Customer Reviews for RIDGID 4 Amp Corded 6 in. Variable-Speed Dual Random Orbital Sander with AIRGUARD Technology

I just finished refinishing my entire home. I rented bigger sanders for the bulk of the sanding. What a dust mess! For those smaller areas I bought this little sander. As soon as I started using it I knew it was the truth. It immediately pulled up difficult to remove paint that I couldn’t get up with the large sander. I love that it has its own lil bag attached to catch the dust too.It’s powerful. Easy to use.Gets in tight spaces for a smooth beautiful ready for stain finish. I recommend 100%

I've had this sander for about 5 years, and used it mainly to refinish the bottom of my boat. It has maybe 30 hours of total use, and worked well until a couple months ago. I was sanding a rust spot on a old car hood, and the sander gradually started to shake & rattle, and over about 10 minutes got progressively worse, to the point that it's unusable and something inside obviously broke. I'm an experienced mechanic, so I took it apart. Found the problem, and am astounded at the cheapness and poor engineering of this sander. It's literally designed to fail with anything more than girl scout use. The photo shows the primary mount of the flywheel/fan to the motor shaft, where the failure occurred. First, it's tiny, with a single small (looks like #8) phillips screw and tiny flats to prevent rotation of the flywheel on the shaft. This could maybe work if the flywheel is hardened steel and the screw is high grade, but NOPE. The flywheel is zinc-based pot metal, which is quite soft and would need a far more substantial mounting surface to be reliable. This is 100% engineering incompetence. I have a lot of Ridgid tools and generally they've been good, but this changes my view of the brand. This tool is barely used, and there's nothing I can do except toss it in the trash.

I build cedar strip boats so the 6 inch sander works well and is a time saver, although I had to buy a second one because the first one had to be sent out for repairs. Also I love the option of being able to connect to a vacuum as dust collector.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I bought this in 2018 and have barely used it. I'm a painting contractor and thought it would be great for sanding top rails on cedar decks and lap siding. I estimate to have used it for 20-25 hours total! I was sanding some cedar lap siding off a 6' step ladder when it shuddered, made a knocking noise, then just came apart while running. What is shown in the picture is all I could find....seems like I must be missing other pieces, but this was all I could find in the bushes and dirt. Felt like something bounced off my chest. Good thing I was wearing safety glasses! A good friend of mine has had one of these for years and never had a problem with it. This is 1 of 2 Ridgid products I have ever bought and guess what....The other one was a 6 1/2" circular saw that had problems almost immediately. The plastic guide lever broke after just a couple uses. So, that's it for Ridgid, for me anyway! I did find a website that sells parts for this sander and the part I think I need is only $17, so I may buy it and try it again. Lessons here: 1) Always wear safety glasses. 2)Always register for the warranty. 3) Never buy Ridgid.

Effective product for woodworking needs-I'm refinishing 100 + year old hardwood floors and needed something that could pack a punch while getting into grooves where commercial equipment fails. My biggest complaint-the hook and loop sanding pad has a limited lifespan. I have a few of these sanders and this is a repeat problem. Notoriously, the hooks and loops wear down, and the adhesive sanding discs go flying across the room. After this happens, the only option is a replacement pad, which, I'm having difficulty finding. Who has/sells them? It's something to consider as this sander unit generally retails around $100 while replacement pads seem to be around $30 each. Over the life of this sander, this cost adds up!

This sander exceeded my expectations. Unless you have a 60 gallon compressor to run an air sander, get the Rigid, you will not be disappointed. I'm using it to sand a tree trunk that will be an end table, and the variable speed makes it really nice to go over curves on a radius edge without taking too many layers off by accident.

Great improvement over the 5” models I’ve been using for years to refinish.

Worked incredibly well for several days but after changing the 7th abrasive disc, the sanding hook/loop pad adhesive failed and it detached from the unit.. major flaw that stopped production and missed delivery on a rush job for the holidays. Probly wont buy again if the parts fail so quickly.. id have maybe expected this after 100 or more discs..

I use this sander just about every day. Haven't had a single problem with it. Works great and I'll invest more of my money in Ridgid tools

Works great and is better than the porter cable sander (the 6 “ one that looks like an angle grinder), but seems to bog down more but, is easier to handle and has good dust collection. Was able to sand in a small shed without the need of a dust mask. The only problem I have is the hook and loop backing pad came off with the first pad change and had to exchange it. Hoping this one holds up better.

Sanded large project glue up nicely. Works great with dust collection. Locking is sensitive..... but you learn quick

So far so good. It has features a $99 sander shouldn’t have. A 6” inch DA sander with 2 orbit settings and variable speed. It also has great dust collection and pretty darn quiet. It does get hot after about 30 to 40 minutes sanding a boat in a 90 f warehouse but by then so am I. I take a break and switch sanders for a bit.

Best all around sander you could own.

This is a bit long , but I felt you didn't look here for a comment like, " I just bought it today and it looks great." I have owned this sander for over a year now. I read the reviews and saw it was close to 50/50 on likes and dislikes at the time. I am restoring a 60 year old rust bucket. I needed to take it down to bare metal and did not have a strong compressor for an air driven DA sander and I'm not having it sand blasted. The sander has worked great for me. I did what some of the online recommendations said and let the sander do the work. It does the job well. I noticed that as the sanding disks started wearing out , I began tilting the sander more on the edge to get better sanding. The problem with that is, it heats up the hook and loop pad which wears it out. I also had to be careful when the sanding pad hit a piece of metal that wasn't smooth. It tears the edges of the disk and exposes the attachment pad. Again this wears out the pad so the disks wouldn't stick along the edge, which ended up being fine because the sanding pads are stiff and still attach in the center and hold fine. I have successfully stripped my car and sanded some wood projects as well. The 1/8 and 1/4 sanding rates are great. It's fairly quiet, compared to cheaper brands. The weight is good for sanding, just heavy when you are doing sanding overhead, after awhile. I have not had to send anything back for repairs. It has been dropped and I put, down force pressure on it at times. It's been holding up well. You can't beat a lifetime warranty anyway. The slow start is only a pain if you are in a hurry. The slow start is nice because it allows you to maintain control and if you are doing finish work, it won't cause sudden extra sanding in one spot. It only takes a couple seconds to get up to speed. Not a big deal. There is a lock to keep it on so you don't have to hold the button. I hooked it up to a vacuum. It seems to be about 90 percent effective. If you sand anywhere but a flat surface, like going over an edge or rounded projects, some dust escapes. Good product. I would recommend. REMEMBER TO REGISTER FOR THE WARRANTY.

Yes, You will be absolutely amazed at just how fast this sander can help you finish a job, just how fast Ridgid will accept your hard earned dollar and just how fast Ridgid won't stand behind their name. I've been a Ridgid brand tools supporter for years now, they have helped me earn my living and support my family. I showed Ridgid my support with every dollar I "Invested" in my tools. This sander has a design defect in my opinion, and it has been giving this sander an unfair handicap because Ridgid won't fix it, but they sure will be happy to take more of your money to sell you a replacement. "Don't bother looking for the part where you purchased the tool.... It's not there." The hook and loop pad fails under normal use almost quicker then you can get through a stack of sanding discs. I've purchased Ridgid tools for years now, and I make my living by depending on them to last. I didn't bother reading the reviews on this sander first because "it's a Ridgid" it'll last.... It feels nice in the hand, it's got great looks and other guys will be in envy when they see it work that wood. It'll be the same old story though, they got your money and you will be left wondering how it happened. At least you get to keep all your stuff this time....... As you can see in the picture, "There was only one brand for me"

Returning the 3rd one I had due to breaking within a 3 month period. First one stopped working, second one the velcro for sanding pads stopped holding the pad on after 3 or 4 uses and now this one, the pad that holds the sanding pad on ripped off after 3 or 4 uses. It is only being used to sand deck rails to prep for staining. Costing me time and aggravation to return/replace multiple times. Biggest pile of dung out there DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!

This was replacement for a unit that I've had for years and used for hundreds of hours and still is working. I did replace the pad but other than that it's been a very good tool.

?Has good power. Has two rotation settings. ? The machine is top heavy making it hard to use on vertical surface. The speed control is exactly where operator would put one hand and is too easy to accidentally change. The dust control system makes it difficult to reach into inside corners. Meh.

Used for 1 day and it started making a grinding noise and the pad stopped moving

Great sander. I appreciate the ability to attach a vacuum to unit. I used this sander to assist in resurfacing my hardwood floors.

I own an entire line of Rigid tools. Been buying them for years. They have always served me well and have been long lasting to boot. The battery cells are a standout feature, with quick charging times. I've owned other more expensive tools but for my money, it's RIGID all the way......

This machine getting heated very soon

I bought two and both are broken

Exceeded my expectations. Faster work also perhaps as much as 20-25%

This is the second r2611 that just stopped working and the problem was the trigger switch failed. This is after very moderate use of both sanders. I cannot recommend this product to anyone.

Good controls, not too noisy. BUT... this thing can't hang onto its base pad worth beans--the mounting screws loosen up *repeatedly,* and sometimes come shooting through the sandpaper You can only torque them down so much without worrying about them shearing off in the base. Bottom line: this tool does the job, but you have so stop working every ten minutes or so to tighten those mounting screws--a real drag.

PRO. Great sander. I use it for edging when I'm sanding floors. Has Great power. CON. You will have to hook up a vac line to suck up dust. The dust container it comes with is trash. Won't hold all the dust and you'll have a mess on your hands.