Ridgid has been upsetting my expectations, for lack of a better way of saying it.
Coming out with tools like their cordless trim router, a cordless 1-gallon air compressor, and now a belt sander?
This is the Ridgid R86065B, an 18V Li-ion cordless brushless belt sander. Surprise!
It features an 18″ x 3″ belt size, variable speed dial, a 1-1/4″ dust extractor hose adapter, and an included dust bag that they say collects up to 90% of dust created, for cleaner work. There’s automatic belt tracking, and adjustable pommel handle, and flat face that allows for flush sanding.
Belt changes are done tool-free.
Price: $149
Buy Now(via HD)
First Thoughts
In a not-t00-long-ago post, I asked whether you would go completely cordless.
In the post, I said this:
Then there are the heavy use and continuous duty tools that are not great candidates to go cordless, such as air compressors, routers, dust extractors, belt sanders, hand sanders, and things like that.
It’s almost as if Ridgid cordless power tool engineers saw that and took it up as a challenge. What comes next, a cordless dust extractor?
I wonder if we’ll see a Milwaukee version, seeing as how Ryobi, Ridgid, and Milwaukee have occasionally coordinated their new tool designs in recent years.
This seems like nothing but good news. There are some users who could benefit from a cordless belt sander, and at the least this’ll keep competing brands on their toes.
Have you ever looked at your belt sander and wished you could “cut the cord?”
I wonder what the runtime specs are like.