Ridgid TS3650 problems?

[Lou Morrissette]

Happened to be checking out another forum today and came upon a disturbing thread. It seems that some 3650 owners have a problem with using a stacked daddo blade because of an undercut on the arbor. It appears as though this causes the nearest chipper or blade to the inside blade to rotate out of round. This ,in my opinion, creates not only a lousy daddo but an unsafe condition. I checked my new 3650 and found a slight undercut condition but not wide enough to cause me a problem. Do any of you with 3650's have that problem?
Lou

[Dave Sweeney]

I saw that thread also and immediately went and checked my saw's arbor. I have the Emerson made 3612 and the arbor on mine didn't have the problem. In the thread I saw, on the RIDGID site, the writer claimed he only had a problem when he tried to cut ¼" dados but I don't think it should happen at all period. With the exception of the valleys in the threaded portion of the arbor, the arbor should be the same diameter along its entire length. If thats not the case with your saw or anyone elses for that matter, I'd be raising a stink until the problem was corrected. There's no such thing as being just a little unsafe.

[Pete Harbin]

Not an issue on my TS2424 either. Has anyone from Ridgid responed to the post on the Ridgid forum?

[Lou Morrissette]

Apparently some 3650 owners have contacted Ridgid and were told no fix was planned. Then they contacted FWW who wrote a glowing review of the saw in their magazine. FWW contacted Ridgid and told them of the problem. This got their attention. Now they claim the fault is in all arbors for the 3650 to some degree. Needless to say, this is causing quite a rucuss with all 3650 owners, myself included. I'm waiting to get the right phone numbers to call. This could be similar to the Craftsman RAS recall because it could be a safety issue. Should be interesting.

Lou

[scott spencer]

Has anyone from Ridgid responed to the post on the Ridgid forum?

Pete - I've been following this thread with interest to see if it was real b/c it's a popular saw in a popular price range. A few other members have also found the problem on their saws. The thread on the Ridgid site included two second hand claims from Ridgid CS reps. One response was that they were immediately aware of the problem, but planned no fix at that time....the rep suggested he try to hold it in a centered position then snug down the arbor nut. (?!) The other rep claimed to not have heard of the situation before.

One of the forum members went as far as contacting John White from FWW who authored the recent review of the 3650. He responded quite candidly....

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm the shop manager of Fine Woodworking and the author of the review of the Ridgid saw. Your e-mail about the saw's arbor problem was forwarded to me.

First of all, you are right, there is a flaw with the arbor on at least some of these saws and I failed to notice it on the saw we reviewed. To be honest I have never seen this on another saw and never thought to check it.
In the future, of course, we will check this on any table saw.

I called Ridgid this morning and one of their engineers called me back this
afternoon. We discussed the problem and my impression is that they are
truly interested in correcting the fault and will replace the arbor under warranty, although this will take some time since new parts will need to be manufactured. I will keep you informed of progress and I am told we will probably discuss the problem in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

In the mean time, I am experimenting with a fix that I believe will work.
I will be back to you after the weekend to explain the fix and to let you know what Ridgid says.

Sincerely,

John White

SAWDUST STEVE!! Thank you for getting on board with me! I think we're going to nip this one in the bud. Also wouldn't mind an ediorial in the next issue!! Looks like help may be on the way. I will hold onto the saw for another week or so. Unfortunately it took way too many phone calls, and posts to get some results. One call should have done it if you ask me. ANYWAY, thanks for your persistance Steve.

PS- I stopped at home depot on the way home tonight. I took apart their floor model. (no one even questioned me!) Guess what?? SAME PROBLEM!!!!!!!!

Here's a link to the whole thread in case anyone's interested:
http://www.ridgidforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000546

[Lou Morrissette]

Scott,

Thanks for the great pic. That's exactly what mine looks like. Like I stated in my post, it does not seem to be a problem with my particular daddo set, but if the chippers or blades were a little thinner, it could be.

[Robert Grady]

I have had my 3650 for almost a year. I have cut several dados with a Freud dado set but have never cut any with just the two outside blades. I just checked my saw by putting these blades in place and bringing the nut and washer up snugged by hand. I can slide the second blade up and down about 1/32 to 1/64. Hope Ridgid gets a speedy solution out. I have seen many comments on the Ridgid forum about less that stellar customer service.:(

[Kelly C. Hanna]

This doesn't surprise me at all. This company (TTI/OWT) is known for it's CS issues and the lack of expediency in getting them resovled. Hope everyone gets theirs fixed.

I know a guy that had three bandsaws sent out (1 at a time to replace the one he had) None of which worked well, so he combined all three to get one good saw and sent the other two back to Ridgid. I'll bet he's still upset about it.

[Lou Morrissette]

For those of you who are experiencing the TS3650 arbor problem, Ridgid has started sending out replacement arbor shafts to those contacting Ridgid CS or TS, myself included. The other option is to bring the saw to a Ridgid repair center and they will replace the defective arbor shaft.

Lou