I decided to post a review of my Rikon.
I just bought my machine back in March of 2007. Woodcraft had a weekend discount, plus free freight so I jumped at the deal. I saved $75, just on the freight.
I've had an old Taiwanese machine for many years, but I figured I owed myself a new saw, So I did a lot of research, & decided on the Rikon.
Now I have to decide on what to do with my old saw, because it still works.
The saw comes with about the lousiest manual, for such a nice piece of machinery.
The pictures are very unclear.
I called Rikon right after I got the saw, & they said they were working on a new manual.
They've been kind of slow about it, because I haven't seen a new edition yet.
I haven't had a chance to use it much yet, but the times I've used it, have been very favorable, meaning Man, do I ever like it.
Heres some things I've found out about this machine so far.
After setting it up, the first thing that happened to me, was when I hit the start switch, nothing happened it blew out the circuit breaker. Now what? I tried a couple more times with the same results, so I called Rikon, he asked what size breaker I had. I told him 20 Amps. He told me to go to 30 Amps, because of the heavy starting load, even with the motor being rated less than 20 Amps. I change too 30 Amps, "problem solved".
Since I made this review. I've had a chance to test it on some projects. & I'm very satisfied with it.
I recently re-sawed some 9" Maple, & it sliced it like butter, with no blade drift whatsoever.
I had a question about the blade guide setting, I didn't think they were right, so I did some checking, & now I use the thickness of a dollar bill for blade clearance setting,
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I like the large highly finished cast iron table, & an excellent fence.
The heavy cast iron wheels run very smooth.
The inertia in the wheels allow it to coast almost 30 seconds after shutting down. That also helps with the power with heavy work loads.
The windows for tension adjustment, & centering the blade are also good features.
Blade check window.
There's one thing I discovered with the dust collector port.
It has a steel baffle welded about 1/2" in front of the hole. It stops the air flow, & it did a poor job of sucking away the dust.
I called Rikon ,& they said it was a safety feature specified by OSHA, to prevent getting fingers in the wheel spokes.
I suggested drilling holes in the plate would allow air flow, & he agreed with me. He said he'd pass it on to his engineers.
This is the dust port with the holes drilled in the baffle.
I put a board between the wheel to prevent damage to the wheel.
I have completely removed this baffle since this picture was taken, & now I'm much more satisfied. I've noticed in advertising their latest model, they've relocated the dust port. They must have gotten complaints about it from others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a review of this tool, by Fine Woodworking."
I just bought my machine back in March of 2007. Woodcraft had a weekend discount, plus free freight so I jumped at the deal. I saved $75, just on the freight.
I've had an old Taiwanese machine for many years, but I figured I owed myself a new saw, So I did a lot of research, & decided on the Rikon.
Now I have to decide on what to do with my old saw, because it still works.
The saw comes with about the lousiest manual, for such a nice piece of machinery.
The pictures are very unclear.
I called Rikon right after I got the saw, & they said they were working on a new manual.
They've been kind of slow about it, because I haven't seen a new edition yet.
I haven't had a chance to use it much yet, but the times I've used it, have been very favorable, meaning Man, do I ever like it.
Heres some things I've found out about this machine so far.
After setting it up, the first thing that happened to me, was when I hit the start switch, nothing happened it blew out the circuit breaker. Now what? I tried a couple more times with the same results, so I called Rikon, he asked what size breaker I had. I told him 20 Amps. He told me to go to 30 Amps, because of the heavy starting load, even with the motor being rated less than 20 Amps. I change too 30 Amps, "problem solved".
Since I made this review. I've had a chance to test it on some projects. & I'm very satisfied with it.
I recently re-sawed some 9" Maple, & it sliced it like butter, with no blade drift whatsoever.
I had a question about the blade guide setting, I didn't think they were right, so I did some checking, & now I use the thickness of a dollar bill for blade clearance setting,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I like the large highly finished cast iron table, & an excellent fence.
The heavy cast iron wheels run very smooth.
The inertia in the wheels allow it to coast almost 30 seconds after shutting down. That also helps with the power with heavy work loads.
The windows for tension adjustment, & centering the blade are also good features.
Blade check window.
There's one thing I discovered with the dust collector port.
It has a steel baffle welded about 1/2" in front of the hole. It stops the air flow, & it did a poor job of sucking away the dust.
I called Rikon ,& they said it was a safety feature specified by OSHA, to prevent getting fingers in the wheel spokes.
I suggested drilling holes in the plate would allow air flow, & he agreed with me. He said he'd pass it on to his engineers.
This is the dust port with the holes drilled in the baffle.
I put a board between the wheel to prevent damage to the wheel.
I have completely removed this baffle since this picture was taken, & now I'm much more satisfied. I've noticed in advertising their latest model, they've relocated the dust port. They must have gotten complaints about it from others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a review of this tool, by Fine Woodworking."