Bill wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote:
Bill wrote:

It wasn't a direct apples-to-apples comparision. But I thought that
the MasterForce 6"-belt x 9" disk sander looked more robust
than the Ridgid, and it was on sale for $20 less than the Ridgid
unit. Here's another fact,
the nearest Ridgid "Customer Service Center" is at a rental-station
store more than 50 miles from Indianapolis. What does that
say about how much they care about their customers?
Good observation Bill but that begs a whole lot of different
questions. Most retailers have a limit on how long you can return a
product to them - usually not for the duration of the warranty. Usually
more like 90 days or so. With Ridgid products, the warranty
is lifetime - even on batteries, if applicable. So the retail
warranty usually means that at some point you are haveing to returen
your product to the manufacturer - and at that, for a limited time. With
Ridgid, it's lifetime, even if that means you might have to
somehow get the product to an authorized repair center. With HD -
who is Ridgid's primary retailer, the normal retail sort of walk in
return policy applies in the same manner as most other retailers. That's
just retail competitiveness. Beyond that though is that very
valuable lifetime warranty. I've used it - I know it works.
The unit in
question has a lot of plastic parts...almost all. The main spindle
on the Ridgid, that runs all of the way the motor is used for every
operation. It is a built-in defect. Also, unsealed bearings.
What do you mean by unsealed bearings? I'm just not sure what you
are making reference to. As for plastic - Ridgid is not low end
consumer junk. I cannot imagine a wear part like a spindle being
plastic, but I may be wrong. Look again Bill at what Ridgid is and
I think you may find your first look might be mistaken.


When you consider that an inital stock of sanding materials could
approach $100, does one really want to "invest" in that unit?
I hope this shows that I did my homework, if nothing else.

Well, I think you certainly did do some of the homework required,
but I'm not sure you've seen things as they really are.

I've got plenty invested in my examination so far. I understand how
things are for me, as well as many other types of users.
I've have read every review on the product that exists. I really
don't want to discourage anyone else from buying the product (sorry,
if it sounded like I was doing that). I don't like every brand of
guitar as much as everyone else either (I won't mention those).
I like parts that don't slip--including tuning pegs! ; ) What have
you got against Jet's JBOS-5? It was $416 in November.
Admittedly, it's more than twice as heavy as the Ridgid. See, now
whether you view that positively or negatively depends on the type of
user one is.
I will say that as an edge sander, the Ridgid is poorly designed. I
believe it started out as an OSS and then they thought of "adding a
new feature".
Go with what you like!

Cheers,
Bill

I think you missed everything I was trying to say Bill. I agree that you
should buy what you want because of what's important to you and that's the
last I have to say.

--

-Mike-