G0490X Arrived

[glenn bradley]

I was very happy when I was told this would be coming FedEx. They have always done a better than average job around here. I ordered last Wednesday and it arrived an hour ago. The FedEx guy backed his tractor-trailer right up into my little suburban driveway. The lift gate was literally extended into my shop when he let it down.

I suckered my boss into hanging out for a couple hours to help me muscle the box around. Between the three of us (and with the driver's fancy back-in job) we only had to nudge it a few feet.

The box for the base had a snag in the cardboard on top but the Styrofoam underneath was not damaged. The wooden crate holding the jointer looked fine. I pulled the top off to inspect it before the driver left so I’m as sure as I can be at this point that all is well.

I peeled the plastic back and got a shot for all us picture-lovers:



I'll follow the advice of the many owners who have posted; link belt, fix the dust chute, etc. I hope to let you know how it cuts in a couple days.

[Jim C Bradley]

Hi,

Happy Monday and may you have many more!

Oh! Did I mention that I am jealous?

Enjoy,

Dad

[Frank Fusco]

Congrats. And we need more pictures after it is set up.

[Clark O'Neill]

glenn, your pic of the jointer bed in the box reminded me of an embarrassing moment. i've told this story on myself on this forum before.

when i was unpacking my 490 jointer i was waiting for help from my SIL and grandson. i knew i couldn't lift the jointer bed by myself but wanted to lift just one end to get a feel for how heavy it was. i was embarrassed to find i couldn't even budge one end as it sat in the shipping box. then REALLY embarrassed when i found out the bed of the jointer was bolted to the wooden box and i had been standing in the box while lifting.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Clark. I'd heard about that one and removed the bolts. I learned about it by some good forum member sharing his experience as you have. Thanks again.

[glenn bradley]

Just FYI for all; from Grizzly: "The table tolerances are approximately .002” per foot of distance for the overall table. If you have a few smaller areas with .003” it is at tolerance. If the .003” gap is for a significant length of the table, your tables are not in tolerance."

The jointer tables are almost obscenely flat. I did find one area where I could slip a .002" feeler under my 36" straight edge if I positioned it just right. I systematically checked across the tables parallel and at angles to the front edge, all looks well.

The control box and column got a bit dinged. This was due to the breaking of the tie-wrap that was supposed to keep it in place. This allowed it to rock back and forth which did the paint job no good.

Grizzly has responded beyond all expectations to any small complaint. They have responded to every email the same or the next day (depending on what time I sent it). They have called me 3 times . . . all this over a scratched switchbox? End result is a new switchbox, column and cord on the way. Excellent CS.

I did the dust port fix last night and I have coerced a couple coworkers into lifting the jointer onto the prepared stand during lunch today. Of course this means lunch is on me. I’ll post some more pictures as I reach significant stages with the hope that they will help others as others have helped me ;-)

P.s. A professional told my dad about a guy cutting his hand on a sharp area of a G0490X. I searched diligently so as not to get cut myself. I couldn’t find a rough or sharp spot anywhere. But then, there it is; Grizzly has added a 'ballpark' thickness gauge to the end of the fence. A rabbet is cut into the fence to allow clearance for the riveted scale. The edge of the rabbet is fiercely sharp but can be eased with a file and very little effort. I have sent a heads-up to Grizzly, you all watch out too.

[glenn bradley]

So here's the build and my comments:

Here's how a little guy gets a 3HP motor from the shipping position to the mounted position all by his lonesome:



Got her in a level spot and ready for an assist lifting the jointer body:



I had seen several fixes for the DC problems many have. This one was straight forward and tested perfect so I went with it:



The fix keeps all the chips on the outside of the motor cabinet:



I went straight to the link belt since they have done so well on other machines for me:



There is such a narrow clearance for the belt, I raised the guard. Due to the angles this gives me a good 3/16" clearance from any surface (you can see it without the glare at the top of the previous pic). No belt slap, every thing's peachy:



Ready for the sides to go back on:



I face and edge jointed a piece of fir and a piece of oak. No scalloping. I'm running the Grizzly spiral head.

UPDATE: I just wanted to run it a bit before I put the sides on. I ran about 30 lineal feet of 6" wide oak across it. Picked up just a shadow of snipe (I fixed it and re-did it enough times to eliminate technique). I adjusted the outfeed a bit. Very easy on this machine.

Also notice a little shiney area on the link belt outer surface. Hmmmm. . . the clearance is fine . .. I made sure of that . . . ah-ha! The washer for one of the fence carriage bolts is really close. Probably getting touched during startup or shut down. Swapped for a washer with a smaller outer diameter. All better.

Ran another 90 lineal feet through (so much for that board) face jointing, edge jointing, rabbeting and angle jointing. Motor hardly gets warm and its 88 in my shop right now. Belt is cool to the touch also. DC is currently 4" hose stretched about 20 feet across the floor but still works fine. All in all I am quite happy so I guess I'll be another one of those guys that says "get the 490" when people ask.

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Well Glenn, don't get mad and start sizing down all the lumber you have at home or you'll have a mountain of chips so big that you'll need the aid of a snow plower to get out of your shop!

Jokes apart, I glad for you, that's a wonderful tool, now you know what it is due, great projects coming out with its aid!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Thanks for the review and photos Glenn! I'm going to end up with that jointer.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for the review and photos Glenn! I'm going to end up with that jointer.

I have owned this jointer in my mind since before they offered it with a factory installed spiral head. There is an upside to having to save a few bucks a month for a year or so. By the time I had the cash, Grizzly had offered a spiral head, disliked it and changed to another maker.

The head caused me much confusion as the pics Grizzly uses are out of date. To help any other poor soul who may be questioning this, here's mine:



I ran through a bunch of reclaimed oak the LOML had scrounged for me. Metal detector, wirebrush the dirt off, etc. There was some great stuff hiding under that common exterior. It may be due to using a sled for a year but this is so cool. Don't get me wrong, the sled still has a home for material over 8" wide and was a blessing while I saved my dough.