My Grizzly Tools - My Take on Them

[pghmyn]

Now that I have had some time to really break in my purchases from Grizzly, I feel I can offer a good semi-review on the tools from what I have encountered.

 

The two tools I purchased are the G0715P 10" Hyrbid Table Saw, and the G0656P 8" Jointer.

 

First off, these are the first machines I have purchased for myself. I have used a jointer and table saw before, but these are much of an upgrade from those. I wanted to start my own tool collection, and since I had the space to do so, I ordered as big and nice as I could afford. I was skeptical of ordering from Grizzly at first because of the numerous bad reviews that are available on the Internet. I did find good reviews out there, and what made me decide the legitimacy of them is the fact that they were not over the top quality reviews. There were some issues they had to deal with, but nothing I couldn't handle considering I was only paying $800 for a saw like this.

 

After months of oodling, I pulled up the shopping cart on Grizzly with my two tools carefully placed in it. My tax return check in hand, I handed the computer to my fiance and insisted she pressed the "Place Order" button, so if she ever complained about these tools I can say that she did it, and not me!

 

I received the confirmation email shortly after, and a few days later I was at UPS picking up the 1,000 pounds of freight. I didn't have to negate the delivery, but in all manly macho honesty, I wanted to see if my new F150 could handle the weight in the back. She did

 

The tools came home, and found their way to the basement where I proceeded to set them up. The instructions were vague, and hit and miss. However, if you have enough intuition on which piece should go where, you really don't need them. A few hours later, the machines were put together. Now it came time to get that horrid packing grease off them completely. I used super strength auto engine block degreaser. It worked like a charm, and it was free since I found it in the garage. Another plus, it was orange scented. Win - win.

 

Fine tuning was done, and all smaller pieces were in their respective places. Took about 2 full days total because of work and school taking most of my time. This process could have been done in a day if given an entire day to work on it. I decided the tool that I want to get running first was the table saw. I had no other blade available, so I installed the stock Grizzly blade. Let me have a short aside and say that is the worst quality blade I have ever used in my life. The blade was so dull a karate student could cut a board in half cleaner with a punch. New blade, next day, check.

 

Overall the table saw was easy to set up. My blade was as straight as I could get it with checking by eye. No fancy dial indicator or feeler gauges for me. Also the miter slots were dead on as well. No problems here. The fence took all of 15 minutes to perfectly set up and dial in. However, I later realized that the supplied stick on measure tape was not accurate. Over 16" the measurements were off by 1/16" which can make a big difference when it comes to fitting. No big deal for me, I will double check the blade to fence with a tape measure from now on. Just takes a couple more seconds. The fence on the table saw is absolutely rigid. All 155 pounds of me pushing on it perpendicular to the face can only deflect it maybe 1/8" in total. That is more force that ever should be put on the fence in that direction. It is square, and easily locked down. Great job by Grizzly there.

 

Overall, for $800, this table saw was a home run for someone like me. I am a hobbyist, but I will take on a hand full of projects a year to make a small profit.

 

Now, the jointer. The massive beast. This thing is just huge compared the the 6" bench top model I used previously. 72" long beds, and an 8" cutter head for under $1,000 including tax and freight. I really wanted it, and I'm glad I bought it. I read all these reviews about the tables needing adjustments and the fence not being absolutely accurate, but how much error is too much error for me? I guess we will have to see when it is set up and running.

 

I meticulously checked the blades to make sure they were perfectly parallel to the outfeed table. The fence had the slightest warp in it on the infeed side on the bottom. But, since my pressure is never applied there, it does not affect my jointing - ever. The positive stop does as it says, nothing special there.

 

I used some homemade winding sticks to check the tables for co planar. Even with my glasses on, and a perfecting contrasting background, my tables seem to be pretty darn lined up. I could be wrong, but the suction cup feeling I got from a 7"x32" piece of poplar does not lie. I am good.

 

The motor is powerful, and has never bogged down yet. Although, the hardest species I have used is Cherry, and it was a full 8" wide. The stock blades to this machine are superb. The finish left by them is almost like glass when you find the ideal feed rate, which took time for me.

 

The rabbet edge will never be used by me, so no opinion there.

 

In the end, were these tools worth the almost $2,000 I shelled out after retail, tax, and freight? Yes. Will I buy from Grizzly again? Yes. Should you give Grizzly a chance if you are in the market for some new tools? Yes.

 

I hope this look back and review was helpful and reliable. If anyone is on the edge about purchasing one of these two products, I say do it. You will not regret it.

 

If there are any questions, or something I can better explain, let me know. I will be happy to do so. Thank you for reading!

 

[lildesertwoodshop]

pghmyn, nice review, I have a similar scenario as per Grizzly Tools. I think you have put forth the same review I would post. I also Bought the GO656P a few months back , and had a pleasant experience from ordering, delivery, assembly, tuning and usage, and am thrilled at this point with this unit. In the past week I purchased the G1023RLWX Table saw and again have had no issues through out the process and feel money spent on both tools in relation to product received was well worth it. I agree the directions for assembly seemed a bit out. I did not try the stock blade included for the table saw, and gifted my neighbor that had a ten year old blade on his craftsman saw. For my needs and in line with my available budget, I would have to as well go with two thumbs up on the Grizzly Gear that I have.

[lildesertwoodshop]

Toss the sticker tape measure they supplied ya and get one of these at the local home center Flat steel engineers tape measure, chop er up and install.

[pghmyn]

Toss the sticker tape measure they supplied ya and get one of these at the local home center Flat steel engineers tape measure, chop er up and install.

Fantastic idea! Thank you!

[dodgeram99]

I also bye Grizzly. To me they are fantastic tools. The only complaint I have is the shipping company they use. All three tools , jointer bad saw,drum sander. I have bought from them has had some dents and dings. So I called Grizzly and with in a week brand new parts.

[thewoodwhisperer]

Just a quick FYI: moved post to Reviews section.

[adambaum]

I have a Grizzly bandsaw and DC. Bandsaw is about 9 yrs old. Arrived in perfect condition. Its been a trooper. DC is a few months old and arrived damaged via UPS freight. Grizzly took care of it and all is well. So far, I like it. I'm considering a new jointer from them as we'll.

Adam

[lildesertwoodshop]

Adam, The Two next tools for my shop are a dust collector system and as well a band saw. I would be interested in any particular reviews you might have on the models you have. Also if you are looking at the GO656 or GO656P 8" Jointer , I have one  ( The P model) and know your in da hood and if you wanna put your hands on one , run a few boards, and give it a test drive just lemme know , Im in my shop every day and welcome you to check it out before ya buy.... LilDWS

[adambaum]

Thanks for the offer of a test drive.  Just might take you up on it. 

 

Here is a writeup I did on how I came to select the Grizzly unit.  Link.    Now that I have had it a few months, I can say that I definitely like it.  It is much noisier than my previous DC (Jet DC650), but I attribute it to an increase in HP and airflow.  I typically wear earmuffs when using the table saw and jointer, but also wear them now for the bandsaw and drum sander as well due to the increase in DC noise.  Noise aside, I've can see the difference in suction capability.  It does a real good job on keeping my TS clean.

 

My bandsaw is the G0555 with riser block.  Been rock solid.  The only complaints I have are cutting capacity and the fence.  Both need to be bigger at times.    Checking the Grizzly website shows that they have a better fence available as an add-on.  It's something I may consider purchasing.   To go bigger cut capacity requires a bigger saw...maybe someday.

 

ADam