Grizzly G0490 Jointer gloat/saga (long)

I ordered a G0490 jointer and Byrd Shelix cutter head on 10/30/07. The jointer shipped on 10/31/07 via New Penn Freight (per my request).
I got a call from New Penn on 11/1/07 that they had a delivery, this call came before the e-mail notification from Grizzly that the jointer had shipped. Fortunately I mentioned that I ordered liftgate service from Grizzly as New Penn said it was not noted on the bill, they called Grizzly to clear it up. I took delivery on 11/2/07 and the driver helped put it all in my garage. The box the base came in was damaged so the driver helped open it up to look for any damage before he would note that there was damage on the bill, there was a couple of very minor dents so I accepted the delivery. Over the weekend I got the base and jointer top into the basement using a dolly and block and tackle to first pull the jointer top into the house and then lower it into the basement. I used the same block and tackle, tied to the I-beam in the basement to lift the jointer top onto the base. It all went very smoothly. The Byrd cutterhead was on backorder so I continued to setup the jointer so I could use it. I found the tables to be pretty flat (I only have a 24 inch straight edge to check with) as well as the fence. The tables were not parallel to each other and would need adjustment, which I would do after the Byrd head was installed.

The Byrd head was shipped on 11/3/07 and I received it on 11/5/07 via UPS. No problem until I opened the package and found the wrong cutter head inside, it was for a generic 8” jointer and there is a different one specifically for the G0490. Called Customer Service and setup a return with UPS to pick it up at my house. UPS picked it up on 11/9/07 and it arrived at Grizzly on 11/12/07. Grizzly would not send the correct cutterhead until they received the incorrect one first adding to the delay. At this point I would have paid for another one and have them credit me for the incorrect one when they got it back, not an option as they did not want to send the wrong cutterhead again. I also contacted tech support and asked if I needed new bearings for the Byrd cutterhead and they recommended that I get them as the bearings in the original cutter head could get damaged when trying to get them off. I called CS back and asked if they could include a set of bearings (tech support gave me the part numbers), they said no as the item was already shipped. After a lengthy discussion about how the wrong item was shipped and the correct item had not shipped yet it was determined that the bearings could be included in the authorized return/replacement order. The correct cutterhead was shipped and received on 11/16/07 with no bearings and it looked like it was used. Another call to CS and they created a complaint and said I would be contacted in 1 to 2 business days (another weekend lost). CS contacts me and asks me to send pictures of the cutterhead. I send the pictures and wait for a response. In the mean time I receive the bearings and am charged shipping for them, I ask CS via e-mail why I am charged shipping since the bearings were suppose to be included with the cutterhead. On 11/21/07 CS calls at 7:30pm and asks if I’m going to keep the cutterhead, I said yes as by this time I am totally fed-up with the whole situation.

I install the cutterhead, put on a link belt to reduce the vibration (the original belt had a fat spot in it). I also had a difficult time adjusting the belt tension and had the belt slap that people hear at SMC talked about. After some thought I used a board under the jointer and some clamps to pull the motor down to tension the belt (see pictures). I also made sure the motor was parrellel to the the top and the pulleys were aligned. This eliminated the belt slap at startup and stopping. I aligned the tables which took about an hour and then made some test cuts. A little more tweeking and it works great. I also added some plywood to the open part of the dust chute to help the dust/chip collection (see pics)

Overall I like the jointer, a link belt should be standard, new bearings should be included or at least recommended with a Byrd cutterhead option and Grizzly customer service gets a low rating for slow response/resolution and lack of understanding. Thanks for listening to my rant.

Ordered on 10/30/07, up and running with all options ordered 11/22/07, I could have had this all done by 11/3/07 if the order was correctly shipped.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Now I know I am not alone in getting these belt tensions right! What a pain. I'll have to look into these clamps that reverse, I dont have any and it would be better than wedging a 2X4 to get that motor rear end lifted back up to horizontal.

The link belt sure looks purty! I think I'm jealous of the cutter head. I'm pretty much a beginner so I am just glad I even have a working tool :rolleyes: lol my ShopFox has 4 blades and they seem to work alright so far. Already changed them out as the stock blades had some nics in them.

Ok, we need to design and patent a belt tensioner tool for these things and make lots of money!

Sounds like you had a mojor headache with customer service. Doesn't that just ruin things when those yahoo's can't do their job right. On the other hand when things go smooth its great.

I have used this model of jointer. I really liked it! I am definately sold on this type of cutter head. Sold in that itr works terrific... I have not bought one yet. :)

The Byrd cutterhead is awsome. The cut is very smooth with no ridges. I have one on my 15" planner and works well there also which is why I wanted the Byrd cutterhead for the jointer instead of the one offered by Grizzly. I'm starting to work with figured wood so the Byrd cutterheads should really help out with tear out. I did make a few cuts with the original cutterhead and it worked fine except for the dings in the blade that were evident with the first cut I made. If I remember correctly Fine Woodworking did a test of jointers and found dings in blades from a few manufacturers.

I would have stayed on CS's case for a "new" cutterhead since you thought they sent you a used part. Is it possible that they test each cutterhead before shipping thus giving the impression it is used?

Charles, I think Grissly would have sent me a new cutterhead if I insisted on it. Grizzly CS called me tonight because they saw this post on SMC and wanted to make sure everthing was OK. They are going to credit my credit card for the cost of the new bearings. So I have to give them credit for following up, but if it was all done right in the first place we would be having a different thread right now. It just seems to me (and based on some other recent threads) that Grizzly should put some more effort in quality and packaging so when the customer gets the product they are happy. This was my first experience with Grizzly and I have mixed feelings about buying from them again. I bought a planner from Wilke Machinery and I never had to call their CS as there were no problems, the planer was tested before it left their shop (unfortunatly they no longer sell machinery). I would have gladly paid more to have a link belt and better quality motor mount bolts included ( I broke one when trying to tension the belt) and the machine tested before it left the warehouse. I guess it comes down to "you get what you pay for".

The 20 inch planner grizzley sells with similiar type cutterhead is awesome.. hard to belive how quite it is even when actually planning the board.. Very nice.

Tom

Have you posted this over at WoodNet? Papa Grizzly (owner of Grizzly) hangs our around there. I would like to here what he has to say about the problems you had with getting the correct cutter head.

I posted my Griz exper. a while back and can say there CS is the best in the Biz. I wish I had the Byrd cutter head but the one it comes with is great too! I did get the belt slap so I pretty much did what you did and reversed my clamps and pushed down from the top and it sounds great now! I'm interested to see how much better the link belts are?

Tom, two questions for you (I have the ShopFox version of the jointer):

1. Did you have problems with the link belt rubbing the shroud? Since it sits taller on the sheeves than the stock belt I found that to be the case and took it off.

2. How hard was it to install the Byrd head? I've heard some say that pulling and seating the bearings can lead to adjustment/alignment problems if I recall.

Enjoy. Despite the frustrations I think once you start enjoying the machine you'll forget about some of those hassles.

John, I have not posted on Woodnet as I have only have time to keep up with SMC.

Jake, I bent the belt guard/shroud so the link belt did not rub on it with a pair of pliers. Installing the Byrd head was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course there are no instructions available from either Grizzly or Byrd. The bearing on the pully side is captured inthe bearing block by a split ring, I just used a gear/wheel puller to pull the block and bearing assembly off the old cutter shaft. It came off with no damage (maybe I'm lucky). I didi not try to remove the bearing on the other side from the cutterhead, this is where Grizzly tech support recomends installing new bearings as the original ones could be damaged when removing. I put the Byrd cutterhead in the freezer for a few hours to shrink the shaft a little (read about that here at SMC) to make the installation of the new bearings easier. I sprayed the shaft with WD40 to displace the condensation and installed the new bearings. The key here is to not pound on the outside race of the bearings to install them, I used the pully to drive the bearing captured in the block onto the shaft and a block of wood with a hole bored in it to drive the other bearing onto the shaft. I then made sure the beds for the bearing blocks was clean and installed the new cutter head. I had to realign the infeed and outfeed tables to the new cutterhead and themselves. It took me about 4 hours, but I think I could do it now in about 1 hour.