Ridgid oscillating sander is turning plastic...

[Sherzod Niazov]

I bought the Ridgid oscillating belt/drum sander about 2 weeks ago. Nice sander, plenty of power and what a great idea! There was a minor problem and I took it back for an exchange. What I brought back home was completely different from what I expected from Ridgid.
When I looked at the belt assembly, I noticed a lot of new plastic parts that used to be made either out of aluminum or steel. The drive/idler drums are plastic, and used to be nicely machined aluminum. There is definately a lot more vibration now.
I own a lot of Ridgid tools and I think they are great, however going forward I will look twice before buying something from Ridgid...

[Ken Milhinch]

I would always be wary of buying a brand, whose name is a spelling error.

[Andrew Joiner]

You bought one of the older metal versions and the one you got on exchange was the same model number only plastic?

That is something tool nerds like many of us here will notice. Sad but it happens often these days.

I remember when all cars had solid chromed steel bumpers. How were the first plastic bumper cars sold to us,and for MORE money ? Oh yes,styling and safety research costs more.

What do we bump with now.You can't call them bumpers cause they crack if you bump them. They should be called crackers.

No wonder people still love real solid products made from time tested materials. These products are rare now.

[Dewey Torres]

Sherzod,
For what it is worth, plastic or otherwise, I own that sander and only for a few months now. If the thing conked out on me tomorrow it would have already paid for itself as I found since placing it in my shop...not one project has gotten by without seeing it.

To boot: If one of the plastic parts were to break I take comfort in the fact that it comes with a lifetime warranty. I have tools that are far more expensive that I can't say that about. I would say for the $200 it is really hard to go wrong. Like my friend Pat said "it's the little sander that could"!

I have a 14.4 volt B&D drill that I received as a gift which is really a Dewalt copy to the letter but with plastic parts. I smoke check it once about 3 months after using it and thought ... oh well , it's a B&D. Long story short, I still have it today...still going strong...use it all the time.

On the flip side I have owned just as many tools that were bound for the trash can as they were being paid for so it is really very hard to tell which sometimes. That I totally agree with you on!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

My brother always says: " everything that I have that was plastic, broke".

I hear a lot of good comments about the Rigid OSS, and I think the belt option is neat. However, I'm turned off by the plastic.

-Jeff

[Joe Chritz]

The plastic doesn't concern me but the added vibration does. Some plastics are so strong as to not even be funny.

Added vibration however is a sign of things being unbalanced and that could be an issue with quality control.

The one I use is the metal version and it is a handy little beast to have around.

Joe

[David Romano]

That's too bad, I'd been considering one of those for a little while and now I'll just forget about it. I looked at it in the store and thought it was kind of a cheap tool to begin with, but people still seemed pretty happy with it. There was nothing on that machine that could've gotten away with being cheapened. Nice job Ridgid.

[Douglas Brummett]

Sherzod,
To boot: If one of the plastic parts were to break I take comfort in the fact that it comes with a lifetime warranty. I have tools that are far more expensive that I can't say that about. I would say for the $200 it is really hard to go wrong. Like my friend Pat said "it's the little sander that could"!

Nope, not lifetime. Ridgid has transitioned to a more industry standard short warranty on most if not all tools. This sander is backed by a 3yr policy. Still, on a tool that gets used I am okay if something breaks after 3 years. So long as I can get parts I am okay with that.

[Dave Sweeney]

Nope, not lifetime. Ridgid has transitioned to a more industry standard short warranty on most if not all tools. This sander is backed by a 3yr policy. Still, on a tool that gets used I am okay if something breaks after 3 years. So long as I can get parts I am okay with that.

Yup, lifetime but not a warranty. As has been discussed here many times, RIDGID has a Lifetime Service Agreement that replaces at no charge any wear and tear part that fails. This LSA is good for all RIDGID tools that are made under license by TTI which the OSS is. The LSA is in addition to the RIDGID 3 Year Warranty that covers manufacturer defects.

[Jeff Mohr]

Plastic parts? Bummer. I was looking at getting the machine but I may not have to look at something else. Anyone else using the plastic one and have comments?

[Dewey Torres]

Yup, lifetime but not a warranty. As has been discussed here many times, RIDGID has a Lifetime Service Agreement that replaces at no charge any wear and tear part that fails. This LSA is good for all RIDGID tools that are made under license by TTI which the OSS is. The LSA is in addition to the RIDGID 3 Year Warranty that covers manufacturer defects.

Weather warranty, or LSA. It helps me when it breaks. I have a Powermatic bandsaw that broke and I had to pocket the expense to fix it albeit a far superior brand to Rigid. Most any of my tools which break means Dewey shelling out cash... but not my sander. Dave just helped me with my point. The first one I bought did break BTW. The motor smoked on it. I didn't need the Warranty or LSA though, I just took it back to HD and got a new one.

[James Manning]

Buy the new Triton spindle sander, excellent little sucker......and I mean
sucker....

[Matthew Hills]

Buy the new Triton spindle sander, excellent little sucker......and I mean
sucker....

How is the new Craftsman model?


Matt