I found this today

[Bart Leetch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gtgKssFdE4

 

[john lucas]

Very interesting. Glad he posted it. I get asked a lot about Grizzly lathes and have never owned one. I have owned several grizzly tools and came to the same conclusions he did. They seem to be worth the money but aren't quite as good as the name brands which of course cost more.

 

[Scott Bradley]

I've owned several Grizzly tools and have had to do something with each. Shaper had a faulty switch and the fence adjustment was cranky. Tablesaw motor had to be rewound, went with aftermarket fence and had some vibration. Belt/disc sander always had tracking issues. Lathe went thru belts quickly(reeves drive) and threads kept stripping on the hardware for the tool rest. Also, the tool rest lockdown was very cranky. In general, all the tools worked ok but the interaction was not nearly as satisfying as a with well made tool. Each time I've bought one, I end up swearing I'll never buy another Grizzly tool.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Good luck mostly

I have had good luck with most of my Grizzly tools. The small compressor was fine till the switch cut out. They sent a new one and still a problem on pressure shut off. Did this 3 times and finally remove the return pressure tube from switch and it works.
My tablesaw 1023 works great; and bandsaw GO555 (i think) works fine also. Motor on the BS could be a little stronger, but gets the job done.

 

[Bart Leetch]

Grizzly tools listed below.

Well lets see I purchased new which is now an older 14" band-saw with riser it had a 3/4 HP motor which I upped to 1.5 HP which I had on hand other than that it worked & works fine.

I also purchased a used 12" portable planer that didn't work when I got it I took out the blades & put them in facing the right way & it worked fine.

I have the standard combination sander purchased new worked fine from day one.

I have their 2 HP DC purchased new it works fine.

I have the floor model radial drill-press purchased new works just fine.

I also have a Unisaw manufactured around 1940 purchased used with a 3 phase motor in 2004 & installed the Grizzly 52" fence & 3 HP motor works great.

I've had a lot of use out of these electric powered tools as well as several Craftsman tools from the 50"s & 60's that were my Dad's & other brand tools mostly purchased new on sale or re-manufactured/reconditioned.

Your shop is what you make it. Count up the coin you saved by debugging the few little things you've found that weren't quite right. Then look at all the items you made with them & count up what it would have cost to buy them if you could even get the quality or the exact item. Not to mention the cost of custom made items.


In other words count your blessings one by one.

 

[Richard Coers]

I used to buy Grizzly quite a bit. Then I bought a bandsaw that was a disaster. I spent one 3 weeks ordering parts, rebuilding sections of it, then finally gave up and sent it back. I used to recommend their scroll chuck, until I got one that would barely open and the bolts holding on the jaws were bottomed out and the jaws rattled. I sent that back , and the replacement had two jaws taller than the other two. I took it to work and faced them off, should have sent that back too. It's the last I will order from them. I've owned cheap tools, now I buy quality. It's more fun to use quality!

 

[Bart Leetch]

I'll add that I live less than an hour away from the Bellingham Grizzly store so I am able to pick up at the store & if I have a problem I can talk face to face & get help if needed.

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

That was an interesting video.
I have not used or owned any Grizzly power equipment.
The only thing I have ordered from them is a vicmarc knockoff chuck and extra jaws.
A good deal for the price. As noted in the video, the fit and finish was lacking.
It took a bit of work to make the chuck safe and smooth to use.
Knocking off sharp edges and corners and spinning out lots of packing oil. for a low price I got an extra chuck.

I don't think I would have the same forgiveness for a big machine tool.
The problem with the spindle threads and the chuck would kill the deal for me.
Especially if bigger pieces are the reason for saving some money.
That did not look safe to me.
Just about any other lathe manufacturer seems to be able to get something like the spindle relief/length and threading right.

Perhaps I expect too much.

 

[Bart Leetch]

I found out that the spindle is metric accept for the threads & if you run the lathe at around 650 RPM & touch it up with a file the chuck will fit right on.