Anyone here own a Grizzly Jointer?

Rich Soby

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Cape Cod, Ma.
Its getting to be past time I moved up from my 6 inch jointer to something larger. Ultimately I would like a 12 but I lack the space for it as well as the means to get it down a set of bulkhead stairs.....
Im looking at the Grizzly 8" G0656P 3hp.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-x-72-Jointer-3-HP-w-Mobile-Base-Polar-Bear-Series-/G0656P

I may have a couple of larger jobs coming up and if they come through Im thinking of pulling the trigger on this and selling my old Powermatic 6 inch.

Anyone here have and experience with this or similar Grizzly models? I have a couple of other Grizzly shop tools and have been happy with them so far.
 
Interesting that the non-Polar Bear version is less right now(?).

image-3682024545.jpg

I have some Grizzly machines along with other maker's machines. Very happy with the value. My jointer did need to have the fence swapped due to a dip and I have read more than one G0490 thread about this. Grizzly shipped me a replacement in a few days and I saw it as a small inconvenience when held up against the $1000 less I payed when compared to a competitor's machine with less power.

I would be negligent if I didn't point out that spiral heads pay for themselves in pretty short order. I do enjoy the long beds on the G0490X but, if space is a problem, longer beds wouldn't be a good thing for you. You can do like I do for long stock; step on the pedal and swing the machine out for access and use stock supports. It is amazing how easily a machine of this weight moves on the built in base.
 
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That looks a LOT like my G0586 jointer. I am 100% satisfied with that machine and if the one you're looking at is anything like it, you'll be absolutely satisfied as well. I can definitely say it's well built, solid, holds its settings and has plenty of power even with my 2hp motor :)
 
Rich, I have that exact unit except for the white paint i got green.

Here are my experiences with it.

I bought mine direct from store and brought it home and assembled it.

At the time they had claimed it had a magnetic starter switch which i knew was not correct but even on inquiring in the store and having them check they said yup it did. So when i got it home and checked i ended up having them ship me a mag starter for free and fitted it myself.

So be aware there is no mag start switch on it, and i think that for a 3 hp 4 knife dangerous machine like that it should have. There is no problem fitting one many locations to do that.

Then the next thing that was and still is an issue to me is the fence. It has me thinking of Carols words of when everything is adjustable its usually a marketing thing and adds to issues in use.

So this particular design fence is pivoted off allen screws that are pointed and rest in corresponding cavities on the casting behind the fence. We are not talking here about well seated bearing surfaces. Just a drilled hole which ends up getting powder coating in it and the cap screw pointed to rest in it.

I had so much play and was afraid if i tightened these screws too much it would snap the casting off. There is a kind of H in the casting that provides for the swivel/tilt of the head for doing chamfered jointing. The pivot points (there are four of them) are on the 4 points of the H.

Grizzly was helpful and sent me additional allen screws and their answer was to tighten them up. But you can see the conflict i had and at the time being across the border and Grizzly at the time not publicly shipping to Canada as they do now, i did not know what would happen if they snapped. So i set it best i could and lived with the issue.

The result is the fence moves out of 90* relatively easily so i just check it frequently. Its really my only beef with this unit.

Note i am not a pro or even a retired hobbiest so my jointer does not get the use others may put one through.
It was not until a week or so ago that i first sharpened my blades and reset them and checked the beds properly.
I did discover my outfeed table had a dip but i could not find a spec anywhere so decided to not worry about it since my warranty is well past.

So i would ascertain upfront what flatness spec the machines Grizzly sells are meant to achieve for any new machine i buy next time.

I have also had the start capacitor pop on me but thats a normal serviceable item and i am still not convinced i did not cause that myself running the machine off a generator.

Were i to buy again, I would look to buy the G0490, with the parallelogram beds a magnetic start and if i recall correctly a different fence. It is in my mind a clone of the successful delta DJ20 unit at a more reasonable price.

One nice thing i discovered about the 656 is the head. It has four cutters and height adjustment allen screws that make setting knife height easy. Not spring loaded type rather fixed screw height.

Of course were i to buy again i would go straight to the shelix head type carbide inserts cutter head and not think in terms of later retrofitting. There is no doubt in my mind this is a feature that will payback very quickly especially for a person that does the amount of work you do.
Consider how long you will own the jointer and in that time how much time (in your case is money since you do pro work) you will save when for some reason or another a nick has occurred and with a simple allen key and rotation of the single cutter you can remove the nick and keep on jointing.

Never mind the benefit for a person like yourself when it comes to ornery woods and getting a decent surface quickly.

g0656_det2.jpg

Rich i have insert a image from Grizzlys site that shows the fence setup you can see the locking nut heads on the H sections of the casting supporting the fence i was referring to. A careful look and you see how much meat there is in the casting that has to resist the force exerted by the adjusting screws. I am not saying they will break off, I just never wanted to find out. May do so now that Grizzly actively ships to Canada.

Best of luck with your choice. Its once again one of these things where we have to decide on where we settle on price. Note in your case you should be able to depreciate it for tax purposes. In fact you should check with your accountant because in many cases in the US small business situation a value like this can be written off against income in total in the same year.

Other than my meager gripes its been a good machine and done the job. Note though, i emphasize i am not by any means a frequent user.
 
Thanks for all the replies and thank you Rob for your detailed review. Actually regarding the fence, looking at it its pretty much identical to the fence on my Powermatic. (they probably come from the same plant in china) I have never had a problem with it in the almost 10 years I have owned it. I may take your advice and upgrade to the helix head, in speaking with one of my clients tonight he just commissioned me to build an island for his kitchen and when that is done he wants to start designing his new kitchen around it. Also, my other client has said he and his wife will be ready soon to move forward with theirs as well so it looks like its going to be a busy winter hehehe
 
That's the one I've been saving up for as well as extra $ to have my shop wired for 220.
I thought that when I upgraded to a 6" jointer from a 4" several years ago It would be the machine I'd keep forever. Amazing how fast you grow out of a 6" jointer. I never imagined.
 
I thought that when I upgraded to a 6" jointer from a 4" several years ago It would be the machine I'd keep forever. Amazing how fast you grow out of a 6" jointer. I never imagined.

Just don't try a 12" or your money will soon follow. Don't need all 12" all the time man it's handy when you do. I have another brands combo and it takes up a fair bit less room than a separate jointer and planner and not a lot more than I had taken up with my old lunch box setup (the jointer bed lies over the infeed oufeed space for the plainer). The downsides are the changeover time and I got relatively short beds. I guess I'm saying triple check your space and see if you can fit, and cry over the price once :)
 
I have the grizzly G0586 8" jointer with the 4 knife head. It's been a solid performer. I've jointed boards up to 12 feet long with no problems up to 6-1/2" wide.

I touched up the blades one time soon after I got it just because I wanted to mess around with setting the knives but haven't had them out since. I run anything wood across it the might need to be straightened. When I say anything I mean anything. I've run plywood, mdf, pressure treated, old wood that still had dirt on it and she still cuts nice.

As for the fence the only time I ever check it for 90 is after I reset it because of tilting it for cutting bevels.

Max depth of cut I've ever done on it was 1/4" at a time and it had no problems doing it.

I thought about a spiral head for it but looking back I don't see any need for it as I haven't had to mess with the knives and I have a spiral cutter head in my surface planer.
 
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