I appreciate you not doing one of those sloppy unprofessional reviews that are so common on TH-cam. And I appreciate you taking the time to actually give some specs, instead of just opening the box and saying it seems like a pretty solid tool. It baffles me that so many people think doing that little is something worth making a video of. But, please consider this. One of the worst things about TH-cam reviews as a whole is that when some people give a negative review on a product based on their inexperience or because they made a mistake that caused an issue with the product, they rarely ever have enough integrity to take down their review or edit it to address their mistakes and change or remove their improper initial opinion. Because leaving up a negative review that isn't accurate actually causes damage to a company that may not deserve it. I hope that you will read the comments from some of your viewers that have much more experience with this tool, and give the tool a second chance (with a replacement tool) taking some of their advice when using it. And, only if appropriate, remove the negative review, If you find that the premature failure was because of a mistake in it's use. Ridgid has been trying hard to expand their line, and they make quite a few really good quality tools, and they have the best warranty in the industry (the only one that I am aware of that replaces batteries for life). But, they have a disadvantage in a way to many of the other brands because they are exclusively sold by Home Depot. Which means they don't have the same exposure to as many people as the other brands that can be seen at multiple retailers, so they can use as much honest help from customers as possible, to get them more exposure, and give them the ability to afford to expand their line for all of us. If the premature failure wasn't because of a mistake in it's use, then of course you shouldn't remove the negative review because people need accurate warnings about faulty equipment to protect them. Also, putting a thumbnail up that says "Don't buy it", that can influence someone's decision in a way that can harm a company just by seeing it, even if they don't actually view your video to hear you say that you lack experience, is kinda wreckless. You might want to consider removing those words from the thumbnail, even if you don't change the review, so that people have a chance to hear all of what you have to say, including that you lacked experience, before they decide to take your advice not to buy the tool. Have a great day.
How much material were you taking off? The machine sounded like you were taking off a LOT. I’ve had mine for 6-7 years and haven’t had any problems with it.
I've owned my 4331 for approximately seven years, and it's still performing well. The issues encountered could be attributed to manufacturing or operator error. Generally, this planer doesn't tend to have many problems in my experience.
If you don't prepare the lumber correctly before planning ( surfacing one side) then you are not being fair to rigid or any other thickness planner. They will all operate the same way till you learn how to process lumber correctly. I have owned this same planner for a few years now and I have only had a problem when I expect the machine to take off too much material.
To be fair. Were you trying to take off too much material in one pass? Did you surface one face first? You say in the videos your not woodworkers, so not taking the proper steps to milling your rough stock could lead you to thinking you can just pass the rough lumber through the planer thinking it’ll be flat in one pass. Or that you have to take off a lot of material to get rid of a cup or twist. Well that’s really not how that planer is supposed to work. that planer works by referencing an already flat surface to make it parallel to the reference (already flattened) surface. Then you can take light passes to achieve the desired thickness of board. My guess is you were trying to just get to a desired thickness without a reference surface and when the boards came out your like”we need to take off more”. Thus stressing the machine and breaking it. Just a thought🤔
I had the same thing happen to my Ridgid 4331 planer. I am also not a woodworker. My process was taking less than 1/16th of an inch off with each pass, flipping the boards between each pass. When I opened the side, one of the gears had sheared off two of its teeth. There is a QC problem with these planers.
The "incorrect", or rather non-optimal method you assumed they used should not break a tool within an hour of use. There should be no such thing as "taking off too much material", because the tool should allow only allow you to remove as much material as it can handle. If your tool can't take some rough handling, you shouldn't be in the tool business. While they may not be woodworkers, neither are their viewers (woodworkers don't use this brand), so the advice not to buy is sound. Non-woodworkers should buy tools that can take a bit of rough handling and not fall apart within an hour.
Im a woodworker and I use ridgid pretmich exclusively because of the lifetime warranty. I think that you are making assumptions which can make you a what.... ridgid is great product! Just use them correctly. And yes you can try to take off too much material. Grizzly, Dewalt, jet, and ridgid are all the same, try taking off too much causes problems @wainivanua
I have the same model and have used it for more than 5 years with ZERO feed issues. Your infeed and out feed technique and process is way incorrect. You need rollers at the correct height on both sides to ensure the material does not angle upwards or downwards as.it travels through the planer. I suspect that is what caused the roller issue. My largest job was over 2500 board feet of 2 x 6 x 16 material. I had rollers placed so the material was FLAT and in the same plane as the cutting surface (inside the planer itself). One of the weaknesses of this planer is the light aluminum infeed and out feed ramps. They are adjustable which helps but they could have been made out of stronger material. In their defiance, this is a bench top planer and is designed to be stored and moved around the work space. It is unfair to ridgid and your followers to give an opinion when your experience and knowledge is not sufficient to actually operate the planer. You did a disservice to everyone with your lack of knowledge in woodworking.
That board was cupped you need to flatten one side on a jointer first, you were asking too much of that planer. On a wide board even after flattening one side you need to take very shallow cuts.
I have owned mine for over three years and I love it. I have had no issues at all. Now, if you are rich with unlimited funds, then yeah you wouldn't like this planer. For those rich guys go buy your big Grizzly floor model planers.
This one works fine. The guy doesn't know what he is doing and didn't use it as intended, taking way too much off in one pass, trying to plane a cupped board etc.
Another guy not following the required steps and trashing a product The planer is like mine with literally tens of thousands of BF without a single issue DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO PEOPLE WHO EITHER HAVE AN AGENDA, OR CANNOT FOLLOW ELEMENTARY DIRECTIONS
That sucks! Thanks for the review! I always look at Amazon's Negative reviews and if there is consistent negatives, my Mentor Murphy will show me how that problem works for me. Bargains aren't always bargains?
He was using it the way it was meant to be used people, relax! I had the same thing happen on my dewalt 735 albeit after 2 years of use. The motors in virtually all benchtop planer models are housed in a plastic casing. A common problem is through overheating the plastic melts into the copper of the motor and you start to hear a weird chain dangling like noise. Also, don't be an idiot like me and ruin a $600 tool by constantly using it outside in the prime heat of summer!
SOLUTION?! (1) wax the table (2) clean gum off of the rollers: Maintenance described here th-cam.com/video/P6nDUCasc9U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Er1wiAGp-DSmz_fw&t=1000 I'm surprised that the rollers could gum up so fast, but maybe you had a couple boards with sap or junk on them.
I appreciate you not doing one of those sloppy unprofessional reviews that are so common on TH-cam. And I appreciate you taking the time to actually give some specs, instead of just opening the box and saying it seems like a pretty solid tool. It baffles me that so many people think doing that little is something worth making a video of. But, please consider this.
One of the worst things about TH-cam reviews as a whole is that when some people give a negative review on a product based on their inexperience or because they made a mistake that caused an issue with the product, they rarely ever have enough integrity to take down their review or edit it to address their mistakes and change or remove their improper initial opinion. Because leaving up a negative review that isn't accurate actually causes damage to a company that may not deserve it. I hope that you will read the comments from some of your viewers that have much more experience with this tool, and give the tool a second chance (with a replacement tool) taking some of their advice when using it. And, only if appropriate, remove the negative review, If you find that the premature failure was because of a mistake in it's use. Ridgid has been trying hard to expand their line, and they make quite a few really good quality tools, and they have the best warranty in the industry (the only one that I am aware of that replaces batteries for life). But, they have a disadvantage in a way to many of the other brands because they are exclusively sold by Home Depot. Which means they don't have the same exposure to as many people as the other brands that can be seen at multiple retailers, so they can use as much honest help from customers as possible, to get them more exposure, and give them the ability to afford to expand their line for all of us. If the premature failure wasn't because of a mistake in it's use, then of course you shouldn't remove the negative review because people need accurate warnings about faulty equipment to protect them. Also, putting a thumbnail up that says "Don't buy it", that can influence someone's decision in a way that can harm a company just by seeing it, even if they don't actually view your video to hear you say that you lack experience, is kinda wreckless. You might want to consider removing those words from the thumbnail, even if you don't change the review, so that people have a chance to hear all of what you have to say, including that you lacked experience, before they decide to take your advice not to buy the tool. Have a great day.
How much material were you taking off? The machine sounded like you were taking off a LOT.
I’ve had mine for 6-7 years and haven’t had any problems with it.
I bought the same planer about 9 months ago and havent had issues. Anyway, sorry for your loss hope your next one goes better
Yeah, when I try to take 3 inches off the top on the first pass, it bites me in the ass. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with this world
LOL
I've owned my 4331 for approximately seven years, and it's still performing well. The issues encountered could be attributed to manufacturing or operator error. Generally, this planer doesn't tend to have many problems in my experience.
When u passed the wood, look liked the wood had a bow.
Anyway thanks for review
If you don't prepare the lumber correctly before planning ( surfacing one side) then you are not being fair to rigid or any other thickness planner. They will all operate the same way till you learn how to process lumber correctly. I have owned this same planner for a few years now and I have only had a problem when I expect the machine to take off too much material.
What does surfacing mean
To be fair. Were you trying to take off too much material in one pass? Did you surface one face first? You say in the videos your not woodworkers, so not taking the proper steps to milling your rough stock could lead you to thinking you can just pass the rough lumber through the planer thinking it’ll be flat in one pass. Or that you have to take off a lot of material to get rid of a cup or twist. Well that’s really not how that planer is supposed to work. that planer works by referencing an already flat surface to make it parallel to the reference (already flattened) surface. Then you can take light passes to achieve the desired thickness of board. My guess is you were trying to just get to a desired thickness without a reference surface and when the boards came out your like”we need to take off more”. Thus stressing the machine and breaking it. Just a thought🤔
This ^
I had the same thing happen to my Ridgid 4331 planer. I am also not a woodworker. My process was taking less than 1/16th of an inch off with each pass, flipping the boards between each pass.
When I opened the side, one of the gears had sheared off two of its teeth.
There is a QC problem with these planers.
The "incorrect", or rather non-optimal method you assumed they used should not break a tool within an hour of use. There should be no such thing as "taking off too much material", because the tool should allow only allow you to remove as much material as it can handle.
If your tool can't take some rough handling, you shouldn't be in the tool business.
While they may not be woodworkers, neither are their viewers (woodworkers don't use this brand), so the advice not to buy is sound. Non-woodworkers should buy tools that can take a bit of rough handling and not fall apart within an hour.
Im a woodworker and I use ridgid pretmich exclusively because of the lifetime warranty. I think that you are making assumptions which can make you a what.... ridgid is great product! Just use them correctly. And yes you can try to take off too much material. Grizzly, Dewalt, jet, and ridgid are all the same, try taking off too much causes problems @wainivanua
I have the same model and have used it for more than 5 years with ZERO feed issues. Your infeed and out feed technique and process is way incorrect. You need rollers at the correct height on both sides to ensure the material does not angle upwards or downwards as.it travels through the planer. I suspect that is what caused the roller issue. My largest job was over 2500 board feet of 2 x 6 x 16 material. I had rollers placed so the material was FLAT and in the same plane as the cutting surface (inside the planer itself). One of the weaknesses of this planer is the light aluminum infeed and out feed ramps. They are adjustable which helps but they could have been made out of stronger material. In their defiance, this is a bench top planer and is designed to be stored and moved around the work space. It is unfair to ridgid and your followers to give an opinion when your experience and knowledge is not sufficient to actually operate the planer. You did a disservice to everyone with your lack of knowledge in woodworking.
That board was cupped you need to flatten one side on a jointer first, you were asking too much of that planer. On a wide board even after flattening one side you need to take very shallow cuts.
I have owned mine for over three years and I love it. I have had no issues at all. Now, if you are rich with unlimited funds, then yeah you wouldn't like this planer. For those rich guys go buy your big Grizzly floor model planers.
I might buy a used one off my neighbor. Needs new blades. What's a good price to offer?
Thanks for the in depth review and feedback - I was considering this one and think I'm going with the dewalt one now :)
This one works fine. The guy doesn't know what he is doing and didn't use it as intended, taking way too much off in one pass, trying to plane a cupped board etc.
Thanks for the info.
Well, at least you admit you're not a woodworker. It shows...
Another guy not following the required steps and trashing a product
The planer is like mine with literally tens of thousands of BF without a single issue
DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO PEOPLE WHO EITHER HAVE AN AGENDA, OR CANNOT FOLLOW ELEMENTARY DIRECTIONS
Any tool will break if it's abused. I found the review helpful in that regard.
well that sucks. Thanks for the review.
That sucks! Thanks for the review! I always look at Amazon's Negative reviews and if there is consistent negatives, my Mentor Murphy will show me how that problem works for me. Bargains aren't always bargains?
I bought that deal. I hope mine doesn’t do that
Love mine
He was using it the way it was meant to be used people, relax! I had the same thing happen on my dewalt 735 albeit after 2 years of use. The motors in virtually all benchtop planer models are housed in a plastic casing. A common problem is through overheating the plastic melts into the copper of the motor and you start to hear a weird chain dangling like noise. Also, don't be an idiot like me and ruin a $600 tool by constantly using it outside in the prime heat of summer!
Who has time. You’re in a hurry so you shouldn’t be doing woodworking.
SOLUTION?! (1) wax the table (2) clean gum off of the rollers: Maintenance described here th-cam.com/video/P6nDUCasc9U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Er1wiAGp-DSmz_fw&t=1000 I'm surprised that the rollers could gum up so fast, but maybe you had a couple boards with sap or junk on them.