Ridgid - R4512 (Rating: 3)

Hi Folks,

So I have this saw for well over a year and have used it a lot and is supposed to be my go to tool in the workshop but sadly im not loving it…

What I like:
Its powerful enough for softwoods
Its very quiet
I love the castor mobile base that is attached.

What I don't like
1. The fence guides suck .. the rail that guides the fence is forever out of alignment at least every month I have going underneath the front rail and tightening the nuts. I don't like that the front rail came in 2 pieces and the joining system they have is second rate… its basically 2 pieces of plastic that fit into each adjoining face of the 2 pieces that keep it together.
2. Dust collection is almost impossible because its directly under the saw and any system that I have put in place doesn't vacate the dust from the internal chamber beneath the saw blade, ill be the first to admit that I don't have a quality dust collection system in the work shop yet and I am resorting to a portable dry vac to hook up a dust collection house to suck out all sawdust.
3. The blade is always out of alignment and I cant seem to get it spot on, I think I am one of them unlucky souls that receive the machine that has alignment issues and the trunnions are out of alignment.. I called Ridged and they offered me the newer type trunnions but my machine was the version before the fix came out and the new trunions don't work, and at the same time even if I had the newer version of the saw I lack the expertise in installing them….. THIS ALONRE MAKE ME WANT A DIFFERENT SAW
4. The riving knife assembly under the table saw broke and the although they did sent me replacement parts the machine just doesn't work the way its supposed to.
5. Ant\time I am trying to rip cut hardwoods my saw blade stalls half way through it and if I even fight the machine to push it through I trip the breaker in my house… extremely annoying so while I have this saw I don't do much hardwood woodworking and I am restricted to using predominately softwoods…
6. The stamped steel tablesaw exstensiion insert are flimsy and they also are frequently not flush with the cast iron tabletop.. if I thought the saw was worth getting cast iron inserts I would upgrade but at this point I don't believe any upgrade on this saw is money well spent

I am giving this saw 3 stars because even with all its fault it is a step above my 20 year old black and decker little table saw…

But if I was asked would I recommend this saw.. I would tell you make sure you get the newer version I believe the version has the Roman Numeral II on the trunnions because the model I have seem to be plagued with some issues.. .I would really like the SawStop or even the Powermatic but feel they will be forever outside my price range…

I will right a more detailed review when I get the time but for right now that's all I have