Recently I had to decide on purchasing an 8 jointer. I looked at many, but narrowed it down to Grizzly-cost issue and seemingly identical castings as other sellers. I did have to to decide between their two identical machines, the #0500 ( <!—-><!—-> <!—->Taiwan <!—-><!—->) and the #0586 (<!—-> <!—->China <!—-><!—->). The 0586 was tempting at about 200 US less. I looked at both machines in the showroom, bringing a my Lee Valley 38″ machined (.003 over entire length) straight edge and feeler gauges. The 0586 had a depression in the out feed table adjacent to the cutter head of about 0.003, with the 0500, I could not get the 0.001 gauge under the straight edge anywhere on out feed table or infeed table. I settled on the 0500, and then did the same test on “my” machine before I left Grizzly-again almost flat-0.001. The Grizzly guys were helpful and allowed me to do the testing. This confirmed that I had paid the extra money although less than delta and powermatic etc for precision, and knowing that the 0500 had a track record. Interestingly, the 0586 is shipped in cardboard versus a wooden crate with the 0500. <!—-><!—-><!—->
The fence on both machines was less precise. 005 to .008 in the middle, based on finish (not as smooth as the tables) likely not made to the same tolerances. I can live with the fence tolerance as I think this is less important.
Seems like a good machine. Time will tell. Hope someone else finds this info useful.
Replies
Thanks for the report.
Mike
I've had the G1018 for about 5 years and been happy with it
until blade change time comes. It takes me a long time to put
them in and get the tables readjusted. About two years ago I
noticed that the infeed and outfeed table were not coplaner
when raised to the same height. John White's book on setting
up shop machinery was very helpful on what to do to correct the
problem. A couple of thin brass shims on the ways on one side
of the outfeed table did the trick. If you need advice on
shop setups this book seems to me to be very helpful.
Rod
I have a G0543 jointer, a G0500 with a spiral cutter head. The 8" capacity, long flat tables and smooth operation make this tool a winner. It replaced a 6" Powermatic and is a much better machine.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
if the advertising is to be believed, the Taiwanese factories they use do the final machining on the beds after assembly. I recently got one of their 12" jointers, the G9860GX (so I never plan on needing to get another jointer). I can't get a 0.001 underneath the straightedge anywhere on the tables. They've become my new "reference flat" surface in the shop; much flatter than my Unisaw table.
".003, .001"
This is woodworking, right?
Wood itself doesn't usually need to be sized to within a thousandths or two, although the difference between a nicely fitting joint and one that is too tight or too loose is often only a matter of .005." Typically a woodworker doesn't have to measure in thousandths, but will be fine tuning the fit between parts by planing, paring, or scraping a thou or two at a time during final fitting to get a good joint.
In a jointer however, a misalignment of the tables of just a few thousandths of an inch will seriously degrade the performance of the machine and may make it impossible to get jointed edges straight enough for gluing up a panel.
I work as both a machinist and a woodworker and I have found that the machinists skills greatly improve both the speed and accuracy of my cabinetwork, thousandths do count in woodworking, even if you aren't directly measuring them while you build a piece of furniture.
John W.
Edited 8/28/2005 12:13 pm ET by JohnWW
Edited 8/29/2005 11:08 am ET by JohnWW
John put it very well. I don't care if the 12" wide box I'm making actually winds up as 12.010" But if the dovetail pins are too narrow by 0.010", well that's a problem. And it's much harder to make accurate joints on a piece of stock that's not flat and square.
As the jointer is the machine that put the first two flat and square surfaces on a piece of wood, its degree of precision is important to subsequent joinery.
I just checked my 8" Grizzly jointer with a 36" Starret straight edge and feeler gages and this is what I go (yes, I flipped the straight edge to confirm):.005" low in the middle of the outfeed table and .003 high spot near middle of the infeed table.The fence was set at 90*, but using my B&S 6" machinist square, I was able to get .004 feeler gage to fit in the middle of the fence.My Ridgid 6" was a little better, but not within .002 anywhere.I build face frames, doors and whatever all week long without issue. To pay $200 more for .002" less is, IMHO, a waste of money.
Most woodworkers don't bother about a few thousands here and there, until one day, the big project comes up. That's the project where long, wide boards are joined in different configurations and we want those joints to be perfect with absolutely no fillers to close the tiny gaps afterwards.
Then we find out how important those few thousands can be....
My last project I learnt this lesson all over again, specially when fitting a large headboard between posts. You can see it here
I ended up throwing a few squares away, as they were "almost" perfect but not quite and re-tuning a few of my machines.
scaly,
I love machinists who think they can transfer their knowledge of what metals do over to wood.. Sure the accuracy of some of the quipment we buy is tremendous, but who really cares? Wood swells a whole bunch more than a few hundred thousandths as it gains or loses moisture!
I doubt if the work of the masters is that precise! Heck it's considered a sign of craftmanship if your table top has the slight variations that handplaning produces!
I like my Grizzly stuff too but not because of it's perfection, rather because it to me is what wood working equipment should be. Simple, rugged and reliable..
I'm amazed at how seldom I measure stuff any more. I much prefer to work with story sticks and comparitive measurements than translate fractions of inches into working pieces that later become something..
if we as woodworkers go to the .001 i am in trouble due to my calabers only go to .01 or 1/64 depending on which one i use.
I do thank you for the report and we i need a new jointer i am going to get the 12" grizley.
david
I suggest anyone who does not realize just how much .002 really is.. purchase a $6 feeler gauge and take a good look. If you can shove a knat's hinny under it without the knat having plastic explosives strapped to it's a*s.. I'll kiss your's. ha.. ha...
Is .002 significant to a machinist.. certainly. Is it significant to a WW'er.. not unless you create the illusion in your mind it is IMO..
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled