Machinery

The Ryobi is an attractive piece of equipment which has been carefully designed, and it incorporates some useful features. The alloy body is well braced with a one-piece blade access door; somewhat surprisingly, there are no safety interlocks on it, so the machine will run with the door open.

The blade runs on a pair of fairly substantial cast alloy wheels, and there’s a good blade tensioning system with a quick-release lever that makes rapid blade changes easy to carry out. There’s also a useful window in the edge of the door so you can view the blade tracking.

A sturdy alloy upper blade guard is fi tted and this is adjusted with a neat rack and pinion system. The guides are simple square-section steel bars with a roller thrust bearing, and there are identical guides beneath the table.

The alloy table is well fi nished and incorporates a slot for the metal mitre fence. The rip fence clamps securely to the table, but there’s no marked rip scale.

The table tilts to 45° and again a rack-and-pinion system is used, making it very easy to set. On the back of the casing is a slot to house the mitre fence when it’s not in use, and it’s also possible to hang the rip fence up, if you want to – a thoughtful detail.

Verdict This saw runs smoothly
and has well designed
and convenient features.
It comes with a fairly
appalling blade, but is
otherwise good quality.

Contact: Toolbank
0800 068 6238
www.toolbank.com

Performance 4/5
Value for money 4/5