Are Home Depot's new line of Ridgid line of tools any good? (1 Viewer)

[James W. Johnson]

I dont shop HD much anymore these days since a Lowes moved into town.
I decided to check out the tools there the other day and noticed a bunch of Ridgid power tools that I had not seen before. Most notably a seemingly well built jigsaw and several sanders. It looked like most of them were made in Germany.

Has anyone given these a try yet?

The 5" random orbid sander @ $69 is really nice and this caught my eye...



I may go back there today and ask if I can try it out.

 

[Darren_T]

To be honest I haven't used any of their tools but I've heard that they are a fair value. I've been into woodworking for many years so I have some bias in my selections but I have listed a couple of my selections below, compare the prices and see what suits your needs.

Jigsaw: Bosch
5" Random orbit: DeWalt
Router: Porter Cable
Cordless drill: DeWalt 18v
Palm Sander: DeWalt

By no means am I claiming my selections are the absolute best but they have been good tools for me and I have had a good track record with those brands. If the price of the Rigid is more attractive to you then by all means, buy one and give it a try. If it performs well for you then you may want to give another Rigid tool a try.

Be sure to consider longevity in your choice... hard to do that if you want to buy several at a time though

 

[Cam McFarland]

I dont know about a "new" line of RI(D)GID tools, but RIGID
has been around a LONG time........

 

[James W. Johnson]

I dont know about a "new" line of RI(D)GID tools, but RIGID
has been around a LONG time........
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..


Oh did it used to be spelled without the D?

 

[Cam McFarland]

Well, as far as I remember. When I was a kid, our lumber yard used to have a pipe cutter, & I sure remember it as being spelled RIGID.


I am afflicted with CRS though, so use my info at your own risk....:frowning:





























CRS.......Cant Remember Shit...........

 

[Wayne Ernst]

It's spelled Ridgid. - I ran out and checked my vacuum cleaner. Also, the following link has the whole selection of Ridgid items and spelled with a "D". Cam, maybe your lumberyard had the cheap knock-off version and it was mis-spelled without the "D" - (just kidding of course.)

Late last year when H/D rolled out these new Ridgid tools, they were offering a lifetime limited warranty on the tools. I didn't have a need for anything new, so passed on the purchase. Shortly after that saled ended, I started researching tools and came across a site where there was lots of talk on the new tools. Sadly, I didn't save the link, but the general consensus was that they were pretty good. Also, believe it or not, but they are made by the same company that makes Ryobi tools.

http://www.ridgid.com/

 

[Chris Keen]

Okay...

I have the 5" Random Orbital Sander. It is actually a very nice ROS. I like it better than the DeWalt, and equal to the Porter Cable 333 variable speed ROS. FWIW, the same parent company that makes Ryobi tools also makes a lot of the Ridgid power tools. Some of the Ridgid power tools are made by the same parent company that makes the German made Metabo tools. Depending on what you're looking at, the quality is anywhere from good to great.

As far as what caught your eye, that 5" ROS is pretty dang good. I like mine a lot. The 6" is basically a copy of the 6" Metabo, and it is fantastic, but the price category goes up a lot on a 6" ROS. Also, it might not be aparent, but on the Ridgid 5" ROS, when you remove the dust bag, you'll notice both a housing for a 2.5" and a smaller dust shoot connection for hookup to a shopvac. Using my Ridgid shopvac (which is a great value, but not nice and quiet like a Fein) it does a great job and leaves very little dust to be consumed by my lungs.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Chris, I've gotta check out the Fein vacs. Sounds nice. Also, my Ridgid seems awfully quiet compared to the old Genie that I had before. At least with the Ridgid, I don't have to wear my ear plugs like with the Genie.

 

[Mitch N]

You know surprisingly Black and Decker makes some decent power tools for the money. I like their 14V cordless drill, jigsaw, and plunge router.

I do have some other things like their corded drill, and 4-in-1 sander. Those items although decent, I think I could have made a better purchase. The drill has no torque, and the sander is just a convience of being 4-in-1

 

[Dave Poehlman]

And they put out a great calendar every year!

 

[Mike Keith]

I have a few on the new Ridgid tools and I think they are very good. The Ridgid rep was at a home depot that I was shopping at and while talking to him he told me the new line was being made by Emerson Tool company, the same manufacturer that used to make the old line of Craftsman tools, but their contract ran out with Sears so Rigid booked them for their tools. It's still Ridgid’s tool designers that send the specs to Emerson though, and as someone else mentioned I believe Emerson also makes Ryobi tools as well.

 

[Mark gas]

Isn't Ridgid HD's house brand?

 

[Wayne Ernst]

For tools, yes they are Home Depot's house brand. However, Ridgid also has a presence in the area of pipe cutting equipment and their brand is sold by professional plumbing suppliers to contractors.

 

[Cam McFarland]

I told ya so......lol, I guess it is Ridgid...

 

[JustinUnder]

I would have to say that both Dewalt and Bosch lines of tools are hard to beat. I looked real hard at the Ridgid 12" sliding miter saw as well talked to others about it and it seems like a lot of their tools are large and bulky, and it's not like they are priced much cheaper. They do make a real nice 13"planer I'll give them that.

 

[Curt Badry]

I just bought a 10" Ridgid compound mitre saw and i love it. There laser system is very accurate and nice to use. The whole saw is 100% accurate with a nice locking system and a quick clamp.The model i bought also has a solid aluminum table extension which i find to be very nice. I find it to be twice the saw compared to my old one (Delta).

That's my $0.02

 

[Dennis_H]

I picked up the Ridgid 5" random orbital sander this weekend. Works great and seems to have very good build quality. Even using just the dust bag was pretty good, but hooked up to the shop vac worked very good. I sanded the sides and faces of all my kitchen cabinets and ended up with very little dust in the house. I can't believe I've used my little Makita quarter sheet sander for so long now that I've used this. Hand used to go numb with all the vibration, but this works great.

 

[minhG]

wow good timing for me, i need to pickup a sander myself!

was there a reason you went with the ridgid? i think the Dewalt one is the same price and the Porter Cable one is $10 cheaper. Just curious why you picked Ridgid over the other two?

anyone want to speak for (or against) any of these? what about the ryobi one which is half the price of the ridgid and dewalt!!

 

[Dennis_H]

The Ridgid had variable speed and the Dewalt didn't. My HD didn't have the Porter Cable. I had looked at the Ryobi and had it in my cart since they couldn't find the Ridgid at first, but the Ridgid seemed to be a better tool. It better be for an extra $30. Dust collection was an important decision too.

I did pick up Ryobi Corner Cat detail sander though. It's OK, but it sure goes through paper fast. The dust collection doesn't seem to work very well. It doesn't use the same hole locations as any of the other prepunched paper, so you use no hole paper and punch it. The holes are too small for much use. It was OK for what I needed though.

 

[minhG]

Dennis_H

thanks for the reply! the HD website is not very clear on the differences between the ridgid and dewalt. Is the variable speed useable?

is the ridgid usable (in terms of dust control) with just the catch bag? i don't have a shop vac, so dust management is a problem for me.