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13K views 28 replies 20 participants last post by  WestcottMitch 
#1 ·
New Ridgid R4511 table saw

Thanks to some advice on the forums as well as some great reviews and piles of other useful stuff about a variety of table saws, I decided on the Ridgid R4511.

Of course, it helped that there was a sale this weekend…perfect timing.

Given I'm not unnaturally gorilla-like, I opted to have HD deliver the 450lb package.

The saw arrived today…what a marvel of packaging this thing is…whoever figured out how to package this saw up should make puzzles too…the box could not realistically be any more efficiently packed.

So far, I've only managed to open it up and remove the obvious loose parts and give the granite top and wings a once over to make sure everything looks ok.

Since I'm juggling a few things at the moment, I'll be stretching out the assembly of the saw over a few days or so. Stay tuned for the first cut!

I was extremely impressed with the fact that there are people out there (here?) who actually photo-document the entire process of unpacking, organizing and assembling this saw. I at least know that I won't have to struggle too long if I run into any problems…the LJ helpdesk is always here. :)
 
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#2 ·
I Have this same saw and love it. You will be very happy with it I'm sure. If you check the ridgid forum it has some great advice on how to really set it up. Don't follow the instructions to a T. There are things that are not right in there.
 
#4 ·
I have this saw too. Of course, I got it when it was $600. Worth every penny. I've used it extensively since July 09' and love it to death. I'm looking forward to putting an Incra LS - TS system on it in the next month or so.
 
#5 ·
The Ridgid R4511 is built!

It took probably 4 hours total to unpack and get it all put together, but definitely worth the effort.

Given what I've been working with for so long, I can see why people pay the money for a big heavy table saw. I turned it on and it just hummed…what a beautiful sound. AND…I could still hear the radio!!! I can even imaging continuing a conversation with this thing running.

This coupled with moving my dust collection outside the workshop is going to huge for keeping the noise down.

I only had time for one quick cut…but it was nice and smooth, no effort what-so-ever. I can't wait to start cutting something for a project.

Before I get too excited, I've got to get the saw in it's semi-permanent position up against the workbench.

This saw is quite a bit bigger than my old saw and will require me eating into my bench space a little. I'll get some workshop pics uploaded after I get the new saw in and the workshop cleaned up. I've been stuck with the remodeling bug in the workshop for a little while and haven't quite got everything sorted out. That and I've got a couple of projects on the go…plus my buddy who does woodworking with me also has some bits and pieces in the shop at the moment.

For anyone with one of these smaller saw, I highly recommend the setup I have in these pictures, it was very useful for me have the extended table on the left and the big outfeed bench behind it. The dust collection underneath it was nice too, I used it as a separator with my shopvac and later updated it for a 4" hose to the dust collector.

Here's the old saw in it's place, with the recycling bin dust collection box under it.



Out with the old…..



....and I've got some work to do before I can say 'in with the new'....but here's the new saw anyway:

 
#6 ·
As someone who doesn't own any TS at all. I would be quite interested to hear, first hand, some of the advantages of your new saw. You mentioned that it create a much nicer environment. Do you anticipate that it will give you superior cuts (implying something was going wrong with the old ones)? You seemed to suggest it was smoother and easier to cut, no? Visually, it's clear that you've got a more substantial piece of machinery! Congratulations!
 
#19 ·
Finally posting my workshop

http://lumberjocks.com/Woodcanuck/workshop

Finally sucked it up and just took some pictures of the workshop. It's a mess….I know, it's in transition and I figure I'll post some updated pictures when I'm further along with the cleanup/reorganization.

I've been juggling trying to get some things fixed up in the workshop, try to get some woodworking done and try and get some home renovations done. So far, the renovations are winning…but I'm fighting back.

This workshop has evolved a lot over the years. It started as a Black and Decker workmate bench and a jigsaw. As my wife will attest to, the workshop seems to keep expanding (like the universe, or my waist…depending on who you ask). I've got it to a workable state now and also have lumber storage in a rack outside the workshop (within the garage) that is hiding behind a pile of home renovation materials. Once that work gets done, I'll be able to clean up the rack and include a picture. If I took the picture today it would look a lot like a big box aisle…drywall, toilet, tub, doors….just have to remember that I did this to myself.

I'm totally open to comments, criticisms and suggestions. I think half the fun of woodworking is building the workshop and buying the tools that fill it….so I might as well celebrate that I've still got play time to get it the way I want it.
 
#21 ·
Woodworking with kids.

I've noticed lately a few discussions about woodworking with kids. Lots of discussions about safety and the concerns about workshops being the least safe place in the home for a child to be. In addition, there were lots of great stories reminiscing about spending time in Dad/Grandpa's workshop, Grandparents sneaking their grandkids out to the workshop to have some fun. Last friday produced an opportunity test out some of these discussion points and help me find ways to bond with my daughter on woodworking activities.

Summer hours are great, I get friday afternoons off and with my wife and daughter at home we've been trying to make good use of the extended weekends. I normally try to spend saturday's doing some woodworking or home renovations, but with the nice weather we're also trying to get out of the city and spend time up north, so it was awesome to hear my wife suggest that I go out to the workshop friday afternoon. I opened the invitation to my daughter (just turned 10) to join me and help me out with the Marble Tower project.

Typically my daughter groans at the idea of a trip to the big box hardware store or Lee Valley or much much worse, a lumber mill so I was delighted when she decided to trail out after me.

I thought about the discussions that have been going on online and decided to test them out a bit, starting with safety equipment:
Eyes: Getting eye protection on is easy enough and we even have kid sized safety goggles…but keeping them on is a challenge, they come off quickly and tend to stay off. So, this means I try to avoid any power tools.
Ears: Kids have much better hearing that us oldsters do, and the sensitivity to machine noises is obvious. Hands go to ears quickly at loud noises, so getting the big earmuff hearing protection on was easy and it was something she was willing to keep wearing as long as there was any noise. Even the drill press running was reason enough to throw them back on.
Lungs: Getting a dust mask that fits well and stays on…big challenge. This is a big problem. Even if a kid is willing to wear a paper mask or proper dust mask or respirator, they don't fit well enough to be really effective. So, anything dusty has to be locked down with really good dust collection at the source and avoided if possible. The ambient dust extractor goes on and stays on in hopes of keeping the fine dust to a minimum.

Based on this, and the obvious fear/caution around using any power tools (though she kind of likes the drill press) I decided to focus on how to introduce hand tools into the equation.

I'm personally fearful of shoving a nice sharp chisel (or worse yet a dull rusty one) into the palm of my hand, and I was equally concerned that a child would do this much more easily. I decided to try out a block plane. I didn't see too much risk in using this and to my surprise, she picked it up remarkably fast. After a few swipes across an old strip of cedar, she actually reached for my old jack plane and with a gleam in her eye, she set to work making bigger shavings. She attacked the board with gusto making long thin shavings and building up a pile on the workbench.

Here's what that ended up looking like: video link
After a few minutes of this she had removed close to 3/4″ of material and made a rather large pile of shavings, which of course we have to save to use as tinder for the campfire on camping trips.

I never really expected my daughter to get that into woodworking, but I can see the spark of interest and think I will have to fan the flames a little and see where it gets us.

Epilogue: Since this happened, we've had a couple of trips to the workshop where my daughter has helped out with tidying, sorting, cleaning and once the bench was to her satisfaction, back to more planing. We've even ventured to try using a carving gouge (two handed approach only to keep things in tact). An added benefit of this is that as I am explaining the safest way of doing something and the 'correct' way to hold a tool, I'm realizing that over time I have allowed myself to get sloppy with my own safety, so we're both learning.
 
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