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Good benchtop sander for many projects
I used to own a smaller 4×36 bench-top sander with a 6-inch disc, but the belt and disc areas were just too small. This 6×48 inch version has the surface coverage I like (a 6×13.5 inch belt work platten, and the disc is a 9 incher) and I have used it a LOT to smooth a variety of wood surfaces. The belt is easy to replace, and although the unit is normally hooked up to my dusc collector (which is configured to just blow dust out into my natural-yard area) it actuall scavenge...
Powerful corded drill for serious users
I picked this drill up at Lowe’s for $119 quite some time ago when my wife decided I would build an extensive wooden walkway network out in our yard. Since such things are going to have to be built out of pressure-treated wood I knew I would need a powerful drill to push 1/2-inch bits through wet lumber. I had already drilled lumber like that for a deck job some years back, and I will say that the 3/4 amp drills I had on hand to do the work were stressed by the project considerably. ...
Ridgid 12-volt Drill/Driver
I already had a large and heavy 18-volt Ryobi drill/driver when I purchased this unit, and I wanted something lighter. I still have the Ryobi, which is a fine tool, but if the job is not too demanding I will pick up and use this smaller Ridgid model. Consequently I use this thing a lot around my shop and I must say that it has surprising power and handles very well. I rarely use the driver feature, mainly because I have three impact drivers on hand for that sort of thing (I recently review...
Ryobi Right-Angle Drill
I used this drill in conjunction with a Ridgid right-angle impact driver (also reviewed previously) to install some crown moldings on kitchen cabinets that I installed some years back. My wife and an interior designer she hired made the suggestion and I always follow my wife’s suggestions. The drill was used to help secure hidden backer boards to the cabinet top edges. I had already attached the backers to the moldings out in my workshop. The Ryobi unit worked just fine in that tight...
Ridgid 12-Volt R82233 Right Angle Impact Driver
I have owned this device for some time and never really found a way to make serious use of it until my wife and an interior designer she hired decided that our kitchen cabinets (which I installed several years ago) needed crown moldings at the top. The space between the cabinet tops and the ceiling was fairly tight and a conventional impact wrench would have had problems fitting in to secure the backer boards to which I attached the moldings to the cabinet tops. The Ridgid driver saved the da...
Ridgid JP0610 Jointer/Planer
OK, before I purchased the JP0610 I owned a 30-inch Delta JT160 tabletop jointer/planer. (Shown to the right in the wider-angle photo.) I still have the thing and now store it on a shelf where it can be quickly hauled out onto my shop’s workdeck for rough-and-tumble work that does not involve longer boards. The 45-inch-bed Ridgid JP unit has replaced it as a precision tool (some have complained of table alignment problems, but mine seems perfect in that respect), and of course the ne...
Ridgid BS1400 Band Saw
Note: while this review is of the BS1400 model, the owner’s manual calls it the BS14002. I do not know if the addition of the number 2 signifies an upgrade or is just the full number not listed correctly in the catalog. The earlier “gray” version might have been the plain, old BS1400. In any case, the one being reviewed here is the orange version seen easily at any Home Depot store, usually selling for about $350. OK, this is a pretty basic band saw in the old style. It c...
Ridgid MS1290LZ Sliding Compound Miter Saw
I am reasonably new to woodworking, if one can call getting into it seriously only four years ago as “new.” I will also note that it was four years ago that I retired from a 35-year career at a university library. Once I retired I told my wife that I wanted to get a few tools so that it would be easier to do home-improvement projects. One thing led to another and now I have a workshop full of tools. My woodworking neophyte status notwithstanding, I am not new to reviewing produ...
