I have a R4512. It was already perfectly aligned when I got it. (at least perfectly enough).

 

I bought mine 10 months ago and I have the alignment issue. It's driving me nuts! I seriously can't recommend this saw if you are looking at being exact with your cuts. Don't get me wrong, it's a great saw other than that issue.

 

I used a R4512 for the past three years and loved it; granted, mine did not have the alignment issue. If you're anywhere near a service center, I think that the warranty/LSA covers the alignment issue, and although it is a hassle to bring the saw to a shop if you get one without the alignment issue (or get it fixed) it's probably the best saw in that price range.

It has really good safety features, the fence is "good enough" most of the time, and the built-in t-slots on the fence are nice. With a decent thin-kerf blade it's got enough power to handle most woodworking tasks; I even used it to resaw walnut and hard maple up to 6" wide, flipping the board end-for-end to handle the depth. I also had excellent experience with Ridgid's customer service and warranty/LSA. Within the first year of ownership I realized I was having a lot of difficulty getting the fence to stay aligned; I called Ridgid hoping to troubleshoot, and they sent me a brand new fence for free. Overall, I recommend the R4512 but I know that opinions are REALLY divided on this saw.

If you can stretch your budget by $50 (plus shipping) you can get a Grizzly contractor saw, but if it doesn't have cabinet-mounted trunions I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense compared to the R4512. Maybe someone who owns it can chime on here.

 

We don't have a service center near our location. It sounds like the Ridgid is still a crapshoot. The Grizzly Contractor saw is out as well- the freight cost would put it almost $125 over the school budget allotment. Anyone have thoughts on the Delta 36-725 that's $599 at Lowes? I've read some really good things. Bad comments seem to focus on the fence rail, throat plate and lack of customer support and parts…

 

To the best of my knowledge the issue hasn't been fixed (or even acknowleged) on the R4512 or the nearly identical CMan 21833, and likely not on the G0715P either. Check it asap if you pursue one.

 

I was recently making the same decision and went with the Delta and could not be happier. Basically the same saw without any issues to worry about. I broke one of the adjustment knobs (my own negligence) and Delta sent one out free of charge no questions asked. Great saw and great customer service.

 

Count me as having a bad one as well. I do the drop then raise approach to set the blade height. Then check and adjust the tilt. It will always go out a couple degrees. Always light shows at the bottom of the blade, between the plate of the blade and an engineer's square.

 

I bought one a few months ago and do not have the issue. I have to say, for the money, it's the best saw out there. I would have loved to jump up to the Grizzly cabinet saw but couldn't do the few hundred more to do it. Like another here, I had an issue with the fence not staying aligned after about 3 months of heavy use. I decided to just upgrade to the Delta T2 instead of getting it fixed. If I could find cast iron wings that didn't require a lot of work I'd add those too.

Long story short, buy it. Worst case you find you have the issue and have to return it. But I thought it was worth the chance. I also looked at the Delta at Lowes, it was close, but the Delta seemed more cheaply made to me. I'm solely judging this on what I saw on the floor model. But if I had the budget and had to do it again I'd go with the ridgid in a heartbeat.

 

I have read there is a fix out there, supposedly ridgid has a designed a more beefy rear trunnion. Apparently the trunnion has some sort of numbering to denote the new trunnion. If that is true, and the you find a saw recently produced you have a good chance of finding one with the fix. In this price range it seems you have to make compromises, I would probably roll the dice on the Delta.

 

Long story short, buy it. Worst case you find you have the issue and have to return it. But I thought it was worth the chance. I also looked at the Delta at Lowes, it was close, but the Delta seemed more cheaply made to me. I m solely judging this on what I saw on the floor model. But if I had the budget and had to do it again I d go with the ridgid in a heartbeat.

- RobinNY

Honestly, this would be my advice too - roll the dice and if you get a bad one, bring it back for an exchange. At 270 lbs it's definitely manageable (if not pleasant), and I think many would agree that an R4512 without the alignment issue is close to the best bang for your buck.

Also, I don't know if your Home Depot honors Harbor Freight coupons (mine recently stopped), but even if it doesn't you can find a 10% off "just moved" coupon somewhere (check eBay?) and get the saw for under $500.

 

I suppose that I could call Ridgid and see if they will tell me what numbering I am looking for…

Really wish they would just recall all of them and fix the problem. Rolling the dice on the Delta seems like an easier road…but even people that have the problem with the Ridgid seem to think the saw is worth the hassle!

 

I suppose that I could call Ridgid and see if they will tell me what numbering I am looking for…

Really wish they would just recall all of them and fix the problem. Rolling the dice on the Delta seems like an easier road…but even people that have the problem with the Ridgid seem to think the saw is worth the hassle!

- Robin1

The Ridgid is an astonishingly polarizing saw, but it fills a niche with almost no competitors: a fully-enclosed, decently powerful hybrid with excellent safety features at a roughly $500 price tag and no delivery charge. It competes on price with the high-end benchtop saws, but competes on performance with more expensive contractor and hybrid saws.

I gotta hand it to Ridgid, between the R4512 and the oscillating sander they have excelled at finding very profitable gaps in market segmentation. If it weren't for the R4512 (which I got as a "starter saw"), I probably wouldn't have progressed very far in woodworking - I didn't then have enough certainty to make a bigger monetary investment, but I suspect I would have quickly gotten frustrated trying to do precision work with a $300 benchtop saw. (Plus when I got it the R4512 was $400 if you could get HD to accept a Harbor Freight coupon.)

 

Earlier this year there was a thread about someone who got a replacement trunnion from Ridgid that seems to clear up the problem:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/58529

Unfortunately though, it seems that the OP was turned off by some rude LJ'ers, so they don't seem to still be around to answer additional questions.

The gist of it seemed to be that he got a replacement trunnion that had a "II" stamped on it.

Two things to keep in mind though
- the original post was from Feb of this year. IF (and that's a BIG IF) Ridgid made a change to the production line, it might not have shown up right at that time. It's likely they would have run through an existing supply first, if they even had plans to include the updated part in new saws
- several posters in the thread mention that they called Ridgid and were told that no such fix exists

It's very possible that the front line techs that Ridgid has answering the phones doesn't know anything about this, but I'm also just as inclined to believe it's not something they rolled into the production line.

If you're willing to put forth the effort, I'd find a Home Depot that's willing to let you check one out in the store and don't purchase it unless you see the updated trunnion. It's too risky to buy an older one with the hopes that you might be able to get a replacement trunnion. Additionally, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to buy something you know will immediately need to be fixed. The box of these saws have a manufacturing date code on the label, and if memory serves me correctly, it's in the format of "EM20XXYY", where XX is the 2 digit year, and YY is the week of the year. I'd try to find one with a date as close to today as possible. Seeing as to how these are shipped on the slow boat from China, chances are the best you're gonna find is EM201436 or thereabouts.

It's an unfortunate situation if you ask me. I tried out a 4512 about 2 years ago that did have the alignment / blade shifting issue. That issue aside, it did seem like quite a decent saw for the money. Another issue frequently brought up is the split rail, however that can be corrected with a Delta T2 fence when budget permits. The alignment issue? Not so much.

The Delta 36-725 wasn't available at the time, but if it had been, I probably would have taken a look at that one after the Ridgid didn't work out for me.

 

May I chime in…
The delta is a more modern product.
Blade brake in my view is important in a school setting.
Customer service is stellar. Parts are easily available.
That all based on my experience and all other lJs here.
Fence is awesome. Don't base your decision on the floor models.
They are poorly assembled.
I consider it is stellar product.
Try to speak to someone at ridgid. Good luck.
I am a very demanding customer. Product quality and support won me over.
Read thetinman reviews.
Last but not least. You will get great support on this site.

 

I just purchased the Ridgid R4512 on 1/21/15. I figured I would roll the dice and just return it if it was defective. I have only cut a few test pieces for basic setup, but the results look promising. For those of you wanting to take a gamble on this saw, there is a way to check to see if it has the updated trunnion if you have a HD salesperson willing to let you open the box:

Remove the styro-foam tray:

Remove the dust tray:

Look on the motor side of the trunnion and look for the "II" stamp:

Also here is a picture of the date code on the sticker on the outside of the box:

This one was a "EM1402", which I would assume is 2014 and some month/day combo. There were some older looking boxes that had older codes on them, one was 1392, and another was 1323 i believe. The guy would not let me open all of the boxes, so I picked the one with the most recent date, and it seems to have worked out. My guess is that if you find one with a date code later than "EM1402" that you will have the updated trunnion design, but that is just my assumption. I hope this helps those of you that are on the fence buying this saw. I will update if I have any problems with mine in the near future

 

Good tip Smitty

 

I bought mine last year and could not be happier. I probably have the II stamp, although I have not looked at it. I did hate them for a while when the C clip fell off the raise worm and it jammed. They wanted me to bring the saw back to the store for shipment to Atlanta. Instead, I bought an 80 cent C clip of a higher quality, installed it myself, reset the worm gear, and kept cutting. Other than that, it has always been true. I just checked it a couple days ago.

 

I bought mine last year and could not be happier. I probably have the II stamp, although I have not looked at it. I did hate them for a while when the C clip fell off the raise worm and it jammed. They wanted me to bring the saw back to the store for shipment to Atlanta. Instead, I bought an 80 cent C clip of a higher quality, installed it myself, reset the worm gear, and kept cutting. Other than that, it has always been true. I just checked it a couple days ago.

- Tennessee

I've had a similar experience with my saw. I just got around to looking this morning and I do have that stamp. I'm betting they have two suppliers for these trunions and that stamp is just a foundry mark but that's just a guess. If you have that mark you've probably got the best bang for you buck saw you can buy new.

 

im very interested in buying this saw and decided to inquire ridgid on the problem first. for me the first step to a solution is accepting that the problem does exist.
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I just bought a new saw from HD and it was perfectly aligned when I got It. I just finished setting it up and adjusting the fence to zero and made a few cuts with some scraps I had laying around. I checked with my caliper and it was spot on. I am also new to wood working. I just bought a house in Hawaii and I am in the process of replacing the termite eaten wood in the bathrooms and the kitchens. I am also in the process of setting up my garage for my wood shop. I bought a Festool track saw and a Ridgid 12" miter saw wish I could afford all Festool products but not in the stars. Anyway just wanted to give my 2 cents with the 4512

 

You could always call the manufacturer of the saw you would like and explain to them it is for a school. Give them the budget and see if they will take that for the saw and write the rest off as a donation to the school and have the school give a receipt for a taxable donation . They may just donate the whole thing, you never know.The welding tournaments that I used to work would do this for prizes for the kids. You would be amazed at how many welding supply shops and manufacturers would donate things for the kids and a tax write off. Welding machines and helmets each kid would go home with some nice tools.

 

Was just going to suggest checking into an educational discount.

 

I see this is an older thread which was recently resurrected again but I thought I would chime in as well. I picked one of these up a couple weeks ago. After scouring Craigslist for a couple of weeks throughout Wisconsin, hoping for an affordable higher end saw would become available I finally decided it was time to just get something instead of waiting any longer.

I decided on the R4512 and went into it knowing I might have alignment issues but also knowing that if I did and I couldn't correct them myself, it would be corrected with a drive to Home Depot even if hauling it back there is a bit of a pain. Assembly was pretty straight forward even doing it solo. The fence works well, though I admit I don't have anything to compare it to - but once I got it setup properly I haven't had to do anything like pushing forward on it as some others have noted in order to ensure it locks down square. The saw was perfectly aligned out of the box.

I'd certainly always love to have a better saw, but I'm a single father and my budget is generally pretty tight. This seemed like the best saw my money could buy. Not being a professional, if I have to readjust the fence now and again I'm OK with that. If something breaks while I have the saw and I end up having to haul it to a Ridgid service center to get it fixed I'm OK with that as well.

 

We actually opted for the Delta and have been pleased. I think the Ridgid is also a winner- but only if you get one without the alignment issue. As the OP, I certainly appreciate all the comments and suggestions put forth. I also think it's cool that the thread has been resurrected because it's obviously still a relevant topic to a lot of woodworkers.

 

I just bought one yesterday and it seems to be good right out of the box with the exception of the fence which I adjusted it just took a few try's
One other thing is it runs really smooth just to test how smooth I did the nickel standing on end and turned it on and it stayed upright also they now have a brake on the motor or maybe they always had that