Rigid Spindle Sander - Thinking of Buying

[George Bokros]

What are your thoughts on this Rigid Spindle Sander. I have never seen on that is not orange. Could this be an older model?

http://images.craigslist.org/01111_hLiE3YDApVR_600x450.jpg



http://youngstown.craigslist.org/tls/5073342556.html

It is not far from me.

Thanks

[Ken Krawford]

I've had one for almost 10 yrs and really like it. My only complaint is that the dust collection is marginal.

[Bill Huber]

I think all the Ridgid stuff was gray and then they changed it to the orange some years ago.

I have one and it gets used all the time, I use the belt more then the spindle but that is just the projects I do.

As was stated the dust collection is not the best, there are things you can do to help it but it is still a great sander to have.

[Matt Day]

I think I considered buying that same sander George! It's on my list of tools to buy for sure. I assumed the gray is an older model, but that one looks like new.

[glenn bradley]

Yes, older model. Yes, they're great. Like Bill, I found I used the belt much more than the spindle. I did the DC mods which helped.

[Phil Thien]

Agree w/ everything said. I sometimes even will use the sandpaper-wrapped spindles for hand-sanding operations.

I use the thing a ton, for metal-working projects as well as wood.

[Robert Engel]

If he doesn't have the belt sander part of it I'd offer him $50.
Just my opinion............

[Bill Ryall]

That one is an early version. I have one that is first year orange, and use it constantly in a semi-professional capacity. Mine is almost always set up with the belt as opposed to the spindle. If it were to break, I would buy another with no hesitation. Only complaint is the dust collection isn't great.

[Justin Meyer]

I have the orange model, and it appears to be identical. For the price, it is a ridiculously useful unit. If you find it in good working order, I'd buy it. As mentioned, the dust collection is poor, and it does create a lot of dust. I built a dust collection hood for the edge sanding attachment out of cardboard and in about 20 minutes, including fine tuning, my shop vac was collecting all visible dust. Some really good ideas may be found in this thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?130003-A-dust-hood-for-Ridgid-oscillating-sander). So far, I dont use the spindle sander mode too often, but I think the best DC method would be to suspend a hose directly over the spindle, adjusting it ot keep it close to the work.

'Cuz everyone likes pictures, here's what I did;

316080
316081

[Scott Kuykendall]

Great sander, use mine all the time and have never had any problems

[Yonak Hawkins]

Lol, when I read "rigid spindle sander" I was thinking it didn't oscillate and I was going to not recommend it. As long as it works pretty well and it has all the parts there's hardly a down side. Isn't $85 about half the new price ?

If the lifetime warranty is still in effect you may ask the seller if you can "rent" it from him so the warranty is not lost.

[scott spencer]

Gray means an older one. Love my orange one....gray may even be better built, but that's just a guess.

[Cary Falk]

Ridgid was Grey before it was Orange. I don't think there was any quality change with the color change. That being said. I am the only person I know that did not like it. I sold it and moved to the Jet 6"x89" OES and Grizzly 1071 OSS.

[Bill White]

Love mine. Best $200.00 I've spent.
Bill

[David Ragan]

I have one and love it. I put up two other stationary sanders to save space-cause this one does so great.

The DC is a little lame. But, Mine is just a few feet off the cyclone, so no problems.

Have never used the tilt table feature.

The up/down knob requires lots of attention seems like.

Buy it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Great little sander - orange or gray...
I don't use mine that often, but, when I do it works like a champ!

[George Bokros]

Why buy one. I can just go over Rich's house and have him do my sanding.

Just kidding Rich!

[Michael Moscicki]

For $85, buy it. I paid $150 for the Grey version although it was in new unused condition. It sells for $199.99 at Home Depot. It appears to be complete. You will just have to buy some new sandpaper for it.
316116

As far as differences? The only differences are the color and country of manufacture.
EB44240(Grey) - Built in USA
EB44241(Orange) - Made in Taiwan
EB44242(Orange) - Made in China

[Earl McLain]

Seems to me that many of the grey Ridgid tools had the Lifetime Service Agreement that travels with the tool, orange is only to original owner. So...beyond being a good deal, it MAY have a usable LSA. For whatever that may be worth. I do like my orange one.
earl

[Peter Aeschliman]

I'll add to the chorus of people who like it.

It's the best tool/machine I own under $300. My only complaint aside from dust collection is that mine has a fair amount of vibration. But it hasn't been bad enough for me to actually do anything about it. It might just need a new belt.

[john bateman]

I've had one for several years and liked it. But now I can't get the belt to track correctly anymore, and I don't see a reason it's doing this.
I replaced the belt, but still have this symptom:
I adjust tracking so that it's correct. Then touch a board to the running sander, and the belt scoots up an inch, or runs downward and grinds away the bottom edge of the belt.
Just the smallest turn of the tensioner makes it go one way or the other, but it never stays centered anymore.

[Steve H Graham]

I like mine. I made a little fence for it, and you can thickness small parts with it.

The machine is light, so it's easy to move around.

[George Bokros]

Update: Bought this guy - $70. Now for the bad part.

Tried it out and it started and ran great. Get it home and if the spindle is partially or all the way up it will not start, just hums. Anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

Next time I buy anything used I will turn it on more than one time. If it would have done this when I looked at it it would have been a deal breaker for me.

Test this morning and the motor is bad, smoking.

UPDATE: Contacted the seller and he going to give me my money back. There are stand up people in this world.