Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 09, 2005 02:16am | #1

   Can't answer all your questions, but will toss the following in:

   • FIRST of all, inspect the crate before it leaves the truck.  If it is damaged in any significant way, think carefully before you accept delivery.  That's a general rule of thumb when accepting any package that's been shipped, and it goes quadruple when accepting a heavy, expensive machine!
   • It probably isn't different from most jointers in the way it's packaged.  IIRC, my Jet was in maybe 4 pieces when I got it.  Had to lift the bed up onto the base (2-person job!), the fence had to be mounted.  Can't remember where the motor was. 
   • Are you wondering about whether they will help you get it into the shop?  That depends on what type of delivery you ordered and how nice the driver is, LOL!

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

2. 
   generalkael | Nov 09, 2005 02:20am | #2

   Hi

   I've taken ownership of a Grizzly jointer in the last year, and here's what I found:

   1) The boxes will be mangled to some degree, but the equipment was in perfect shape.
   2) There will be a good 4 hours of assembly, and you will need help putting the table onto the stand, as well as adjusting the belt. The equipment probably will need some tuning after this to get the 90 and 45 degree stops set, and to get the tables parallel.
   3) My blades came aligned, and I still haven't had to adjust them, but they do need sharpened.
   4) Don't forget to use some paste wax on the infeed/outfeed tables, well worth the extra 10 minutes every time you use it.
   5) Congratulations of the new toy!

   Scott
   Slacker Extraordinaire
   Specializing in nothing but knowledge in everything.
3. 
   bleubassplyr | Nov 09, 2005 02:49am | #3

   Expect it to be covered in gunk (forgot the name of the stuff) which will come off with a lot of rags, mineral spirits, and labor. I bought a new Grizzly table saw about 5 years ago and it came missing a small latch. One call and a couple days later and I had the part. The saw works flawlessly. I also bought a used Grizzly jointer which also works great. Good luck. By the way, the delivery guy moved the jointer for me by pivoting it on a single pipe which he placed under one end, rolled it forward, lifted, I moved the pipe back to the front, etc.....

   There are more old drunkards than old doctors.  Ben Franklin

1. 
   Glaucon | Nov 09, 2005 05:36am | #4

   <...to be covered in gunk (forgot the name of the stuff) >

   Cosmoline?Glaucon

   If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...

1. 
   bleubassplyr | Nov 09, 2005 05:09pm | #7

   Yes, Cosmoline. Use Mineral Spirits or Turpentine to clean it off and dispose of the rags, they are gonna stink.There are more old drunkards than old doctors.  Ben Franklin

4. 
   wrudiger | Nov 09, 2005 05:59am | #5

   Ah, Christmas in November.  Good choice!  I was making sawdust with mine last night; used the same justification you did (cabinets and drawers are in, door & drawer fronts are next).  Love it!!

   As forestgirl said, all depends on the driver & company.  On the West Coast they use FedEx Ground, and those guys are great.  Sure hope you arranged for lift gate delivery - with some carriers that's extra, but unless you have a spare forklift parked out back you will need a bunch of big guys!

   I used a come-along to lift and set the bed - slow & easy does it.  Pretty much what everyone else said about the time to set up and dial in.  It's easier now that the bed is one piece (mine is the old G0500 with the bolt-on bed extensions - worst part of the whole setup for me).  Enjoy!!

1. 
   JonE | Nov 09, 2005 03:49pm | #6

   Thanks for the advice.  As it turns out, I do have a forklift.   The moving part won't be so bad.  New Penn Freight is the carrier.  I will look it over before I move it off the truck. 

5. 
   bones | Nov 09, 2005 05:17pm | #8

   I have purchased several pieces from grizzly, but not the jointer you mention. I would suggest as FG did, check it out before you accept. My table saw was damaged in shipment, and I refused it. I also took some pictures of the box for my own records.  When I called and reported it, I e-mailed the digital pics to CS, and they had a replacement on the way the next day.  The other poster mentioned that the box would probably be mangled a little. If you see signs of damage but nothing visibly enough to reject. Write on the receipt doc's the condition of the shipment i.e. package had hole on right side at bottom of package .etc.  This will help if you need to make a damage claim due to the damage not being obvious.  Finally, do you have tailgate delivery arranged, or are you going to have to take it off the back of the truck. I don't know how much the jointer you bought weighs. Finally, please share your experience here if you can. If you can take any digital pics to share, that would be great! Enjoy the new toy!!!

6. 
   BarryO | Nov 09, 2005 08:57pm | #9

   Only thing to add here is that you can download the manual from their website beforehand, to see what kind of assembly is required.

7. 
   John_D | Nov 09, 2005 11:49pm | #10

   I just finished assembling my first Grizzly jointer, this week.

   Mine's a 6", with handwheels.  My kids and I were able to heft it around, though it's heavy.  Your 8" will be heavier.  Even if you can lift it fine, bolting the table to the stand is still a two-person job because you can't see to align the bolts.

   True, it's covered in cosmoline or an equivalent.  I used a citrus engine degreaser, and it was going SO slow with rags.  I went upstairs and got a pot-scrubbing sponge, the kind with a blue surface that doesn't scratch Teflon, and it went a LOT faster.  Tore the sponge all to heck and gone though.

   I don't know if yours has a spiral carbide cutterhead, or normal knives.  If it's knives, careful when you're removing the gib bolts to adjust.  If you've not cleaned off all the cosmoline, you'll be prone to rounding over the gib bolts.  Also, pay careful attention to which way the manual says to turn to tighten and loosen... I found it counterintuitive, because you tighten the gib bar against the knife by retracting the gib bolt from the gib bar... so the ol' righty tighty lefty loosey sends you right down the wrong path.  Let's just say Grizzly has already shipped me some replacement bolts, even though it was my fault, no charge.

   Removing the goo took me about an hour, including rinsing and applying a rust inhibitor (Boeshield T-9, wiped, then wax and buff).

   The rest of assembly took less than two hours (my boys and I had assembled the mobile base and bolted the table on days before, also very quick), including table alignment.  According to my straightedge and engineer's square, the table is flat end to end, the two tables are flat to each other, and the fence is at a perfect 90 degrees.

   The blades were sharp enough already to nicely flatten a few scrap bits I had about.  It was fun seeing the shavings in the DC.

   I did find some minor rust up under the casting, and on a few bits of the fence hardware.  No pitting, no structural damage, so I wire brushed it off (with my RotoZip) and put rust inhibitor on it.

   All in all, you'll want 1 or 2 helpers long enough to get the table mounted (half hour or less), then you can handle the rest yourself in well under a working day.

   Have fun!  I sure did... and tonight I get back to work on the table saw. :)

1. 
   bunyan2 | Nov 11, 2005 10:43pm | #11

   After recently purchasing a grizly go555 bandsaw (great machine), the best cosomoline cleaner I found was Goo Gon.  worked with practicaly no scrubing on my part.  Just wiped it all off!

1. 
   John_D | Nov 11, 2005 11:09pm | #13

   Hmm, I have some of that stuff.  If it's that good, maybe I'll want it in larger containers. :)

   Thanks for the heads-up, I'll give it a try.

8. 
   BossCrunk | Nov 11, 2005 10:46pm | #12

   Look underneath the casting for serious rust before you do anything. 

9. 
   BBob | Nov 13, 2005 09:32pm | #14

   I just finished the assembly of the 1182HW (El Cheapo 6"). I did not pay for lift gate and was lucky in that the driver off-loaded it onto a hand truck and wheeled it into my garage. I would have never been able to get ot off the truck myself.

   The package had some punctures but we both noticed that none pierced the packing foam. All were noted on the accepted shipping receipt.

   I'm thinking this model will be discontinued as it was somewhat tedious to assemble and the castings are on the crude side. I had to call the factory about 3 times for clarification when parts did not appear to fit correctly. I will say that their tech support is excellent and resolved all problems quickly and efficiently.

   A big minus is the manual. It had pictures that were too dark and instructions that made no sense or were otherwise obsolete.

   My technique for removing the cosmoline is to put paper towels over the exposed surfaces and douse them with mineral spirits. I let these soak for 15+ minutes and just wipe off. In a few spots, where there is significant build up I simply re-apply and let soak longer.

   BBob

10. 
    Barrister | Nov 17, 2005 01:42am | #15

    Jon:

    I received a G0500 jointer.  The bottom of the crate was sagging.  I noted the sagging on the bill of lading.  When I uncrated it I found a few cracks in the cast iron, not the tables but underneath.  It is part one on the diagram.  Emailed Grizzly and they sent a new on.

    How does it come?

    Two boxes.  One box has the base and motor already assembled.  Weighs about 80 pounds.  The other box is a wood crate.  It holds the top with the fence attached.  It weighs approximately 400 lbs. 

    Be careful opening the large crate.  If there is a problem and you have to send it back you can reuse the crate.  Saves time and money on the return.

    Jack