# Orbital Work Horse



## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

Yep this is one nice sander! I'm happy with mine.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Man, that's a lot of sanding!

Thanks for the review.


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## Russel (Aug 13, 2007)

First, my back and knees hurt just thinking about sanding a floor with that. Second, that's pretty impressive work for a sander.


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

I can't believe you did that with a small sander. Impressive!


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

that is a lot of sanding! how long did it take?

its good to see that it can stand up to something as extreme as this. that says a lot and i think that it would be great for any shop usage, thanks for the review.


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## DustyNewt (Oct 29, 2007)

*Teenagewoodworker -* The sanding was done a couple hours here and there on my days off for about a month. I would estimate probably 30-35 hours. Sanding is a meditative thing for me. It is pretty brainless work and allows my mind to work on other things, so occasionally I welcome such a mundane task.


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## grovemadman (Jan 28, 2008)

Very impressive! I was looking at one of these a while back. I can't believe you sanded the whole floor with it - I would have attached it some how to a pole and pulled up a lawn chair and a book. LOL BTW Nice floor, for sure worth the work!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

This is a nice review. I agree with Russel however that my back and knees ache from doing a floor like this. I am impressed that this sander could handle the floor, which looks good by the way. Nice job on both the review and the floor.


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

My update…I bought this sander less than 9 months ago and today it quit. I was really hoping to find a brand that would hold up to professional use. I only use this about once a week so it should have held up. Garbage! PLEASE QUIT BUILDING GARBAGE!!!! It seem to me that tools of all brands in the last 5 years have just gone to pot. Maybe it is just my luck, but I can't seem to keep a tool running for over a year. I've had portacables and dewalts crap on me and now ridgid. Its not like I'm getting stuff from harbor freight. I"M TIRED OF BULL%$#!! Any pros having any luck with other brands?


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

A big job for a small machine but it did it very well.


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## ratchet (Jan 12, 2008)

Isn't the Ridgid warrantied for life? Have you contacted them?


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

They do not cover "normal wear" in their warranty. Did you expect them to stand behind their product? That is a very old fasioned idea.


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## ferstler (Oct 5, 2008)

I have this sander (the model R2610 version) and used it to smooth the finish on a bunch of solid-core, six-panel doors I installed in my place to replace some tract-home hollow versions. It did the job fine. I also used it to smooth the wood on several speaker systems I built for home use. Also worked well there.

I have not used it enough to run it into the ground, but as best I can tell it is solidly built and reliable. Certainly, you ran yours enough to test its durability. That one user has had problems does not determine a standard for reliability, and of course the fact that yours soldiered along doing a HUGE job does not determine a standard, either. Still, I am happy with mine and hopefully it will continue to work as long as I need it. You sure got your money's worth out of yours.

There is now a newer version (I am not sure of its stock number) that has a better dust-collector hookup (I modified mine to attache to a dust collector a bit better) and with a more refined orbit-change feature. Was yours this version or the older one that I have?

Howard Ferstler


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## lumberjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

When you read the life time warantee on the Ridgid web site, it say:

WHAT IS COVERED UNDER THE LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT:
The Lifetime Service Agreement on RIDGID® Hand Held Power Tools, Stationary Power Tools and Pneumatic Tools covers all worn parts in properly maintained tools, including normal wear items such as brushes, chucks, motors, switches, gears and even cordless batteries in your qualifying RIDGID®Brand hand held and stationary power tools; and replacement rings, driver blades and bumpers on RIDGID® Brand pneumatic tools for the lifetime of the original owner. This Lifetime Service Agreement does not apply to other RIDGID® Brand products.

They specify : including normal wear items…


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

I sanded a floor that needed to be touched up when we sold our home. I agree that it is a great workhorse.

Did you play with the orbits. Small and wider.


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## Ecocandle (Jan 2, 2010)

That floor looks amazing. It did a really great job. I am very impressed.

The photos are also very impressive. Great lighting!!


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