New band saw advice


Dhall65

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I think the OP is saying that the 17" version is being priced cheaper then some other people price their 14" saws (not that grizzly is pricing their 17 cheaper then their 14"). 

 

At any rate, I no experience with grizzly bandsaws. However if you google you can find quite a few people with words to say on it. Pay attention to models not so much the paint job. ;)

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Thank you AppleWood. 

I don't own any Grizzly saw. Most bandsaws are now made in Taiwan, one of the lists are Grizzly bandsaws. If we have two options, example , Rikon 14" or Grizzly 17" , many would probably go with Rikon even though they're almost priced the same, (or even higher ) .

I have no personal experience with Grizzly but I've heard that they have good customer service/ value. I've read quite a few reviews about 17" Grizzly saw and it's all positive notes. At the end of the day, it's still your call.  Your kind of work would depend on what type/big of band saw you need. 

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Has any one used the grizzly 17band saw. Grizzly has a 30 year anniversary special, priced cheaper than most 14" bandsaws. Any feed back on this saw?

Thanks

Don

I have the 14" as well w/ riser block and at the time, it came w/ a bitchin fence that I wouldn't trade for. I don't have any other saw to compare it to, but it re-saws great.

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One of my friends has been using a 17" Griz BS for several years now with no issues. It's no Minimax MM16, but is a capable BS.  Grizzly often offers the most tool for the money by selling directly, and cutting out dealer profit (and dealer support)....they often roll from the same factories as Jet, GI, Steel City, and others.  If you're willing to be your own middleman, they can offer excellent value.  If you prefer dealer support, expect to pay a bit more for something comparable. 

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Grizzly often offers the most tool for the money by selling directly, and cutting out dealer profit (and dealer support)....they often roll from the same factories as Jet, GI, Steel City, and others.  If you're willing to be your own middleman, they can offer excellent value.  If you prefer dealer support, expect to pay a bit more for something comparable. 

Most brand are made by Chiu Ting for ________________. The middle man has nothing to do with Grizzlys low prices. The Grizzly showrooms are incredible and likely cost more than every woodcraft and rockler combined and they only have a couple of them. They have 1.2 million square feet of space in IIRC 4 locations. More than 300 employees in the US alone.

 

Its all about volume the more they can sell the better pricing they can get from Chiu Ting. In order to get the volume you have to lower the quality level to a level that people will pay for, there has to be a balance between quality and junk.  As the profits increase you can slowly afford to increase quality to a higher level without ruining your bottom line. Grizzly used to be down at the Harbor Freight level and today they are better and will continue to get better. As patents die off and get reused the R&D of dead patents like the table saw fences get used and tool quality increases . I know a guy that owns a Woodcraft Franchise and he says if he could only stock one tool in the place it would be Saw Stop because he makes more money selling one Saw Stop than 10 Powermatic saws. Even on a $30,000 order he couldn't give me a discount. That being said CPO which is just a drop shipper can give deeper discounts because of their sales volume and they dont have to store anything. I saved $3000 on a PM order and the products came from a local WMH warehouse here just 25 miles away.

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I own the 14" ultimate grizzly G0555 bandsaw as well and it worked very well but it died suddenly after about a year and a half. I probably had less than 1-2 hours of usage on it since I didn't do curved cuts very often. The customer service was very helpful but they never offered up a replacement motor unfortunately. Right now it is just collecting dust until I can pull the trigger on a new motor ($275) or just replace the entire thing with perhaps a SteelCity or Rikon 10" for about the same price as a new motor for my Grizzly. I will reiterate that the customer service was very responsive to my emails and sent documentation regarding how to try to fix the motor myself but I wasn't successful. 

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I own the 14" ultimate grizzly G0555 bandsaw as well and it worked very well but it died suddenly after about a year and a half. I probably had less than 1-2 hours of usage on it since I didn't do curved cuts very often. The customer service was very helpful but they never offered up a replacement motor unfortunately. Right now it is just collecting dust until I can pull the trigger on a new motor ($275) or just replace the entire thing with perhaps a SteelCity or Rikon 10" for about the same price as a new motor for my Grizzly. I will reiterate that the customer service was very responsive to my emails and sent documentation regarding how to try to fix the motor myself but I wasn't successful. 

 

$275 is to much for that little motor. I just had a industrial 5hp compressor motor rebuilt for about $200 with 4 new caps. Id guess that one shouldn't cost more than $75-$100. Call around for local motor repair shops.

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I bought the 14" Grizzly last year, with the riser block kit.  I had the same debate, 14" vs 17".  I am very happy with the 14".  It will depend heavily on what you plan to do with it.  I mostly use it for re-saw or cutting curves.  I did use it for ripping some 12/4 white oak, because my TS just could not handle it.  BS cut through like a knife through butter. 

 

I have re-sawn many BF without any issues.  The fence is...not great, but other than new blades, everything is still stock.  Also, the DC leaves a bit to be desired.  From other forums, it seems DC on bandsaws is an issue for every brand, every size, until you start looking into industrial models, that will cost more than your car.  I haven't found a board it won't cut well.   Spend the extra money for great blades (Really good blades are <$50 usd) and definitely make all the difference.  I use Wood Slicer, and love them. 

 

I have used the JET equivalent of the Grizzly 14", and yeah, Grizzly wins by a landslide.  Both cost and performance.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the advice. I have already called around a bit but haven't found a good place yet. I agree that $275 for a new motor is ridiculous. If anyone knows of a good place near Baltimore, MD, please let me know.

 

There are a couple of places around that can repair it.

 

Could it just be the starter capacitor that is blown? If so, it's maybe $20 for the part and 30-60 minutes to take the motor apart and replace it.

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There are a couple of places around that can repair it.

 

Could it just be the starter capacitor that is blown? If so, it's maybe $20 for the part and 30-60 minutes to take the motor apart and replace it.

 

Thanks Chuck. When i get a chance I'll try to take a look at the caps to see if they are blown. If you live in the baltimore area, which places would you suggest that could repair it? Thanks again.

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You just need to diagnose whether it's the starter cap. It will be a large cap about the size of a D cell battery.

Typically if your hear a hum but don't see any motion, it is the cap. If you dropped the motor, the rotor could have gotten knocked out of alignment. If it something else like the windings, it might not be worth repairing. You can also look for a similar 1725 RPM motor on craigslist.

There is a place out in Fredrick called Roberts Electric motors that I have heard is decent. There's a few places closer, but I haven't used them.

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Wow thanks so much!! That is exactly what happens. When I turn on the band saw there is a hum and the motor barely turns with no load. (I took the belts off the shaft so there would be no resistance) After several seconds my breaker trips. Thanks for telling me which cap I am looking for. I will look into getting a new cap and hopefully that will solve all my problems. =) I don't think it is the rotor because the motor has remained stationary ever since I got it. It just stopped working from one day to the next. I may keep an extra cap on hand just in case this happens again.

  Also thank you very much for the recommendation for an electric motor repair shop. Fredrick isn't too far from me in Ellicott City so if replacing the cap doesn't solve the problem then I'll give them a shot. Thanks again.

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 The Grizzly showrooms are incredible and likely cost more than every woodcraft and rockler combined and they only have a couple of them. They have 1.2 million square feet of space in IIRC 4 locations. More than 300 employees in the US alone.

 

 

The same thought crosses my mind with each visit to Williamsport, PA...  On top of the sheer size of the place, it's not located in a typically lower priced real estate industrial area, but collocated with a shopping mall. 

 

I fully understand, it's Williamsport, PA, not  Westchester County, NY, but high-viz retail space is often rather expensive commercial real estate in a given area.     

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Wow thanks so much!! That is exactly what happens. When I turn on the band saw there is a hum and the motor barely turns with no load. (I took the belts off the shaft so there would be no resistance) After several seconds my breaker trips. Thanks for telling me which cap I am looking for. I will look into getting a new cap and hopefully that will solve all my problems. =) I don't think it is the rotor because the motor has remained stationary ever since I got it. It just stopped working from one day to the next. I may keep an extra cap on hand just in case this happens again.

  Also thank you very much for the recommendation for an electric motor repair shop. Fredrick isn't too far from me in Ellicott City so if replacing the cap doesn't solve the problem then I'll give them a shot. Thanks again.

 

 

I'm glad you got a recommendation.  Over the years, I've had motors for everything from machinery to hot tubs repaired or replaced locally, and the solution was always far, far, less expensive than an OEM or retail replacement.

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