Ryobi RTS10 ‘Benchtop’ Table Saw – Comments On
cahudson42
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I recently bought an inexpensive ($129) RTS10 Benchtop Saw from Home Depot, after previously owning an older BTS10. Some thoughts about it:
I use a Festool TS55 track saw and MFT 1080 for everything I can. All crosscuts that exceed the 5 1/2 inch capacity of my chop saw. Rips of anything over 3 or 4 inches up to 4 feet. All sheet goods breakdowns. A great, easy to use, safe saw! This perhaps is the one Festool worth its exhorbitant price. And the only saw I’ve used worth 5 stars. (Sawstop excluded – which I can’t afford…)
My problem is: longer, narrow rips. The TS55 is a real pita on those. So thats really my only requirement for this saw – narrow – say up to 6″ max rips up to 8′ long off a max 12″ stock but usually 6″ stock or less, 2-4″ rips, 4′ long. No plywood – only rips in pine, cedar, a bit of maple and cherry.
I previously used the older BTS10 for that. Terrible, terribly dangerous saw! The splitter never lined up. The fence was never parallel. The wood jammed and raised up, tempting me to push harder and harder. So bad last week when I used it on some 5/4 x 6 cedar to rip in half for an ADK chair, I swore I would never use it again. To assure that, I dissasembled it completely the other day, saved the hardware, and threw out everything else at the dump.
Now the replacement: I spent many hours looking at the Dewalt 345/344. Skils. PC 220 Rexons, Rockwell, Bosch 4100/30xx, Ridgid, Makita whatever. Absolutely everything Up to $500 that I could move. Downloaded and read all Instruction Manuals I could find. I went to Home Depot and Lowes with square and digital gauges. Looked at everything. My conclusion – with the possible exception of the 344 and 4100 -they are ALL EVERY ONE JUNK!
So I bought the cheapest junk – this.
It is much better than the BTS10. I think the change to powder coated steel is actually an improvement over the crude and lightweight AL castings and fence of the BTS10. Wax the surface with paste wax.
It is much better than the BTS10. I think the change to powder coated steel is actually an improvement over the crude and lightweight AL castings and fence of the BTS10. Wax the surface with paste wax.
Underneath, the RTS10 is more massive. However, unlike the BTS10 or RTS20, the bevel adjust is NOT ‘rack and pinion’. Parts of the RTS10 manual infer that it is. It is not. Loosen the bevel lock and the saw swings free. (At first I thought it broken – but underneath there is no sign – or provision for – any bevel rack or pinion.)
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The BTS10 splitter was a horror – the RTS10 riving knife is far better.
I did replace the stock blade with a Diablo 1040A. (Save the stock blade for recycled wood – with possible nails. Hit one – no big loss). I then spent 1/2 day squaring and aligning everything. Aligning the riving knife with the blade was necessary, but to be fair – the Diablo kerf is .098 while the stock is apparently .103, so this was not totally Ryobi’s fault. But It also was either misaligned (at an angle to the blade) at the factory, or shifted in shipment. Packaging is minimal. The styrofoam block that supposedly cushioned the main mechanism was shattered. The blade also was not parallel to the miter slot (off by .030 front to back). Even after loosening completely the four alignment screws (pg 31) I could not get it all out. I expect it was already at the limits of its adjustment. (I was able to compensate by ‘misaligning’ the fence so it locks parallel to the blade. But of course this makes the miter slots even more useless.
Ripped some of my cedar decking, and finally was comfortable doing so (with an outfeed table). I’m going to put a 1/4″ plate of MDF or a bag of some sort between the saw and stand, sealed with foam tape, and rig up a dust port/cleanout port for my shop vac. Plus a permanent 4′ outfeed extension.
One day, if I ever have enough ‘leftover money’ I will get a Sawstop. But for now, its my TS55 for most everything, except long narrow rips with this thing.
Word of advice: This is still a cheap ‘junk’ saw. Keep the riving knife, pawls, and guard on it at ALL TIMES. It is light. The stand is a bit flimsy. The table is small. The motor screams. Ryobi saved 3-cents by deleting the rubber feet of the BTS10, so don’t use it on a surface you don’t want marred. The blade is Chinese junk with itsy-bitsy carbide teeth (replace it), and Keep your fingers. Zero dust collection. Hard to give it more than Three Stars.
Conclusion – I doubt you can do better for $129. Even $200. You are not going to build a Bombe chest with it, or a Queen Anne Highboy – but for Pine stuff, outdoor stuff, construction ripping, anythng crude – its OK.
Replies
aligning riving knife and blade
I know this is an old post, but you seem to have accomplished something I'm trying to figure out on my same model Ryobi saw.
The manual talks about fully extending the "outfeed support" prior to adjusting the riving knife. But I don't think it even has an outfeed support?
Also, it's not real clear on which screws you must loosen to adjust the knife. I'm thinking it's the two hex-key screws at the back?
thanks for any insight.
neal
Seeing as it was old then and you posted this question 3 years ago, I assume he took that stuff off and didnt keep all 10 to reply again... Also did you ever solve it Neal?
thanks, Justin
Seeing as it was old then and you posted this question 3 years ago, I assume he took that stuff off and didnt keep all 10 to reply again... Also did you ever solve it Neal?
thanks, Justin
Perfect for small jobs. Was very pleased with how lightweight it is and the power it has. Wished I had bought this saw sooner with all the remodeling we're doing.
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