Rigid Oscillating Edge/Belt Spindle Sander

[Justin Rapp]

I finally gave up waiting for the Laguna SS14 to come into stock, and now the price jumped to 699 from 499, and still out of stock. i was about to order the Rikon which is 529 however for the amount I will need the tool, I decided to grab the Ridgid Oscillating Edge/Belt Spindle Sander for $269. I see some great reviews and others hate it. I guess I'll see this weekend if it arrives as expected this Friday.

[Frederick Skelly]

It's been discussed here a few times as I recall. You might check the archives.
Personally, it's on my "to buy" list whenever my DELTA BOSS craps out.
Let us know how you like it.

[Frank Pratt]

I've had a Ridgid for at least 15 years & it's had a lot of very heavy use thrown at it. I wouldn't put it in the same league as heavy iron, but it is a very good machine and and excellent value for the price. It is much better than a first impression would lead one to believe.

[Jason Evans]

I’ve had one for over 10 years, love it, and I’ve used it for so many hours. I thought I’d buy another one a couple years ago to keep just in case this one died and the prices went up, but the new one oscillated differently. The old one was smooth and continuous, but the newer one would go up, pause for a sec, go down, pause and repeat. I returned it, maybe it was defective, who knows. I’d be interested in knowing if yours is continuous or has the pauses.

I see them in the background of so many pics of workshops. It seems everyone has one.

[Jim Becker]

It's been discussed here a few times as I recall. You might check the archives.
Personally, it's on my "to buy" list whenever my DELTA BOSS craps out.


I resemble that remark... :) :D

[Lisa Starr]

I purchased the Ridgid several years ago and like it. I've used it pretty hard, and sand both wood and aluminum. It still works well. I did upgrade the dust collection on it.

[Justin Rapp]

It's been discussed here a few times as I recall. You might check the archives.
Personally, it's on my "to buy" list whenever my DELTA BOSS craps out.
Let us know how you like it.

Fredrick - I will let you know. I am pretty critical on tools and have tried to stop buying twice and now just go for a better quality tool, even if it's over my needs. Reading the forum discussions here on the Ridgid and also seeing it in shop pics and some reviews on youtube, I decided to give it a try. I am usually not so keen on the reviews that people post on the store's web site, as you will get a lot more people posting a review when they are unhappy. So a 1000 good reviews and 100 bad reviews is maybe more like 5000 happy tool users vs 100 unhappy users. Also, I see posts 'damaged in shipping and not usable' and give it 1 start. Not the tools fault the shipped mis-handled it.



I’ve had one for over 10 years, love it, and I’ve used it for so many hours. I thought I’d buy another one a couple years ago to keep just in case this one died and the prices went up, but the new one oscillated differently. The old one was smooth and continuous, but the newer one would go up, pause for a sec, go down, pause and repeat. I returned it, maybe it was defective, who knows. I’d be interested in knowing if yours is continuous or has the pauses.

I see them in the background of so many pics of workshops. It seems everyone has one.

Jason - I will let you know once I have it set up and working.


I purchased the Ridgid several years ago and like it. I've used it pretty hard, and sand both wood and aluminum. It still works well. I did upgrade the dust collection on it.

Lisa - what did you do to upgrade the dust collection? I am a big fan of all dust going into a bag, not my lungs.

[Mike O'Keefe]

Justin I bought a re-conditioned one 15 years ago and still running. It's worked great for me. Mike O'Keefe

[Howard Rosenberg]

I second the Ridgid machine.

Well-built and priced reasonably.

Mine's lasted more than 20 years with some mighty heavy usage thrown at it.

Make sure to attach your shopvac EVERY time you use it, no matter how briefly. And clamp it to your bench. Or even better bolt it to a board and then clamp the board to your bench. It does flex a little and bolting it adds to its rigidity (ridgidity?).

[Lisa Starr]

Justin,

If you google "Ridgid Sander Dust Collection upgrades" several come up. Mine is sort of a combo of a couple of them. I also expect to make an upgrade for when I use the spindle, but haven't gotten around to that yet.

[Doug Garson]

As Lisa say's lot's of dust collection upgrades on line, here's another upgrade to make tightening the spindle easier. 467083

[John K Jordan]

I finally gave up waiting for the Laguna SS14 to come into stock, and now the price jumped to 699 from 499, and still out of stock. i was about to order the Rikon which is 529 however for the amount I will need the tool, I decided to grab the Ridgid Oscillating Edge/Belt Spindle Sander for $269. I see some great reviews and others hate it. I guess I'll see this weekend if it arrives as expected this Friday.

I've had one for many years and it has always done what I wanted.

JKJ

[Jim Dwight]

When I was ready to buy earlier this year the Rigid was not available. So I bought a Wen. I've been surprised how useful it is and how much power it has. I was building dining room chairs - 11. I wanted the sander to help sand the curved back legs and curved top rails. Worked great for that and lots of other stuff since. I don't know how my Wen compares to the Rigid but they look similar. I saw several other brands with basically the same specs. I almost always use the belt sander. But the spindle sander is occasionally useful.

[Doug Garson]

Just looked at the Wen on line, looks a lot like the Rigid but appears to be a mirror image. On the Rigid the drive spindle is on the left and the holders for the drums go from small to large left to right. I suspect if you were used to the Rigid, the Wen would be awkward to use initially and vice versa.

[Justin Rapp]

Just looked at the Wen on line, looks a lot like the Rigid but appears to be a mirror image. On the Rigid the drive spindle is on the left and the holders for the drums go from small to large left to right. I suspect if you were used to the Rigid, the Wen would be awkward to use initially and vice versa.

I did look at the Wen and it is a slightly smaller overall, except for the sanding sleeve and belt. 3.5 vs 5.0 amp motor and a larger surface area on the bed. Considering the Ridgid is being delivered today so hopefully it works out well.

[Justin Rapp]

I’ve had one for over 10 years, love it, and I’ve used it for so many hours. I thought I’d buy another one a couple years ago to keep just in case this one died and the prices went up, but the new one oscillated differently. The old one was smooth and continuous, but the newer one would go up, pause for a sec, go down, pause and repeat. I returned it, maybe it was defective, who knows. I’d be interested in knowing if yours is continuous or has the pauses.

I see them in the background of so many pics of workshops. It seems everyone has one.

Jason - so the one I have does not stop. It goes up and down smoothly and is relatively quiet. I used it for a short while using the belt, and my son spent about 45 minutes using the spindle sander function. It worked fine.

As far as do I like it. It will work fine for my needs. Would I want this unit if I was a production shop, no, I'd go with a something else.

[Rod Wolfy]

I was looking at them today (before I saw this post). The Rigid version was always on my 'someday' list, starting about 20 years ago.

However, I noticed the Wen version appeared to be a copy of the Rigid. I looked at the Rigid one; however, it was evident that the design had changed from the one that I wanted! From the comments & description it was evident that Rigid has quit producing the one that all of you are recommending (& the one I wanted) & substituted an inferior one.

I have other Wen tools. I would buy the Wen version despite the shortcomings over the original Rigid one.

If HD came out with the old one again, I'd buy that!

[Justin Rapp]

I was looking at them today (before I saw this post). The Rigid version was always on my 'someday' list, starting about 20 years ago.

However, I noticed the Wen version appeared to be a copy of the Rigid. I looked at the Rigid one; however, it was evident that the design had changed from the one that I wanted! From the comments & description it was evident that Rigid has quit producing the one that all of you are recommending (& the one I wanted) & substituted an inferior one.

I have other Wen tools. I would buy the Wen version despite the shortcomings over the original Rigid one.

If HD came out with the old one again, I'd buy that!

The WEN looked a bit different and from the similar model, the wen motor was a lower power. I am curious, can you post a link to the WEN you saw?

[Rod Wolfy]

The WEN looked a bit different and from the similar model, the wen motor was a lower power. I am curious, can you post a link to the WEN you saw?

Here's the two I saw:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Oscillating-Edge-Belt-Spindle-Sander-R4840/315674228
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-Oscillating-Belt-and-Spindle-Sander-6524/308605438

But I found that when I later searched HD, it depended on the search terms. "Oscillating Spindle Sander" came up with those two.

When I searched "Sheet Sander", I got the original one, which they apparently still carry:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Oscillating-Edge-Belt-Spindle-Sander-EB4424/202459151

I noticed the WEN has a smaller motor, too. 3.5 Amp vs 5 Amp. Get the 5 Amp Rigid!

I actually have the WEN spindle sander:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-5-Amp-1-2-HP-Oscillating-Spindle-Sander-6510T/307868273?MERCH=REC-_-searchViewed-_-NA-_-307868273-_-N

It works OK for the infrequent use. It takes up a lot less space that the Grizzly that I used to have (https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-1-hp-oscillating-spindle-sander/g1071?gclid=CjwKCAjwiY6MBhBqEiwARFSCPp8d-makp6MadPAsLKyaufToI1wFB77sVBbSD2CHrctNw6n0BIZwzho CHrUQAvD_BwE).

But I downsized my shop, so the WEN can go under a countertop.

[Jason Evans]

Jason - so the one I have does not stop. It goes up and down smoothly and is relatively quiet. I used it for a short while using the belt, and my son spent about 45 minutes using the spindle sander function. It worked fine.

As far as do I like it. It will work fine for my needs. Would I want this unit if I was a production shop, no, I'd go with a something else.

Thanks Justin. Good to know it still flows smoothly.

[Justin Rapp]

Here's the two I saw:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Oscillating-Edge-Belt-Spindle-Sander-R4840/315674228
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-Oscillating-Belt-and-Spindle-Sander-6524/308605438

But I found that when I later searched HD, it depended on the search terms. "Oscillating Spindle Sander" came up with those two.

When I searched "Sheet Sander", I got the original one, which they apparently still carry:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Oscillating-Edge-Belt-Spindle-Sander-EB4424/202459151

I noticed the WEN has a smaller motor, too. 3.5 Amp vs 5 Amp. Get the 5 Amp Rigid!

I actually have the WEN spindle sander:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-5-Amp-1-2-HP-Oscillating-Spindle-Sander-6510T/307868273?MERCH=REC-_-searchViewed-_-NA-_-307868273-_-N

It works OK for the infrequent use. It takes up a lot less space that the Grizzly that I used to have (https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-1-hp-oscillating-spindle-sander/g1071?gclid=CjwKCAjwiY6MBhBqEiwARFSCPp8d-makp6MadPAsLKyaufToI1wFB77sVBbSD2CHrctNw6n0BIZwzho CHrUQAvD_BwE).

But I downsized my shop, so the WEN can go under a countertop.

I did see that new model on HDs web site, part of their 'Next' line of tools. I think Ridgid might be trying to up their game a bit to complete more with the Milwaukee and Makita level tools.