Ridgid R4520 Difficulty Raising or Lowering Your Blade? (Could be your Riving Knife Bolt)
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- Опубліковано 30 бер 2021
- You may like this video: • Ridgid R4520 Squealing...
People have been reporting issues with raising and lowering the blade on their Ridgid R4520 table saw.
In this video, you will see inside views of the table and the areas of concern as described below
It turns out there is a common cause for this difficulty among most who have reported the issue either directly to me or on various forums.
The most common culprit seems to be the riving knife bolt that attaches the arm holding the riving knife that goes through the trunion and tends to get caught or stuck which in turn puts pressure on the lower arm bolt and the steel plate that holds that bolt in place.
When enough pressure is applied it will bend or wreck the lower arm plate attached to the trunnion.
Some people on the Facebook Ridgid R4512/R4520 Table Saw Owners Club Group have suggested switching out that upper arms bolt with a longer one and adding a spring to allow that bolt to move more freely.
I don't recommend that type of change.
The bolt on my saw is loose enough that I can turn it/move it freehand but still tight enough to hold the riving knife snug against the trunion to keep the riving knife stable when cutting wood.
Having that bolt too loose or spring-loaded may cause the arm to sway, in turn, let the riving knife move while you're cutting.
The best suggestion I can make after using this saw for almost a year is to clean out those grooves where the bolts slide on a regular basis and make sure there are no metal burrs or nicks in the trunion slot. Those can be removed with some sandpaper. Use a dry lube (affiliate link below) to keep everything slide freely.
**Remember to follow all safety precautions provided by the manufacturer anytime you are working on your table saw or any other power tools.
Thanks
Paul
DustyWorkbench.com
#woodworking, #Dustyworkbench, #Ridgid - Навчання та стиль
Thanks for this video. I had this exact problem and the video led me to the fix. The plate seen at 1:03 in the video was indeed bent. I wacked on it with a stubby screw driver and hammer, and, wow, it straightened. But, my gosh, soft/thin metal or what! But, the real issue was the jamming of the bolt seen at 1:16 in the video. The bolt is a bit loose, as is needed, but it shifts and gets jammed during up/down movement of the blade assembly. I had my wife turn the handle to raise and lower the blade while I held the bolt from the right side by gripping the nut. Indeed, as long as I keep the bolt loose and perpendicular to the slot, the assembly would go up and down smoothly. As soon as I let go, the bolt would tilt a bit and the assembly would jam. So, voila, that's the problem. I replaced the bolt with a slightly longer bolt that has space for a spring between the washer and the nut. I also added a washer on the left under the head of the bolt. The spring pushes on the right-side washer and keeps the bolt perpendicular to the slot and thereby prevents jamming. The assembly now goes up and down smoothly. Touch wood on how long I'm back in business, but the saw is now usable. Thanks again for an excellent video.
We're happy to hear that the video helped you figure out the issue for your saw. It is a common problem. Fortunately we haven't had that level of problem with ours...yet ;)
Scott, can you share some more details/pictures on what you did to fix (temporarily)? Do you have pictures? I'm on my second saw with this problem and the only option is to wait until next years to get the part or swap machines again.
Thanks for the content. My R4520 roving knife was binding pretty bad. I took some 320 grit sandpaper to the channel the guide bolt sits in and it worked like a charm!!!
Great tip, I may add it to a follow up video in the future. Happy woodworking!
Awesome!!! Thank you for this video!!! Look forward to any more fixes or tips you have for this saw!!!
Thanks, will do!
I waited 3 months in the repair shop because of this issue, Rigid eventually sent me a new saw cause there was no parts to fix it. When I went back to the repair shop the tech had 7 more in line for the same reason. He told me the quick fix is preventive maintenance, blast it clean with air after every use. I’m going on year 2 without any jams.
It's unfortunate that they have issues with this product. When it works it is not a bad saw for the price. Fortunately we have not had major issues as some reported..knock on wood. We use it daily and only clean it out every 2-3 months, when we remember. We really should set up a maintenance schedule for all our tools. So making a listed schedule is now on our list of things to do. ;)
I've just spent some quality time with a mechanic dealing with the raise/lower mechanism on my 4520. My saw had stripped out the teeth of the curved toothed plate (the term is "gear rack") that the "threads" of the hand-turned screw shaft mechanism travels along to push the blade assembly up or ease it back down. It acted up quite suddenly, started to jam almost exactly one year after I bought it. Even though I took things slowly when it started to jam, it didn't improve. Worse still, something in the mechanism was causing the belt to come loose and the saw to run free. Turns out when the teeth of the curved gear rack started to register the screw improperly, it allowed too much travel in the screw and the nut holding the belt taught would hit the armature holding the whole kit and caboodle and jar the belt loose. Apparently the teeth not messing properly had been going on for a long time with literally no sign, so when it let go, it all let go. Some pretty iffy engineering on this saw I would say. I wouldn't buy it again. Going to be $200 at least to fix an $800 saw that has seen steady but not heavy work.
I will add my own theory of how the teeth of the curved gear rack. F As I cut with the 4520, sawdust landed on on the teeth of the gear rack, and I think this got harder packed all the time, until the threads of the screw shaft began to jump out of the gear rack were turning against the top of the teeth, wearing them away. At some point it skipped over the teeth it was supposed to be registered to and pushed the whole assembly forward till the bolt holding the belt tight was dislodged.
If you have one of these saws, it is a good idea to have a dust removal system and to check the gear rack often. Using a (here come some capital letters) DRY lubricant is not a bad idea, like graphite, but DON'T use a wet lubricant which may make the sawdust cake even worse.
That is unfortunate! It seems from the comments I get that the level of issues varies from some having minor to others having full out failures. :( So far we've only had minor issues, mainly due to our own lack of maintenance or plugging it in a power bar.
Very good review. I bought the R4520 earlier this year and returned it to Home Depot soon as this problem happened. That plate was bent somehow and the blade wouldn't lift up or down. It is very flimsy and Ridgid did not seem to care when I called them. They gave me 2 options, one was to return it, the other was to send it to service and then pick it up when done. When I called up the service centre, the guy in there worked alone and the earliest he would take the saw in was in 8 weeks! I decided to do one trip with the saw which was to Home Depot for a return. During my conversation with Ridgid's CS, I told them about the thicker-gauge plate from the 4512. The guy never heard of it! In general, it was a good saw for the price when it comes to accuracy after I calibrated the fence with the miter slots and the blade.
It's unfortunate that this saw has this problem. As you said, all-in-all it's good saw for the price. It would be nice if Ridgid acknowledge the issue, fix it for future saws and send a new, stronger plate for current owners. We build furniture as a side business and if our saw were to break down we would not be able to wait around to get it fixed. At that point we'll probably move up to a more expensive cabinet saw. It has meat our needs so far and haven't had any of those major problems happen to us. So we'll keep on using it until it dies and see from there. Cheers Paul
That's the point I'm at now. Grizzly, or shop fox entry level cabinet saw. I picked up MY THIRD 4520 a few weeks ago, and after several hours of setup, I think my bearings are already shot!! This is a saw to avoid. IMO, if you are trying to save money, but use your saw professionally, go for a contractor saw ( ridgid models are actually decent here, and cost efficient), or for a bigger table save up for a bigger cabinet.
I recently purchased a new R4520 which had just as you described difficulty raising and lowering. When I got into it I found the riving guide twisted up like a pretzel. Upon further examination I also noticed the riving riser is made of stamped steel. The steel is a good hardness. The issue is the direction of the stamping puts the sharp edges against the aluminum arbor which causes excessive ware. While I had the riser out, I filed the rough edges smooth.
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the video. I’m not having issues with raising or lowering blade. But larger pieces or plywood would get bound up pushing through the saw. At first I thought it was my blade. New blade still doing it. I then adjusted top set screws on riving knife. Multiple times. COME TO FIND OUT AFTER WATCHING THIS VIDEO I DONT EVEN HAVE THE TOP GUIDE BOLT😅. I don’t know if I fell off at some point or never came with it… I’t could’ve fell off and ended up in the shop vac.
Oh no...I hope you were able to get another bolt to replace it and fix your binding issues.
Thanks for video. A query what is the difference with the circular saw R4512?
Not too much. There are noticeable changes to the switch and fence. I made a video of the differences I was able to find here --> ua-cam.com/video/TqORyMM-FYY/v-deo.html
Yup, i;m 4 weeks into service center wait. When i dropped it off there were a half dozen 4520's sitting in a row for mine to join.
That is too bad :( i hope they can fix it fast so you can get back to woodworking.
For years I used an old table saw that had no riving knife. It worked fine. What would be the problem with simply removing whole troublesome assembly? Not sure what the advantage of a riving knife is.
It really helps to avoid kickback action if your wood tension decides to squeeze the blade as you cut through your board. At one time I had an old Beaver saw without a riving knife and I had too many close calls for my liking. I can do without the cover and try to wear a face shield to avoid having blade teeth flying in my face but the riving knife stays in place for me.
@@DustyWorkbench Thanks for your reply. I will bow to your experience and leave my riving knife in place, although a majority of my cuts are resaw and I need to remove it anyway. Turns out my problem was in the guide slots anyway. Cleaned them up and works like new.
Pieter Van Eyk
I would like to know how I can replace the plate in question. I removed the 3 bolts holding it but could not remove it, because there is a bolt going through the slot which is stopping it. the only way I can see is to remove the main bracket (which is holding the riving knife) but this bracket is held by a snap ring to the main arbour shaft. I tried to remove the snap ring with snap ring pliers but it is to tight. an other problem I have is, that when I raise the saw blade to cut wood thicker than about 1 inch, the driver belt slackens and the blade stops turning. I can only cut 3/4" plywood. I can not figure out the problem.
Thanks for your video. please advise.
Hi Pieter, so far I have been lucky and have not needed to change that guide plate. From my understanding, you do need to remove the snap ring that holds that riving knife guide arm on the arbor. Then remove the 3 bolts that hold the guide plate in place. Fixing the riving knife plate may fix the issue with the belt loosening. Some people state fixing the plate issue fixed their belt loosening problem.
sounds like the bolt should have a can follower
Yes, a cam follower bearing in the groove would be perfect.