. And get a nice blade for it: spend at least 50 bucks on a good blade at the despot, and you'll be happy. Keep the old blade for cutting suspect wood... ;)

Have fun,

Bill

[HotFlash]

>Scott,
>
>You're gonna love working with that saw. It's versatile as
>all get out, and you can make mods on it to do just about
>anything. I'd show you the first generation of mods I made
>on mine, but the forum search function is acting up. Sean
>did some great things with his. We both posted pics, so
>check 'em out if you can get the search function to work.

The forum search is pretty useless, but google allows a site-specific search. I googled <push stick www.woodworking.com/dcforum> and came up with this:

http://www.woodworking.com/dcforum/d...rum=DCForumID9

Erin


Give me success or its eternal pursuit, and I'll take the pursuit.