Now We Know Everything About the New Ridgid Track Saw
Ridgid Track Saw Review
by Matt Outlaw
One of the most anticipated tools of 2023 is finally here – the Ridgid Track Saw! In this review, I put it through its paces cutting sheet goods and big ol’ thick walnut to see how it performs. I’ll also go over all of the features, and the differences between this and the Ryobi track saw.
Direct links to this saw and other tools discussed in this review can be found at the bottom of this post.
The links to the tools in this review can be found at the bottom of this post. Affiliate links are used on this website to help support the website. For more information, read our affiliate disclaimer. Ridgid did send me the saw to review.
I have been a Ridgid user since 2017 when I bought my first cordless power tools for woodworking. I purchased the Gen 5x drill and driver from Home Depot and I’ve been extremely happy with them and used them a lot. For that reason, I do have high expectations for this saw, and I hope it doesn’t let me down.
What’s in the Box?
When you first see the box, it’s similarly packaged as the Ryobi track saw. But that’s where the similarities end. Everything out of the box feels very high quality. It is a sharp-looking saw, and I was impressed straight out of the box. This feels like a premium track saw, whereas the Ryobi was very underwhelming to me. They definitely went in a different direction than they did with the Ryobi.
Included in the box are two 27.5” tracks which can be mated together with the included hardware that makes a 55” track. That’s important because that gives you the full 48” crosscut for plywood, MDF, or any other sheet goods. However, there is a 60” track as well that you can purchase separately. That means if you connect it to the 55” track, you’ve got enough track to rip the full length sheet of plywood. The 60” is a must-have, in my opinion.
Speaking of tracks, they are not compatible with Festool, Milwaukee, Makita, Powertec, or any others. These are their own proprietary design and that’s not bad if this the only track saw you’ve got and plan to use. You’ll be perfectly fine with this set up. But that also means some track saw accessories will not work with this saw at the time of release, like guide rail squares, etc.
You do get one track clamp with this kit.
The Ridgid Track saw is not compatible with common tracks like Festool, Makita, Milwaukee, PowerTec, or even it’s cousin the Ryobi tracks.
Ridgid Track Saw Features
When you put the two tracks together, you want to make sure you’re using a flat surface like your tabletop. I prefer to use a nice, precision straight edge. They’re fairly inexpensive and it does help get everything lined up. That will make sure your cuts are perfectly straight every time.
Installing the blade is super simple. Like most other track saws, there is a plunge lock that will lock it into the down position. There’s also an arbor lock that you keep pressed to keep the arbor from spinning while you change the blade. This is a standard 5/8” arbor so you’ll be able to use any 6.5” saw blade. I really like that there’s on-board tool storage.
One thing I immediately noticed was the riving knife. Now, a lot of saws have riving knives, but one of the complaints I had about the Ryobi saw was the riving knife stopped it from being a true plunge saw. On the Ryobi, the riving knife comes down ahead of the blade, meaning it will contact the wood before the blade does. The Ridgid performs like the Milwaukee where the riving knife comes down behind the blade so that it doesn’t interfere with any plunge cutting that you’re going to do. This is a riving knife that’s implemented well.
Ridgid’s riving knife operates independently of the blade, so you can use it for plunge cutting.
Ryobi’s riving knife drops with the blade, and is also under the blade making plunge cutting impossible.
Looking at the features, I mentioned the on-board tool storage, which does include a wrench for the track connectors and one for the blade change. The dust port is a common size that will fit the Festool dust hose (almost). The dust port also swivels. The base is made out of aluminum and the housing is made out of magnesium. That makes the saw really light-weight but also really strong. Without the track you get 2.25” depth of cut, which is awesome.
The depth of cut indicator and depth stop, is really nice. It’s a push-button slider that locks into place at the detents. It works very well. There are markings for on-track cuts and off-track cuts, with the on-track markings indicated by a track symbol. The saw also bevels from -1 all the way to 47-degrees, with positive stops at 0, 22.5, and 45-degrees. To get to the 47-degree cut, you take it to 45, pull a small level, and that will free you up to get to 47. To get to the -1 cut, at 0 you push a slide-button and that will allow you to get to -1.
There’s a cut window towards the front that will allow you to see the blade as it’s cutting. There are some markings on the window, but I’m not sure what those are for. It’s very easy to adjust the saw to the track. There are two knobs that you turn until they’re snug, one on the front of the base and one on the back. You’re good to go; it’s that easy. Between those two knobs there’s an anti-tip button that slides into the track to make 45-degree cuts easier.
Once you’ve got the saw set up on the track for the first time, you’re going to cut the rubber piece on the edge, so it will match your saw blade. This happens on all track saws. It’s the splinter guard, and you want to cut that before you make your first workpiece cut.
Using the Ridgid Track Saw
Breaking down sheet goods is where these tools shine. This is the best application for a track saw in my shop anyway. Making a cut on a big 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood on the table saw can be quite frustrating, and sometimes dangerous. I’m glad that we have these types of tools so that we can break these sheets down fast. The Ridgid worked extremely well.
I was very surprised by the dust collection on board for a couple of reasons. Number One, the Ryobi wasn’t that great on dust collection. The Ridgid is equal to the Festool or the Milwaukee on dust collection. Not kidding. I was frustrated because the Festool hose kept falling out of the port because they’re not an exact match. I would need an adapter to make them fit just right. I was also surprised because the blade on the back side was exposed, not dangerously exposed, but you can see it from the backside of the saw. If they had put a cover there, I think they would have improved the dust collection that much more. I don’t really know why they left that off.
To break down sheet goods, where you measure over to is the backside of the blade. You need to allow for that blade kerf, which is about 1/16”. Once you do that, you’re going to get very accurate cuts. I was able to get 2’ exactly, right on the nose. Breaking my sheet down into four 2’ sections was really quick. I can do it in about a minute and a half, maybe two minutes. Try that on a table saw by yourself, and you’re going to have trouble. This saw has a soft-start motor, which I really appreciate.
Now, I do wish the saw came with two 30” tracks. That way, when you put the two of them together you get 60”, or 5’, of cut like the add-on track is. You have to get the track set just right to go all the way across a 4’ sheet. That way, you have full blade through the material. It’s not that big of a deal but if they gave us just 3” more per track, you wouldn’t have any trouble at all. As far as accuracy goes, I’ve seen zero issues so long as you line them up perfectly.
I’m starting to kind of like the idea of a shorter track now, especially if you’re in a small shop, you’re having to transport these, or you’re cutting anything other than sheet goods (like 2x6s). Just line up your splinter guard and cut. It comes out perfectly square. There’s a nice nonslip material on the bottom of the tracks. Some of the less expensive track saw models are very slick on the bottom, so they don’t stick properly. On the Ridgid tracks, they do.
To see how much power this saw had, I cut through a big ol’ piece of 1.75” thick walnut. I did feel it lagging a little bit, but this is a big piece of walnut. Even the Milwaukee started bogging a little bit. Not as much as the Ridgid, but the Ridgid had enough power to power through it. The battery did get warm while I was powering though it, but it cut through just fine.
For the cut quality, there was a little bit of burning from the blade, but it was exactly 90-degrees all the way down. Everywhere I checked was a perfect 90-degree cut, and you can’t ask for more than that. I think if you changed out the blade for a better quality (or a true ripping blade) it would likely perform much better for this type of cut. Most stock blades aren’t that great anyway and the one that comes with this saw is meant for cutting sheet goods. I would likely buy this ripping blade to use with this saw.
To test cutting on a 45 degree bevel, I used a 2x6. The battery went dead about halfway through the cut. I changed batteries and restarted. After the cut I checked the 45 with a square it was perfectly 45-degrees all the way down the length of the cut. It was dead on. I love that they put that anti-tipping feature on this saw just for these 45-degree cuts. At that angle you’re cutting about 2 1/8” all the way through, so it does tax the saw quite a bit, but it worked just fine and powered through the cut. This saw doesn’t have variable speed, but I didn’t really miss it. I very rarely adjust the speed on my track saws.
Ridgid vs Ryobi Track Saw
There’s a whole list of features that are better on this saw than on the Ryobi. First off, the base on the Ridgid saw is aluminum whereas on the Ryobi is plastic. The housing around the blade of the Ridgid is magnesium, and again it was plastic on the Ryobi. The riving knife here is the upgrade of the century between these two saws. It plunges with the blade here but was fixed on the Ryobi. That makes the Ridgid an actual plunge saw. You can start your cut in the middle of a workpiece.
Ridgid Track Saw Max Cut Depth 2.25 inches
Ryobi Track Saw Max Cut Depth is 1.94 inches
The depth of cut is also deeper on the Ridgid at 2.25” versus something around 1.94” on the Ryobi. The Ridgid depth scale has markings for both on-track and off-track cuts, whereas on the Ryobi there weren’t dual measurements. The depth of cut adjustment is much better on the Ridgid because of that push-button slide, which I love. It’s similar to both the Festool and the Milwaukee. It just works better than the wingnut-style on the Ryobi.
There is a clear window on the Ridgid with measurement indicators. This gives you a visual representation of how deep you’re plunging just at a glance. The RPMs on the Ridgid are also higher at 5,000 RPM versus only 4,300 on the Ryobi. Also, the Ryobi did not have the anti-tip feature. The Ridgid track saw has a swiveling dust port whereas the Ryobi dust port was fixed. On bevels, the Ridgid had detents at 0, 22.5, and 45-degrees, whereas the Ryobi only had positive stops at 0 and 45.
Cons of the Ridgid Track Saw
There are a few things I wish were better on the Ridgid. Hopefully they can be improved on in a future version. First is the use of their own proprietary tracks. I’m told that’s to make sure everything fits like it’s supposed to and cuts accurately. When you start mixing and matching tracks and saws, I have seen where it could throw things off. That’s perfectly fine as long as you’re staying in their system.
I would like to see the next version have a tiny bit more power. This one has plenty, but just a tiny bit more would be nice when cutting thicker lumber. Variable speed would also be nice to have.
Battery life was fair. I think if you’re just cutting sheet goods, you’ll be perfectly happy with the battery life. When you start getting into the more demanding cuts, like cutting thicker woods or cutting bevels, that’s where you’re going to run into battery life issues if you don’t have 8-amp hour batteries or more. I’ve got the 6Ah batteries and they work well, but you do need the High Output here. I think the lower output batteries, while they’ll be fine, won’t give you as much “oomph”. Ridgid recommends 4Ah or better, but I would say 6Ah or higher would be better, and even 8Ah would be ideal.
I understand why they went with the smaller tracks, but I do wish those were 30” versus the 27.5” just so you can get the full 5’ of cut. I have really started to appreciate the smaller tracks to make smaller cuts. It’s handy to have that and not have to balance a longer track on a small piece of wood. I’m sure the smaller tracks are for better shipping and packaging but give us 30”. C’mon.
One more negative thought. I think the dust collection adapter port should be just a little bit deeper. I can’t get the Festool hose all the way in there. I’ll get an adapter for it, and I think it’ll work perfectly fine then.
If you were to ask me if you should get the Ridgid or the Ryobi, hands down get the Ridgid. You will be much happier. Full disclosure, they sent me both the Ridgid and the Ryobi. I was not happy with the Ryobi. You can check out the Ryobi Review I did a few weeks ago for more details.. I’ve since passed that one on to someone who thought they could use it for sheet goods.
Ridgid vs Milwaukee Track Saw
Now, if you’re looking at Ridgid versus Milwaukee or Festool, I think that’s where you might nitpick things you would like to have on the Ridgid that are on those other models. Some of those features are variable speed, a little more power, the full-size tracks, compatible track accessories, and better battery life. Milwaukee comes in a packout. Festool comes in a systainer. Those are nice to have, so just weigh your options when deciding what track saw is right for your shop.
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in the Ridgid saw if you choose to go in that platform. You also get the lifetime service agreement, which can’t be overstated. I actually had to use that on my trim router. They fixed it free even after 5 years, so that was nice.
Ridgid Track Saw Price and Availability
So how much is the Ridgid Track Saw? It’s going to retail for $399 for everything you saw me pull out of the box. I don’t even want to call this a budget saw, but at this price range this is the best budget track saw you can buy at this point. It’s better than the Kreg, which I was recommending previously at this price point. Take it with a grain of salt because they sent it to me, but on my YouTube channel I’ve reviewed the Kreg, Festool, WEN, Milwaukee, Ryobi, and now this one. This is my pick for anything under $400. If you add in that 60” track for another $99 retail, you’ve got a screaming good deal for just under $500. Come on!
This saw is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2023 exclusively at The Home Depot and will be selling about a month after that. So looking at August 2023 to actually purchase this track saw.
Final Thoughts
I think Ridgid did a good job on their first offering into the track saw world. Could it be improved? Of course. But at this price point for what you get, it’s going to be hard to beat. What do you think about the new Ridgid Track Saw? Let me know in the comments below.
*Tools in this Review
Ridgid Track Saw - releases July 24, 2023 for $399
Ridgid 60-Inch track - releases July 24, 2023 for $99
Better Track Saw Blade - https://amzn.to/44ed4Xp
Ridgid Max Output Batteries - https://homedepot.sjv.io/eKnM5g
Ryobi Track Saw - https://homedepot.sjv.io/3edEKy
Milwaukee Track Saw - https://thetoolnut.sjv.io/x9eDyy
Festool Track Saw - https://amzn.to/3riwegp
Kreg Track Saw - https://amzn.to/3reOirM
Precision Straight Edge - https://amzn.to/43eOu7m
You can watch the full video review here - https://youtu.be/5eSVe2fGHSY
Greatest Free Gift I've Ever Received: http://story4.us/731Woodworks
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Written by:
Matt Outlaw. Content creator and woodworker at 731 Woodworks
