Grizzly 8″ Jointer w/ helical head
user780791_
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Does anyone out there have any experience with Grizzly G0495X 8″ jointer ??
I am strongly considering ordering this. It is so expensive to get it here (shipping weight 796 lbs and it will not be delivered to my shop….have to pay a mover to get it here from a a shipping terminal ) that I want all the info I can get before taking the plunge !
Thanks in advance.
Replies
Don't have the jointer, but I am in the process of returning/replacing/repairing a brand new Grizz 13' planer (G0889z) because the indexing was off on the helical cutterhead.
Instead of leaving a smooth planed surface, the board face had multiple micro-ridges. Wish I could help you with the jointer, but wanted to pass along my experience with grizzly's cutterhead quality.
On the other hand, their customer service has been very responsive so far.
I have a Craftex 8 inch helical jointer , Craftex is a Canadian branch of grizzly and my model is your model #490 which is 560 pounds shipping weight. I also just received a 20 inches helical planer from them that would approach your shipping weight. Both were shipped to my address, 300 miles from Toronto, for $200 and dropped in my garage. Have been very satisfied with both. For the planer I got a competitive quote from grizzly and it could have been shipped to my address for the same amount in US funds but they could not estimate the brokerage fee so I settled for the beige machine instead of the green.
I have a grizzly 8” jointer I bought last year, it is the parallelogram type. I bought the Byrd tool helix head for it as I was very pleased with the one I bought for my Dewalt planer. Install was easy then I spent half a day setting up the beds, which from what I understand is typical. The Grizzly isn’t a Powermatic but for the savings I have been very happy with it. I am a hobbyist not a pro shop.
I would recommend going with the Byrd cutter for whatever brand you decide on.
I own the g0495x. It’s a fantastic machine. If you have the cash and room go for it. The long beds are great and I find the cut quality very good and it came perfectly aligned out of the box. 1 issue is the digital height readout can accidentally reset on you. It’s not hard to reset to zero, but I don’t expect it to be super accurate.
I've been woodworking for 40 years, and I know that not that long ago Grizzly did not have such a good reputation. I've looked at other 8" jointers, like Laguna and Powermatic, but user experience and especially customer service have been spotty to say the least. This Grizzly jointer has been given high marks, and customer service seems to enjoy a good reputation across the board, which is damned important. Just wanted to check on this forum for experience with the machine ; the more information the better.
Shipping issues are what they are -- if I want this jointer I have to deal with it. Grizzly will not deliver to my shop because of Covid , and in fact will not even "set foot on" my property.
The digital readout I will never use -- no interest in that feature.
I don't like my G06430XP 12"jointer/planer. Even with a helical head tearout is a constant problem, and adjustments are crude to say the least, I spent an entire day trying to get the tables aligned. I will never buy another Grizzly machine.
I had an excellent experience with an earlier 8" jointer. Their service department walked me through the installation of a Grizzly helical cutter head. Along with the standard instructions, the technician advised me to get a torque wrench (for bicycle repair) and to:
a: remove and clean every cutterhead
b: reinstall every cutterhead with the same amount of torque. The torque I remember him recommending was 51 or 52 pound INCHES (not feet).
The goal was to insure all cutterheads were at the same height to minimize surface ripples.
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