Ridgid R4512 Tablesaw

[Eric Brabender]

So I been doing some reading and am at the road of buying a saw. I know most are going to say save up for a cabinet saw. That may be in the future but this is going to be a stepping stone saw to see if I will enjoy and stay in the woodworking hobby.

With that being said is there anyone here who uses this saw? Pros and Cons? Add ons you would suggest? Any and all information would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have it's older brother - the TS 3660.
I've been very happy with it.
It's a slight bit underpowered @ only 13 amps, but, I seldom if ever run anything thicker than 1" through mine, although, I did stall it trying to rip some 2x4's @ a 45* to make ledger boards.

I added a folding outfeed table to mine. Drilling the cast iron for the bolts was very easy to do.

Most people will say to use a thin kerf blade, but, I use a full kerf Freud Glue Line Rip in mine with no problems. Like I mentioned though, seldom if ever do I rip anything but 1" and under.

When I bought mine, Home Depot had their rewards credit card & I piled up around $250 in reward points that I applied to the purchase. I also waited for a sale.
My bottom line was something ridiculous like $125 for the saw.

IIRC, the 4512 has a riving knife - which should make a good saw even better.

I should also add that - I supplement mine with a track saw. Together they knock out anything I need to do and then some.

[scott spencer]

The TS3660 and R4512 are very difference designs made by different companies, so there's no real correlation except for color, logo, and the Herculift. The 3660 had solid cast wings and a better fence. The R4512 has a riving knife and an inboard motor going for it. The earlier versions of the R4512 had some disturbing alignment issues that couldn't be fixed. That issue has supposedly been fixed on newer versions.

With that said, a good used saw could be a great solution if the right deal comes along. Have you been watching Craigslist? I'd suggest putting your general location in your profile so it shows when you post...someone here might have a great lead for you.

[Roger Marty]

Hi, I had an R4512 as my starter saw before stepping up to a SawStop cabinet saw.

The saw itself is decent. Good power, good safety features, good cast iron top. Anything you read about blade alignment issues are overblown and fixed.

The weakest part of the saw is the fence. Mine would not lock down in a repeatable way. Even when applying pressure to the T like people recommend. The fence is simply a garbage design in my opinion .

Now the fence can be upgraded. You can get a nice Delta T3 for $200. But at $700 for the saw and fence upgrade, might as well get a Grizzly which I think start at $800 or so.

[Eric Brabender]

I have been watching craigslist for quite some time and continue to keep watching. At this moment and time everything is out of my price range and when it seems to be close to my price range it needs work done to it as there are issues. I will continue to watch but I think this may be the saw I start with to be honest as I have been watching since November.