Gripes and Complaints on the R4330

[Richard A. Rivera, M.D.]

I am ready to buy a 13" planer and think it will be the R4330 from Ridgid. I have found several postings in favor of this planer, but would like to hear from any one who has had problems, complaints or gripes about this machine.

There are many of you of great wisdom :D whom I hope can enlighten me on this planer...

Richard...

[Peter Quadarella]

I'm having a minor problem with some snipe, but it's my first planer and it could be my fault for not setting it up properly.

[Mike Hoyt]

When I first got my 4330 I was getting some snipe but with a small extension table adjustment and good in/outfeed support it was greatly reduced. I am very pleased with the quality of the finish from this planer. As with any benchtop planer, you will need to keep your depth of cut to less than 1/16th but I have never missed being able to hog off a bunch in 1 pass. my usual depth is actually 1/32 or less as I dont mind taking a little extra time as it yields a much better finish. Just go get one and start making shavings!
Mike

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Richard,

I have had mine for several years now. I have used it on a number of projects and have been happy with it. Recently I installed an Oneida 3hp DC and was worried about hooking it to the DC. Imagine my surprise when it was a matter of pulling off a 4 inch plug on one end of the dust hood and inverting that 4 inch plug to plug the 2 1/2" hole I'd been using with my shop vac. A 5" to 4" adapter hooked to the dust hood and it worked like a champ.

[Mike Hoyt]

Hey Ken, I take it you were using a shop vac for your dust collection previously, how much better was the collection when you upgraded? The reason I ask is, I will soon be upgrading to a d/c myself and I was curious about your experience.
Mike

[Bill Huber]

Richard,

I have had mine for several years now. I have used it on a number of projects and have been happy with it. Recently I installed an Oneida 3hp DC and was worried about hooking it to the DC. Imagine my surprise when it was a matter of pulling off a 4 inch plug on one end of the dust hood and inverting that 4 inch plug to plug the 2 1/2" hole I'd been using with my shop vac. A 5" to 4" adapter hooked to the dust hood and it worked like a champ.


Do you have the 1300 for the 4330, the 4330 is the new one and there is a lot of difference in the two of them.

DC is one of the areas that is not so good on the 4330.

[Bill Huber]

I have the 4330 and it is a good machine, the only thing that I do not like is the dust collection. It is not as good as the older 1300 for me, I do use a shop vac for DC.

With the 1300 I could do very well with the shop vac if I took small cuts at a time. With the 4330 it make no difference what size cut you make the sop vac will not handle it and it just blows it out the front.

Snip is really not a problem if you get it set up right and take very small cuts to clean things up.

So the only thing I can say negatively is the DC part of it.

[Ed Thaggard]

Just picked up one myself. The thing that concerned me was the availablity of replacement blades at the local Home Depots. They are available via the HD website so this should not be an issue.

[Dave Sweeney]

......... The thing that concerned me was the availablity of replacement blades at the local Home Depots. They are available via the HD website so this should not be an issue.

Although it's a minor concern it would concern me none the less that HD doesn't stock the consumables for a product they inventory in the stores. Why should you have to pay the extra freight charge every time you need new knives? When I purchased my planer that was one of the main reasons why I didn't buy the Ridgid.

[Richard A. Rivera, M.D.]

Just picked up one myself. The thing that concerned me was the availablity of replacement blades at the local Home Depots. They are available via the HD website so this should not be an issue.

Ed, I see you live in Texas, I live in the Carrollton/Lewisville area and both of the HD stores have the blades on the pegs where the band saw blades, etc are at. I am told that they are always in stock.

Thanks All for the in-put:). I will be heading over to HD next weekend...Richard

[Peter Quadarella]

Originally there was an issue getting the blades as the HD by me still stocked the 1300's blades, but not the 4330's. This doesn't appear to be an issue any longer as they are now stocking the 4330s.

[Paul Downes]

So how do you adjust the outfeed table to reduce/eliminate snipe? Raise it up a little?

[Tom Hargrove]

I have had one since the first of the year. The snipe problem disappeared after I got the outfeed table correctly set (using the height adjusters below the table). For longer pieces, I use a separate outfeed support. Dust collection is fine using the small Delta dust collector. I have machined oak, maple, poplar and construction lumber, and am real pleased with the way it works.

When I bought the machine, the local HD was not stocking the replacement knives. The clerk told me the 1300 blades were the same as the 4330 blades as far as size and number/placement of holes. Since I recently nicked a blade surfacing some recycled lumber, I am going to take the damaged blade to the store to see if they match up with the older blades. If the 4330 blades are not in stock, I will buy three packages of 1300 blades (two blades per pack) to get two "sets" for the 4330. The replacement blades can also be ordered at the HD customer service counter with no freight charges.

[Eddie Kaden]

I just bought a DeWalt planer and had similar issues with snipe in the beginning. There are a couple of simple ways of eliminating snipe. The easiest way is to run a scrap board about 2 foot long thats the same thickness as your work piece through the planer first. As its feeding through the planer, feed your work piece through making sure to keep it tight against the end of the scrap piece. On the back side of your work piece, have a second scrap board that your able to feed though the same way on the back side. This way the snipe ends up on the scrap boards and not your work piece. Another way is to adjust both you infeed table and your outfeed table a little higher than the main planer table. This takes a little more tweeking to get perfect. For me, the first suggestion is foolproof.

[Andy Sowers]

I also have the 4330 for a little over a year... Planer itself is great: nice smooth finish when properly setup. The one thing thats a little tricky is the infeed/outfeed alignment since the tables themselves are not flat (by design). Since you can hear the tool snipe the ends of the boards, one can use that sound to dial in infeed/outfeed heights. Takes awhile... but pretty straight forward. I've also found that using a properly adjusted roller stand minimize any snipe on longer boards.


My biggest gripe as others have said is the availability of the knives. None of the local HD stores around me in San Jose, CA (and there must be like 20 of them) stock the new 4330 knives. Instead each store has a whole pile of the old TP1300s knives. The last time I was in the store I asked one of the workers there (who I've come to trust more than the average salesperson). He spent about 20min looking through their computer without finding ANYTHING. Yes, the knives appear to be available at HD.com, but its a real drag to have to pay shipping on something that weighs a few ozs. I also checked the ridgidparts.com website... yes they have the knives, but you have to buy them singly to the tune of $22 a PIECE. Rediculous.

I bought mine when the R4330 was relatively new. At that time, I thought that was the reason why the knives were not available. But by now, there should be no excuse.

If I were considering buying the R4330 today, I would NOT purchase it unless the store you are buying this from already has the replacement knives in stock. The R4330 is nice, but there are other alternative brands with similar performance that you can purchase the consumables from various sources.

Andy

[Dan Root]

I just purchased the R4330 Ridgid Planer and I have found this to be a very good planer. This is my first planer that I have owned and so far I am very happy with it.

The first time I used the planer I did get some snipe. I read through the owner’s manual and it says the in and our feed tables are suppose to be level with the planer table. I leveled the in and out feed table as noted in the owner’s manual and the snipe was worse than before. I put them back to where I thought they were when I got the machine and the snipe is better. I have read a number of reviews and most say the in and out feed tables need to be raised higher than the planer table. One article I read said to use a penny as your depth gage for how much to raise your in and out feed tables. I have tinkered with them and the snipe is getter better.

Other than the snipe – a very good machine.

[Paul Ryan]

I have had that planer for about 2 years, right when they came out. It works real nice. The snipe can be adjusted out if you play with the tables, the adjustment screws and a real straight edge will do the trick. Blades should never be a problem. For those of you that have the planer but dont have a store that stocks the blades have them order them and stock them. I went to my local store after talking to them they ordered about a dozen sets to put on the shelf, and now stock them. My only complaint is it is loud really stinkin loud.

For those of you that have taking out the 2 1/2" adapter out of the dust port. How did you get it out? I cant get mine out, I have tried and tried and am worried I may brake it.