Well shut the front door! My Rikon 10-325 is put together and making sawdust!
After a unpleasant experience buying and returning a Craftex, I was leery about my new Rikon.
It arrived two days ago and I’ve been putting it together a bit at a time. This evening I finally finished it.
From reading LJ’s comments about this saw, I expected the instructions to be crappy and I wasn’t disappointed. The black and white pictures are not clear, with arrows pointing to who knows what. I got frustrated a few times and just walked away. I know that Ikea is a bad word on this site, but those folks know how to write instructions!
I ran into an issue with my shopfox mobile stand. To be able to open the door on the base of the saw, the saw needed to be higher, or the wheel configuration on the shopfox changed. I didn’t want to raise the saw any higher than it was and the wheel configuration was what I wanted. So after some humming, hawing and muttering, I decided on this:
I decided to put a bag of concrete in the base, reattach the door and not use the base for storage at all. This way the saw is as low as possible and the concrete lowers the centre of gravity somewhat.
Once I had the saw together, I started adjusting the table, fence etc. Keeping in mind that I only used a bandsaw perhaps twice before in grade school (we were the first class of girls allowed to take some shop classes) I didn’t find it that bad.
I tried my first cut with the 5/8 blade that came with the saw and ended up with a rippled cut. I lowered the tension, readjusted the upper roller guides and voila!
I grabbed a block I had glued up in a quilt pattern awhile ago and took some 3/4” slices off it.
Then I took down a piece of walnut (I think) and resawed it to 5/8” for a trial box. You can see the results, nothing is glued together yet.
The dust collection port doesn’t have the grill over it as some of you had shown, but there is a piece of metal half blocking it. The sawdust doesn’t seem to be even going in that direction anyway. I’ll worry about that tomorrow.
And the ever maligned lamp is in fact completely useless.
The fence was easy enough to adjust and square up, but it does remind me of the fence on my Bosch table saw – once it’s set it’s fine, but it doesn’t slide smoothly into place.
For the price I paid, I’m happy with my purchase already. (and for the record, it’s prettier than the craftex)
So thanks to all of you who posted about this saw and those who answered my questions along the way.
It’s Friday, I’ve used my new bandsaw – time to raise a glass and toast the newest addition to my shop.
-- No, I don't want to buy the pink hammer.
25 comments so far
ShaneA
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4013 posts in 796 days
#1 posted 138 days ago
Congrats and good luck with the saw.
woodworker59
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496 posts in 399 days
#2 posted 138 days ago
okay so now I’m wanting a new band saw… looks nice, let us know how you feel about it in a couple weeks after giving it a real go.. I have been looking at the Rikons for a while myself, just have not pulled the trigger yet.. so will wait for your critique… congrats congrats…Papa
-- Papa@papaswoodworking.com
Bagtown
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1637 posts in 1928 days
#3 posted 138 days ago
Cheers to the new addition from Fort Mac!
Mike
-- http://www.heartofsackville.ca/
Handtooler
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438 posts in 330 days
#4 posted 138 days ago
I’m so glad for you. Enjoy! Obviously, I’m envious, as I’m using a 1975 Craftsman 12 in 1/2 hp 1/2” Olsen blade for re-sawing 5” or less.
-- Russell Pitner Hixson, TN 37343 bassboy40@msn.com
gfadvm
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6910 posts in 888 days
#5 posted 138 days ago
Congrats on defeating the perverse instructions! Looks like you got it put together just right from your sawing results. You will have a lot of fun with this and it is really rewarding to make some boards from firewood. Have fun and WORK SAFELY!
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
patron
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12172 posts in 1539 days
#6 posted 138 days ago
MOM’S ON THE MOVE !!!!
look’s like those lessons years ago paid off
here you are with some wood re-sawn already
CONGRATULATIONS
work those kinks out one at a time
(most tools have them)
wax on
wax on
wax on
your tea time is coming up
-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle
DocSavage45
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3021 posts in 1040 days
#7 posted 138 days ago
HEY NOW YOU CAN ADVISE SOMEONE ELSE!
-- Cau Haus Designs, Thomas J. Tieffenbacher
Sandra
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1488 posts in 273 days
#8 posted 138 days ago
Thanks folks – and Papa, I’ll update in a few weeks.
Doc – that might be dangerous…..
-- No, I don't want to buy the pink hammer.
DIYaholic
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7582 posts in 873 days
#9 posted 137 days ago
Enjoy your glass of cheer!
You went through so much, to get to this point, a little celebration would be WRONG….
A HUGE CELEBRATION is the only right thing to do!!!
Looking forward to seeing the projects emanating from your new shop addiction, err addition!!!
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!
Jamie Speirs
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3721 posts in 1054 days
#10 posted 137 days ago
Glad that you have it all working, now you can get to know
the machine, they all have their own quirks that you get used to
Love the bag of cement for ballast. I had a bag of cement in the
front of my old VW beetle for years. That was 40 odd yrs ago.
Jamie
-- Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
redryder
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1616 posts in 1299 days
#11 posted 137 days ago
Wouldn’t you like to meet the management person who approves some of these instructions????
Don’t get me started…..............
-- mike...............
whitebeast88
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2045 posts in 388 days
#12 posted 137 days ago
congrats on the new machine,glad this one turned out better than your last bandsaw.
enjoy.
-- It don't have to be straight,it's just a suggestion!!!
Julian
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294 posts in 888 days
#13 posted 137 days ago
Good idea on the bag of cement in the bottom. I had a couple of close calls when moving my bandsaw. It is definitiely top heavy. Enjoy your new BS. It will cut even better with a good quality blade.
-- Julian
joein10asee
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1789 posts in 204 days
#14 posted 137 days ago
Good for you. Now you can put that sour experience behind you and concentrate on getting to know this saw. Then we wanna see what comes out of it! (insert applauding smiley face here)
-- Perform A Random Act Of Kindness Today ... Pay It Forward
Manitario
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1857 posts in 1080 days
#15 posted 137 days ago
Congrats! Glad it was worth the wait after the frustration of your Craftex. You may want to get a new bandsaw blade though; if it’s like most that come with bandsaws it will be crap. A good BS blade will take very little effort for you to push wood through…
-- Rob, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
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