Replies

1. 
   sharptools | Jan 22, 2004 10:41pm | #1

   Griizly makes some good products, some not so good.  I personally stay away from Taiwanese machinery and prefer vintage American made tools, but my father does own some Grizzly equipment.  The 20" planer is a very good machine for the money.  The same planer is sold by other manuafacturers, but I think the Grizzly is the least expensive, and looks to be identical. 

   The dust collector he bought (I'm not sure which model) also works well, but a dust collector is not a very complicated machine, and I think you could get one from any manufaturer and be happy with it.

   However, the large wood cutting bandsaw he bought (18" or 20", not sure which) is a piece of junk.  It uses zinc castings for the upper wheel tensioner and the upper guide, both of which cracked under what I would consider normal operating conditions.  The upper casting was replaced at my dad's expense, and I think it was about $80.00 for the part.  I wouldn't trade a dozen Grizzly bandsaws for my 1940's vintage Delta 14" on a cast iron stand.

   Kevin

2. 
   Dustmight | Jan 22, 2004 10:49pm | #2

   Lots of weekend warriors find many of Grizzly's machines to be excellent value.  Even some pro shops are pleased with the performance.  I do tend to stick to their machinery and not their hand powertools or cheap benchtop stuff.  The 1023 cabinet saw is very popular.  The G1182 6" jointer was rated #1 in Wood Mag's Sept 2001 comparison.  Many are raving about their new 0555 BS and 0500 8" jointer. 

   I'm personally very satisfied with the G1029 DC and G1182HW jointer.

3. 
   mike4244 | Jan 23, 2004 12:25am | #3

   I have the G1023s cabinet saw and G1073  16" bandsaw, plus a number of smaller tools and accesories. These tools are used in a professional shop, I highly reccomend them.If you have questions about a particular tool email or call them. They have a knowledgeable staff. I have been dealing with them for at least 10 years , always satisfied.

   mike

4. 
   forestgirl | Jan 23, 2004 01:37am | #4

   Grizzly has winners and losers, so when you get to evaluating a specific tool (e.g., 8" jointer or 14" bandsaw, etc., etc.) pose the question with regard to that tool specifically and see what feedback you get.  On the winners, you're looking at getting a good tool at a better price point than the Big Guys provide.  More "bang for the buck" as someone said in another thread.

   A couple things to keep in mind:  a) there are people who trash Grizzly tools on the basis of purchases made decades ago, assuming that nothing's changed since then and b) there are people who rave about the one tool they've bought and swear they'll buy "everything Grizzly" from here on out.  Neither one of those groups is a good one to look to for advice, IMO!

   forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

1. 
   Mackwood | Jan 23, 2004 04:09am | #6

   Also group C; those that trash just because they don't like where it's made or the fact that it's less expensive than some of the other brands (elitists).

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 23, 2004 08:44pm | #7

   So true!  Thanks for flushing out the list.forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

5. 
   Mackwood | Jan 23, 2004 04:04am | #5

   I have one their old 15" planers.  Bought it in 1987 and after a bit of tweeking it has performed admirably ever since.  Someone else made mention of staying clear of the very cheap bench top stuff which I agree with 100%!  But I feel that applies to almost any manufacturer.

   Regards,

   Mack

6. 
   Dan019 | Jan 23, 2004 09:41pm | #8

   I have their 14" bandsaw and their 13" planer/molder. Both work execellently with a price considerably less than both the delta/Jet counter parts.

7. 
   Otis | Jan 23, 2004 10:41pm | #9

   I purchased their 1023 left tilting cabinet saw last year.  Once assembled and running, I was satisfied with its performance.  However, the following is a list of problems that it had when delivered:

   1.  Left cast iron wing was obviously for a different saw.  When bolted on, the wing was 1/4" higher than the main table.  The right wing was ok.  I called them and they sent another out by UPS.  Unfortunately, I had to hassle with returning the old wing, and I had to pay for shipping up front (they reimbursed me later).

   2.  The top of the box was damaged on delivery; however, everything looked ok so I accepted delivery and noted on the paperwork that the box was damaged.  After cleaning the rust inhibitor off of the main table, I discovered that it had 2 severe gouges in the top.  I called them and they sent me another top (since I noted on the delivery sheet that the box was damaged), but it was backordered and took a couple of weeks.  They originally wanted the top back, but allowed me to keep it after I complained that the replacement was on backorder. 

   3.  Some hardware was missing.  This included nuts/bolts, one of the motor cover hinge pins, and the latch to close the motor cover.  After looking at the exploded drawing in the manual, I determined that the latch for the motor cover shown in the manual would not work on the saw (they must have updated the saw).  I called them and detailed out all of the missing hardware, and told them my concerns about the latch.  A couple of days later the parts came in.  Unfortunately, the tech ignored my concerns about the latch and sent the one out of the manual that would not work.  Calling them back got me nowhere, so I took a digital picture of the latch taped to the side of the saw and e-mailed it to them.  A few days later I got the correct latch.

   4.  Finally (and most seriously), I discovered that the tilt wheel would not lock in place.  Tightening the locking knob did nothing.  However, the blade height lock worked fine.  After removing the locking knobs and looking into the holes, I discovered that the tilt knob did not have the internal locking pins.  I called Grizzly and tried to explain the problem to the tech.  He did not understand how the locking mechanism worked no matter how many times I explained it (I would think he should know this), so he finally just asked what parts I needed.  The 2 pins arrived a couple of days later.  To install them, I had to loosen the gear in the cabinet, and slide the shaft out of the saw.  Not something I like to do on a new $1000 piece of equipment.

   As I mentioned, I am happy with the saw, but would I still buy a Grizzly product?  Probably...but not something I needed to use everyday (planer, jointer, tablesaw, etc.).  If I had to do this again, I would pay the extra money for the Delta Unisaw.  Since I upgraded the Grizzly to a Unifence anyway, I only ended up saving about $300.

   Concerning their service.  I would agree that they are eager to help, but I was not impressed with their technical knowledge of their product.

8. 
   DougF | Jan 24, 2004 05:17pm | #10

   Aquita,

   Purchased the 1023 TS and 14" BS and have been pleased with both.  Had problems with the band saw but that was  due to my inexperience with this equipment.  I have had occassion to contact tech services and have found them to be very helpful.  All in all, unless you have a very specialized need for a production-level tool, I think Grizzly's floor model tools are a very good buy.

   Doug