ridgid ros

[big bear]

has anybody tried the new ridgid r2600 yet.my old black & decker is very tired and the other day at my local hd store i looked at both the ridgid and porter cable 333vs,they are both the same price and both feel good in my hand.i would really apreciate any feedback.

[Mark IV]

Yeah... I've only had it like a week.

Never heard anything bad about the 333, but it seemed to me the 333VS was a few bucks more to get up to the same feature set as the Ridgid. If you have them at the same price it's all how it feels to you.

No negatives to report and it worked great on some maple... didn't have a vac hooked up and the dust bag was acceptable for just trying it out. I like it a lot but have not put any real miles on it. Sure beats my old palm sander at stock removal, though.

Nice case, with metal latches, some disks thrown in, spare hook and loop pad, and a place to keep manuals. Like most of the other new toys it felt very substantial.

[Bergybits]

Hey Big Bear!

I just bought the Ridgid orbital sander last night and have just used it. The variable speed feature on the Ridgid model is what did the deal for me. I was also looking at the variable speed PC333 model but price-wise it was almost $20.00 CDN ($13-14 USD)more than the Ridgid. Someone please correct me if Im wrong on this point but I believe that the Ridgid has a substancially longer electrical cord. I can work half way acroos my shop from the wall plug in!!! For my hand I found the Ridgid model to be more comfortable to hold. During use at low and high rpm, the vibration transfer to my hand seemed less than with the PC model. It also seemed quieter than the PC. Also, I preferred the on / off switch location on the Ridgid. For a right handed person, the off function is simply a click with the thumb. I cant comment on how much better the PCs solid-type dust collector cup is in comparison to Ridgids cloth bag. I have heard a number of people comment that the PC dust collector pops off occasionally so some have placed a cotter pin thru the connector to correct this perceived annoyance. If I were asked by the Ridgid boys (and girls), the only suggestion for future improvement on this and other corded tools is to have the plug in power indicator light placed on the tool instead of on the plug because it is the tool that you are looking at initially and when you find the tool on the bench, an indicator light on the tool would be more efficient to tell you that it is plugged in (in my opinion).

I guess that you could call me a Porter-Cable fan BUT....I feel that the Ridgid sander has substantially more going for it. I dont think that you would go wrong with the Ridgid!

P.S. I dont think the PC 333 comes with any storage case and the Ridgid has a good case.

Chris

[CaseMaker]

Good Job Bergybits!
I ditto your post. Good idea about the power light...

I have used the sander only a short while but i did buy the Ridgid WD4050 Wet/Dry Vac and connected it to the 2600. Together they are a charm!
The 4050 comes with an adapter so you just plug it straight into the 2600 and turn it on. Not a speck of dust to be seen.
I highly recommend this setup for the Do-it-yourself type. The 4050 is $69 at Home Depot.

I had an opportunity to use a Makita ROS last year. It was the first time I had used an ROS and I liked how well it sanded. but it was quite noisy and throw sawdust everywhere. Nonetheless, I wanted an ROS and went shopping. The Makita wasn't affordable, but the Ryobi was and it did a much better job, with less noise, and minimal dust, thanks to the bag design. Bottm line is that I liked it so much that when Ridgid came out last fall with their new tools, I bought both their ROS and the 1/4 sht sanders. Much heavier duty than their Ryobi cousins. The micro hook & loop works very well and the dust pickup with either the bag or a vac hookup works very well. With the vac hook-up, there is absolutely minimal dust escape. The spin on the Ridgid is much slower than the Ryobi, but it still appears to remove material as well.

The cord is just over 10 ft long and, personally, I like the lighted plug just the way it is. It is nice to know that the plug is hot when you plug it in. At the tool, you can hit the switch to see, but it is frustrating to plug something in and then walk back and hit the switch and find its dead and then return to the plug, etc. Also, when you have several items plugged in, that little lighted symbol on the plug indicates which tool is which.

The case is terrific, I wish all manufacturers would take the initiative to supply such a nice case with their tools.

CWS