I seem to find myself wondering why Ridgid hasn’t really expanded their distribution base besides home depot? Why not woodcraft, rockler or amazon or any other major retailers? A lot of their tools are really reasonably priced and fairly well built. I recently bought my second tool from them, a 13″ planer and have been very satisfied with it. While it’s not a 20″, it’s a bit cheaper than the dewalt and I saw no reason to spend more to get the dewalt other than the dual speed. Their cordless drills seem nice as well, haven’t had much use of them and I own one of their miter saws. Wondered if anyone had any insight? Decent tools, good warranty, great price, where is the flaw here? Want to purchase a new jointer soon and I’m between the delta and the Ridgid…
Thanks.
Replies
As I understand it Rigid is a home brand of Home Depot so they can't go anywhere.
There is a long term marketing agreement between the licencees/manufacturers of the Ridged brand and Home DepotHowie.........
Don't forget the lifetime warranty....includes batteries I was told by the guy at HD
Yeah figured, they have a lot more potential. I feel their tools are geared more towards contractors and their tools also more towards field work than shop use, but they are still a real bargain for what they put out. And the lifetime warranty is an added bonus.
I always just assumed that Ridgid was a Home Depot brand put onto tools manufactured by someone else (like Craftsman). Even if Ridgid was an independent company, what would they gain by going to other stores? You already have a HD within spitting distance of any street corner. Everybody knows they are at HD so they would probably not pay a premium elsewhere.
Let me see if I can remember the genesis of Ridged stationary and portable power tools.For years, Emerson Electic made almost all of the Sears stationary power tools and Ryobi made almost all of the Sears portable power tools.In the 1990's Sears decided to source the Emerson Tools to Ryobi. Emerson, to keep their business, continued making the same tools and entered into an agreement with Home Depot to sell them. Emerson, who owns Plumbing tool company Ridgid Tool Company, decided to use the "Ridgid" as a brand name for the stationary power tools they were making for Home Depot. A couple of years later, Emerson decided to lincence the manufacture of the stationary power tools to a new asian company Techtronic Industries of Hong Kong. TTI's brands include Milwaukee¯, AEG¯ and Ryobi¯ power tools and accessories, Ryobi¯ and Homelite¯ outdoor power equipment and Royal¯, Dirt Devil¯, Regina¯ and Vax¯ floor care appliances. Emerson licenced not only the Ridgid name to TTI but all the manufacturing and marketing. TTI, through Ryobi, began the manufacture of the Ridgid stationary power tools and initiated a new line of Ridgid portable power tools. Some of the portable power tools were manufactured by some european companies. Emerson has final responsibility for the brand.Howie.........
A wicked web if I ever saw one.
Remember when you could make some assumptions about a product based on the brand?
I am not making a value judgement either way. I'm just one of those nerdy types who is facinated by the constantly changing dynamics of the marketplace.
Thanks for the history Howard.
Jeremy
San Diego, CA
It's all Bush's fault!
H. A. , you hit the nail (all of the nails) on the head. I have trouble recalling all of the names. Two points for the buyers -1-TTI it appears leaves the big names alone to run their piece of the market ie. Homealite/ Milwaukee. 2 -look out for the Ridigid / Roybi big full steel table saw as I saw the floor model at HD with a white metal bracket to support the splitter and blade guard snapped off just from store traffic. The original /Sears type that I have mounts a heavy stamped steel bracket with splitter, anti kick backs and guard. Those with the Sears / Roybi saws may find some of the parts cheaper from Rigid as I did, Check the specs.. The square headed bolts to mount the fence rails from Ridid $1 + s&h, from sears $2.19 +big s&h or $2.97 ea.--it's the same fence. Pat
Your account is the way I remember reading about it. I'm not sure who approached who though. At about the time Sears bounced Emerson, CEO Nardelli (out of GE) was looking for ways to expand HD business. So they may have approached Emerson to produce a line of tools exclusively for them, much like they approached Scott to put their name on a line of lawn mowers for HD. He was also the guy who got HD into the appliance business.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Don't hold me to it, but I think that Ridgid is basically the former Craftsman line of products, made by Emerson Electric, before Sears went elsewhere for sourcing. I remember some litigation about table saw designs between Ridgid (HD) and Sears a few years ago. This is probably stale news now. I have also heard that the Ridgid portable tools are basically Ryobi, and that HD owns a controlling interest in them. too. For what its worth, I have not heard bad things about Ridgid, considering their moderate pricing. It will never be confused with Festool, on the other hand.
Don't know about the other tools, but the Ridgid contractor saw is basically the Emerson Sears design with upgrades to the fence, belt, mobile base, amd adjustment cam. Since both Emerson and Ryobi made the Sears contractor saw, it's no surprise that the Ridgid resembles it.
Definitely overlooked. I'm very pleased with the Ridgid ROS and Ridgid SCMS rolling base that I got.
Pondfish,
I was wondering about your experience with your Ridgid ROS. Have you had any problems with it?
I have the 6" ROS I bought new in the box and has about 2-hrs of run time. After useage on some 20' long shelving, and kept the bag and housing empty and compressed air-blown clean, it suddenly stopped. When I turned it over, I can see a rubber belt-thingy that seems to be what's binding the orbital pad.
Any experience and ideas? Thanks,
Bill
Re: Ridgid ROS
I have the 5" ROS and it works great. I especially like that I can hook up my shop vac hose to the dust collection port without any adapter. The carrying case and cord wrap are nice features, too.
I have also owned the PC333 and Ryobi POS; the PC is the one that died on me after 3 months of use. The electric system just got flakey and finally quit altogether. The Ryobi does not have a hook/loop base and is a wimpy POS.
Sorry about your problem -- I'd return it.Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
Morning Bill..
I purchased a Ridgid 6" ROS several months ago when my PC finally went south. At that time it was made by Metabo in W. Germany. They were switching to Chinese made and and after calling 5 HD's locally (Atlanta) found the Metabo buried under new Chinese stock.
I have only about 2 hours on mine at this point (fall signals getting serious at my shop) and no problem, but that is not a very good gauge. Is yours the older Metabo or the Chinese? And if you could reply on how HD currently handles the warranty of repair would be a plus on any future considerations from them.
There 13" planer seems to still be a very competitive consideration even though I run a Delta 2 speed and am happy with it's performance for several years. But as much as I run through a lunch-box planer, none will last forever.
Regards...
SARGE..
Sarge,
How do you know which 6" sander model is the Metabo?
I did return the 6" ROS today with the original receipt. There was no problem, but there could have been... The original cash register tape that Home Depot uses a THERMAL paper tape.... Purchased in December of '03, the tape was fading badly.
There are several things I'd say are "Things to Check For" when purchasing Ridgid or any power tool from Home Depot.
1. Xerox your original sales slip so it won't fade out. The new employees only know about the "3 year" warranty and not the "Forever Warranty" of tools purchased on or before December of 2003...
2. ALWAYS check your tool purchase BEFORE you buy it. I mean, take it out of the box and give it a good exam!! Maybe, even plug it in!! Several times I have found that an alarming number of the employees don't know what a NEW tool is supposed to look like when it's returned. With rotating schedules of department employees and supervisors, who's to know when they are put/slipped BACK on the SHELF and sold as new when they are damaged or just plain BUSTED.
3. Just because the tool's carton is sealed with the tool manufacturer's "Security Tape", it doesn't mean it hasn't been opened. I've seen a Porter Cable Router box where someone had placed a layer of 2" wide clear packing tape placed over the original seal-tape. You had to open the box, then closely and directly look before you could see that. On closeout for $100, the "sealed in the box" 2hp Porter Cable plunge router was DEAD as a doornail. The HD store had it repaired at no cost to me. But even though the Warranty Repair Service is only 60 miles away, during the first months Black and Decker bought Porter Cable, it took almost 2 months to get my repaired router back. I was told by the store's assistant manager that both enities were fighting about who was going to handle the warranty costs of past sold tools.... For everbody, I hope that the parts/repair time has improved!
Bill
Bill, we are now under the power of the corporate bookkeepers who know their estimated price of everything and the VALUE of nothing. Sooner or later the CEO's will realize that the finance clowns have no business sense and are destroying their company. IE. Sears parts cost 200 to 400 % more than the street price for the same hardware but that division's accountants price the goods to accomodate the profits of that division.
Who knows what bad news B & D will have for PC and Delta? Pat
Bill...
The model is R2610 and is still on their web-site. When you get to the store you will probably see it even on the shelf tag, but look at the box. What you will probably find is R2610 and I think a P or some other letter behind it as I forgot.
The best way is to look at the side of the sander itself. Right under the RIDGID is made in W. Germany. I believe the other one has China or is omitted on the sander, but clearly marked Made in China on the box. They look almost identical just glancing, but if you could compare, the Chinese have added their version of here today-gone tomorrow metal and the slant of the vent slots is different!
You might get lucky and find one, but probably all W. German stock is cleared and all that is available is the newer "oriental version". I'm not saying something quality can't be made in China, I just haven't seen much yet in the smaller hand-tools to convince me of that.. ha.. ha...
Regards...
SARGE..
Sarge and Bill, I was prospecting in a HD near my place on Long Island(we have 5+ with in a 15 min. drive, they are as bad as Starbucks) and I picked up a 2610 the German Ridgid for $89 as the tool guy realized that the new model is a 2611 from China. The 2610 shows up on line for $139 but both are $129 in the store. There is no 2611 online and both share the same SKU(barcode), they both have all of the same features but are designed differently. No knob to tighten the front handle, the random orbit shift is now a push thru the handle button L&R just in front of the trigger lock, new one has a dust skirt around the disc and the bag is smaller with a small shop vac size port on the outside and a 1 1/4 nub in the center and no bag tray.
The guywas great as he just dropped the old one in the new box when he put the new one on display but now I need the proper bag, owners book and parts list and I cant find the 800# for the order tree for their parts (I have it in my place in TN.- no help here) there is NO contact info in the new book, unlike their old manuals. I will return the new bag and book this week so someone dosen't get stiffed, they are no good to me. If you folks have that 800# please give me a shout. I stopped in another HD on my trip home(I told ya that we are falling over them here) when I realized that I had no 6"discs but the 3 #80 in the box. I still have none they had no stock and I have a short section of red wood fence to dress up before staining but this store in Farmingdale had two NIB 2610's on the bottom shelf. Thanks. Pat
I thought I had put my owner'w manual in the big plastic file case under S... nope! Here somewhere to be found this week-end. But here's the other poop. And BTW.. I'm in Atlanta at HD hq. and there's a HD on every corner as Waffle House. ha.. ha...
http://www.ridgid.com 1-888-539-1710
You need sandpaper.. Klingspors Corp. Hickory, N.C. 1-800-228-0000..
Anything you need.. any size shape or form.
Regards...
SARGE..
Sarge, thanks for the # I just ordered the bag, it's rack, a new pad and she will print out the book and parts listings and mail them to me as I don't do pdf's till I get a PC bug fixed. Total $22.67, still a good deal. Ya know I think that I saw " a few" Waffle Houses in East Tn. on my last trip, HA. It's strange but they just opened only the second Lowe's by me -I think in all of L.I.- and it's a biggie. Pat
Oh, I use Klingspor for belts for my big PC and the bench belt/disc. Good stuff and good sale prices. pfh
Edited 9/29/2006 8:36 pm ET by PADDYDAHAT
Isn't Ridgid a part of Emerson Electric?
In a nutshell....yes.
>> Isn't Ridgid a part of Emerson Electric?The answer is "yes", and maybe "yes".Emerson Electric owns Ridgid Plumbing Tools and it is operated as a subsidiary of Emerson Electric.Ridgid Stationary Power Tools and Ridgid Portable Power Tools are licenced to Techtronic Industries of HongKong who contracts with their wholly owned subsidiary Ryobi to manufacture the tools branded as "Ridgid". Emerson Electic only owns the "Ridgid" brand name. Emerson has no ownership of TTI or any of their subsidiaries.Howie.........
What a world we live in. One has to wonder if the same company makes the products we buy under different names. What's next?
In many cases numerous brand name tools roll off the same assembly lines in Asia. For a while many of the prominent 6" jointers came from the same factory...Jet, GI, Grizzly, Sunhill, Woodtek, Bridgewood, etc. I know that Jet and Griz now have 6" jointers manufactured in China. Many of the popular contractor saws come from the same plant....GI, Grizzly, Bridgewood, Woodtek, and I suspect the PM64a. Take a look at some of the bandsaws, stationary planers, etc. What varies is often the attachments/accessories, motors, handles/knobs/switches, and some will say even tolerances, but once a process is setup to hit the tightest tolerance and is running in control, it's likely the end result is fairly predictable and consistent from brand to brand until you get into a company that accepts and retails potential rejects.
i have the rigid ts, 3650 i believe is the number. it can be spun on a dime and it is the only reason that i can have such a large saw in my narrow shop. the lift mechanism is a simple design that is absolutely fabulous. can't say enough good things about the lift. so far, i love the ts itself as well and for $550, it is a real bargin.
G. I almost had a 3650 and they were out of stock but the tool mgr. at one of the 5 home despots near me said that he would give me 3% off the retail on the floor model as he had to pay a kid to put another together when they came back in stock. Not a good businessman ya think? If you think about it, it had scratches-a little shop worn- stains on the top and I had to pull the fence/rails. drop both steel wings, drop the motor, remove the saw box from the legs to get it in my truck then put it back together again and clean it up. He on the other hand would have had a shiney new display piece.
I walked into a sears hardware outlet a few days later just as they were starting to bring in the big display of washers -dryers -refrigerators etc. and were trying to make space by reducing the big tool area. I picked up their Ryobi version for $385 and then went to home dopy and bought the Hercules lift system . You are right, it's the best jack up wheel system that I have seen. I also put one under my 6 1/4 joiner and the band saw. Pity they NEVER put it on sale. All the best, Pat
yes, the hercules lift is phenominal. one note on the 3650 ts assembly: i see your point, but here's one to think about. it took me about a full work day to put the dog gone thing into working order! having one already assembled is a nice feature. now, ready for the backpeddling catch 22, i wouldn't want a floor model either. you just don't know what the public may have done to it while on the floor.
I like their warranty and have used it with no problems
To date i have purchased the portable table saw and stand, the ros , ID, thickness planer,edger, spindle sander ,bandsaw wth riser block,12" chopsaw with portable stand,2 sizes of vaccuums all have worked quite well to date touch wood.
wow dude, you're the spokesman for rigid! i have a couple of the shop vacs and all are working quite well too.
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