Grizzly band saw

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I have owned a number of Grizzly tools over the past 12 years. 2 HP Lathe....burned out in 18 months.....Disc & Belt sander, bearings shot after 8 years.....14" Band saw, starting to wear out after 10 years.....Drill press, still working, but the quill run-out is starting to be a problem in deeper plunges. Hand drill, burned out in less than 2 years, same with the jig saw. By contrast, I have a 40 year old Rockwell jointer that never has had a problem. My Craftsman Table Saw has been running flawlessly for 20 years. I understand the pricing with Grizzly is very attractive, as I used to live in Western Washington and it was relatively handy to run up to Bellingham and buy the equipment. But you get what you pay for.

Grizzly tools, unless you buy the high end stuff, is made for hobbyists. Which means occasional use. As much as I turn, the lathe only made it 18 months before the bearings froze. The sander was used maybe a couple of times a week in the past 6 years (seldom prior to that) and I rarely used the belt sander on it and still the bearings went bad. They are not made for everyday use. Cost is an issue and I understand that, having purchased Grizzly for price over quality. Knowing what I know now I would buy a used Jet, Powermatic, Delta, or whatever before buying a new anything Grizzly. Also advise you to stay away from the lousy grade stuff at Harbor Freight.

IMHO---Rich
 
You have to stop and think, doesn't matter which brand you buy most likely its foreign made stuff. You may as well save yourself the money and just buy stuff at Harbor Freight and get the extended replacement plan, that way if within 2 years the machine dies you just take it to the store and get another one. I have purchased expensive machinery over the years and sadly some of it hasn't lasted as long as the stuff from harbor freight that cost a fraction of what I paid for a "brand name tool". Many of the harbor freight tools are actually brand name tools that for one reason or another didn't get a brand name sticker on it, so its painted a different color and labeled with a harbor freight brand name instead. It all comes out of the same manufacturing process. My disc belt sander is exactly the same as a Delta and Ryobi model, just painted different and labeled central machinery. Same exact part numbers as the more expensive tools.

I haven't heard very many people having any great luck with Grizzly tools either, so I for one wouldn't waste my money on them, not to mention the shipping costs. Grizzly tools are more often than not from China, Japan, etc. anyways LOL.
 
Harbor Freight does not make a bandsaw in this size range - so that discussion is pointless.

I've never been a big fan of Grizzly tools in general. To me they seem like a "high end" Harbor Freight store. Sorry to insult anyone that likes Grizzly, but that's just the impression I get.

but - in looking at reviews of this saw on Sawmill Creek and other forums, it seems to be a well-liked saw.

I don't know if price-point is a large part of that - or if the saw is really that well built.
 
I've got a HF 14" band saw and am pleased with it and it's performance. Must be lucky! I did put on a Carter guide kit and a carbide blade. I only paid $50 for the saw, $200 for the guide kit, a 6" riser kit from Grizzly, and $165 for the blade. But it cuts very true and smooth.
 
G0513 band saw comes in different price ranges from $825 to $1,350 and very popular with many woodworkers over at woodnet.com.

If already have 220V availabe sounds like a nice band saw.
 
I have the grizzly 17" band saw with the cast iron wheels, 2 HP, 240v, and I am very happy with it. I've resawn 10" black locust with it, no problems. I believe it is the g0513x2, but I don't know for sure.

Tracking is very good, and no blade drift with Timberwolfe blades. Nothing but good things to say about it, after 3 years of use.

I got it on sale for $795 just before the polar series (low cost version) came out. Then I had a 5% off coupon, so with shipping it was around $855. Too good of a deal to pass up.

I did have to haul it the last quarter mile up my driveway with my tractor because the delivery truck couldn't make it up the driveway. It is heavy and I could not have put it together without the tractor front end loader lifting some of the pieces.
 
I've had a Grizzly 19" 3hp for a number of years and cut a LOT of green wood for bowl blanks, etc. The only issue is some of the original guide bearings would freeze up from the wet wood, all the replacement bearings have never failed, probably leaky seals on the original ones. For my purpose it works great. Besides bowl blanks I cut pen blanks and do some resawing.
 
Swagopenturner said:
I've got a HF 14" band saw and am pleased with it and it's performance. Must be lucky! I did put on a Carter guide kit and a carbide blade. I only paid $50 for the saw, $200 for the guide kit, a 6" riser kit from Grizzly, and $165 for the blade. But it cuts very true and smooth.
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should have mentioned that I currently have a 14" Craftsman saw that I bought used and added a riser block and quick adjust blade tensioner to.

The reason I'm looking at a larger saw is that I've been cutting larger green bowl blanks and my saw doesn't seem to like them. Part of that could be due to having a dull blade - but the blade I have on it was only put on about 2 weeks ago and not been used much at all.

Wildman said:
G0513 band saw comes in different price ranges from $825 to $1,350 and very popular with many woodworkers over at woodnet.com.

If already have 220V availabe sounds like a nice band saw.
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I have a sub-panel (with space available) in my garage and can add another 220V outlet, so not an issue there.

BigE said:
I have the grizzly 17" band saw with the cast iron wheels, 2 HP, 240v, and I am very happy with it. I've resawn 10" black locust with it, no problems. I believe it is the g0513x2, but I don't know for sure.

Tracking is very good, and no blade drift with Timberwolfe blades. Nothing but good things to say about it, after 3 years of use.

I got it on sale for $795 just before the polar series (low cost version) came out. Then I had a 5% off coupon, so with shipping it was around $855. Too good of a deal to pass up.

I did have to haul it the last quarter mile up my driveway with my tractor because the delivery truck couldn't make it up the driveway. It is heavy and I could not have put it together without the tractor front end loader lifting some of the pieces.
Click to expand...

If I could get the 0513X2 at that price, I think I would go for it...maybe put this purchase off for a bit and see if they go on sale...

I think the X2 saws have a cast iron trunnion, cast iron wheels and some have a brake on them. all the other 0513 saws have aluminum wheels and seem to be the same (with exception of the paint color and price)

mhbeauford said:
I've had a Grizzly 19" 3hp for a number of years and cut a LOT of green wood for bowl blanks, etc. The only issue is some of the original guide bearings would freeze up from the wet wood, all the replacement bearings have never failed, probably leaky seals on the original ones. For my purpose it works great. Besides bowl blanks I cut pen blanks and do some resawing.
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I think I read your review on SMC last night.

the other option I have would be to upgrade the motor on my current saw to 2HP from whatever it is now (Sears calls it "1.75 HP max developed"). I don't know that spending $100+ on a new motor is a reasonable expense that could ever be recouped if I decide to buy a new saw and sell this one.

my other obstacle is convincing SWMBO that I need a new saw. She still doesn't know about the Stihl MS440 I bought a few weeks ago :tongue:
 
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I upgraded from a Harbor Freight 14" 4 speed band saw that I had for 10+ years. My upgrades included an upgraded motor, riser block, quick release, Kreg fence / table, bearing guides. All told I had over $600 into it. I also fine tuned, shimmed, etc., etc. the heck out of it. (I would have been better off buying the Jet that was about $500 at the time I bought the HF, or even buying the Grizzly 14" that was $300 at the time).

It worked OK, but still bogged down on some cuts, especially resaw cuts. Plus it was tricky getting the blade to track right and adjusting for drift.

On the blade being dull, I've found that even a brand new blade can be slightly dull. Here's how I resharpen my resaw blades:
Bandsaw Blade Sharpening the easy way - YouTube

At any rate, the Grizzly worked fine out of the box, so to speak. And, it was a world of difference better, especially at resawing.
 
I've got the G 555 with a 6" riser, in heavy use for 2 1/2 years and it is everything I needed. re-sawing, 15" platter blanks...anything!
 
The Penguin said:
Harbor Freight does not make a bandsaw in this size range - so that discussion is pointless.

I've never been a big fan of Grizzly tools in general. To me they seem like a "high end" Harbor Freight store. Sorry to insult anyone that likes Grizzly, but that's just the impression I get.

but - in looking at reviews of this saw on Sawmill Creek and other forums, it seems to be a well-liked saw.

I don't know if price-point is a large part of that - or if the saw is really that well built.
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Harbor Freight 14" bandsaw. Yep they make one.
14" Four Speed Woodworking Band Saw
 
again - I am looking at a 17" bandsaw.

HF does not offer one in that size.

I already own a 14" bandsaw.


Please try to keep up.

:tongue:
 
No doubt you get what you pay for. I am still using my old Craftsman as well and have not owned any Grizzly products. I do like the Jet products though.

Good luck with the search!
 
Every manufacturer has a lemon come off the line every now and then. The really good manufacturers just don't have as many. Better quality control and in some cases, better designs make a world of difference.

I would put a good Grizzly G0513x2 like I have now up against a comparable sized, modern Jet, Rikon, or Delta any day, and Grizzly has much better customer service. A Powermatic or Laguna is likely to be better built. 25-30 years ago I would have equated Grizzly to HF, but Grizzly has come a long way in quality since then.

Side note on the Harbor Freight saw: That's what I upgraded from. It was not a good saw to start with, and I wasted a lot of money on it to make it work for me. I only mentioned it in the first place because, having used a 14" Craftsman, I would put it on par with the 14" Harbor Freight saw that I sold. Maybe slightly better, maybe slightly worse.

I guess the bottom line is to buy the best you can afford, and then make it work for you, and have fun while doing so. There will always be a better tool out there, and we can always dream.....

Meanwhile, I'm going to go and drool over the Nova and Powermatic lathes.
 
I have had that saw for about 8 years and have used it to cut small logs into lumber the biggest being about 8"-10",have cut bowl blanks and lots of large chunks of figured wood like burls and crotches for pen blanks. I have also used it to make several bird houses out of 8" logs. The only problems I have had is had to replace the bearing that guide the blades this year but I don't think that would be different on any other saw, the other thing is when I use it for small stuff the plastic insert around the blade will break sometimes . I also had the motor get warm one day but I was using it very hard for close to 2 hours cutting up a truck load of 5" to 9" cedar logs up to 8' long.
to me for the money it is a very good band saw and should do for what you have in mind:laugh:
P.M. me if you have any other ?
Kerry
 
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