$59 Grizzly Jointer Plane Actually Works?


collinp2

Recommended Posts

I bought this almost as a joke... it was $59 with prime shipping through Amazon Warehouse deals, as it had a banged up box and therefore labeled scratch and dent.  I fully expected to send it back.  I didn't even sharpen the blade or check anything before taking to to some white oak and was actually amazed at the cut quality.  I was instantly getting full width shavings with zero tearout.  Then I went to check it with my straight edges and squares... to my surprise everything is flat and dead square!  The adjustments all work as they should and the plane feels good overall.  Not near as pretty as my other planes overall, but they got it right where it counts, at least on this one!  The factory honing on the blade has actually held up through multiple traversing passes while flattening my white oak benchtop, even though all the reviews say the blade is junk.  Sometimes you just never know!

KbRw46ayawvOCd1RXCw7XKLNS3-BGt2RZ-ofIYud

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Mike. said:

maybe it was a return and the original buyer honed the iron before deciding he did not want it.  

It's possible... though it was extremely heavily packed with all of that grease they use, so I thought that was unlikely.  I suppose it's also possible someone had it and did a full tune-up on it, but I don't really think so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I bought one of these a couple months ago as well. I am 90% satisfied with it.

 

I care more about dimensions and flatness more than aesthetics and things i can fix. I use starrett squares and dial indicators for my stuff. This thing is dimensionally near perfect. Good enough. Some low spots in the middle of the plane (probably something to do with the slot machining), but nothing that affects operation. Frog is very solid and easy to adjust. The lever cap and blade iron are "meh", but functional

My biggest complaint... the blade is crap. Its fairly soft. Maybe it was just mine, but it doesn't hold an edge for too long. I wound up replacing the blade with a hock O1 blade for 38$. Combined with the oh, 75$ I payed for it, with the 38$ hock blade, its a wonderful machine. I use it all the time, and Im just astounded with the quality of joints I get with this thing. Until I get a spherical head jointer, this will be my method for the forseeable future.

For those that want a number 7, but dont wanna spend a fortune, I cant recommend this thing enough.

 

edit: FWIW, I initially bought a stanley number 7 plane for like 150 or so. It was complete rubbish. The sides werent square, the sole was wavy, and the blade would shift no matter what I did (assuming the frog didn't hold down tight enough). 100% junk. This grizzly was leaps and bounds better.

btw did you have as much fun cleaning off that crap as I did? haha. Stuff reminded me of cosmoline we used in the navy... took me FOREVER to get it clean lol

 

edit: this was the blade after full sharpening.. .and used on PINE!!! the edge literally bent down lol

 

61-qtJHaANL._SL256_.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No reason why it wouldn't work. The big ones can be a swine to tune if the sole is out of true but it could be returned just the same as any other plane if it was. Glad it worked out and you got good results. I can also identify with how poor the current line of Stanley Bailey planes are, very poor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, G S Haydon said:

No reason why it wouldn't work. The big ones can be a swine to tune if the sole is out of true but it could be returned just the same as any other plane if it was. Glad it worked out and your got good results. I can also identify with how poor the current line of Stanley Bailey planes are, very poor.

 

ah my favorite youtuber! :)

 

Do you think I was just unlucky with the stanley plane or really lucky with the grizzly? Seems to be an unsung hero by my accounts, but i'd hate for someone to buy it and be like " what the hell man"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lol! Thanks Bob. I think the current Bailey range from Stanley is dreadful value for money. Hollow plastic handles (I don't mind plastic but the thin hollow stuff is bad) and very poor finish for the money. I think the Grizzly looks much better but clearly wont have the quality control of our friends at LN etc and is a bit of a gamble.

In an ideal world I'd like to pick up cheaper ones in a store and check it over as although it can be sent back it's a bit of a pain to do so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, G S Haydon said:

Lol! Thanks Bob. I think the current Bailey range from Stanley is dreadful value for money. Hollow plastic handles (I don't mind plastic but the thin hollow stuff is bad) and very poor finish for the money. I think the Grizzly looks much better but clearly wont have the quality control of our friends at LN etc and is a bit of a gamble.

In an ideal world I'd like to pick up cheaper ones in a store and check it over as although it can be sent back it's a bit of a pain to do so.

 

My pleasure :)

Fair enough, the stanley was just a bad taste in my mouth. Im not entirely sure why they would let a non square plane out of QC tbh. More or less implies they don't do any QC at all :-/

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   1 Member, 0 Anonymous, 51 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,773
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    rojmwq4e
    Newest Member
    rojmwq4e
    Joined