How long ago was your 1st Grizzly?

[Kev Godwin]

I bought my first Grizzly machine about 8 years ago. I'm certain a lot of people bought much earlier. I'm curious to know of the Creekers that jumped in early. I bought my first one in 2002.

What year did you buy your first Grizzly machine?
Kev

[Chip Lindley]

Only one Grizzly machine for me in '07, since I needed a wide drum sander and there happened to be a G1066 within 2 hours of me. I've since moved on from green to black and tan when I found a whopper of a deal on a Wow! Woodmaster 3820 DDS.

[Mike Cruz]

I can't remember if this was the first or not, but I bought a small compressor and nail gun from Grizzly about 10 years or so ago. Both still going strong. Since, I've aquired 2 DC's (sold the first one for an upgrade to the second), a disc/belt sander, 20" planer, 18" BS, downdraft table, and more.

[Mitchell Garnett]

14" bandsaw

[Jim Finn]

Since 2005 I have bought from Grizzly: Drill press. band saw,router,scroll saw, planer, drum sander, dust collector system and Air cleaner.

[Myk Rian]

Last year I sold a Jet 6" jointer with great fit and finish, when I bought a used G1018 8" jointer with lousy fit and finish. Other than that, nothing else.

[Kevin Gregoire]

hopefully this year will by my year for my first Grizzly

[Mike Circo]

My first and only Grizzly came in 1990 or 1991. A 4" jointer. (Yes, 4 inch). Cast iron on a floor stand, really a mini version of their 6" version.

Nice, but not nice enough for me to go Grizzly again. Needed a lot of alignment, needed a new switch after a couple of years (melted !!) Okay for what I paid but I bought the rest of my stuff locally and got good tools and good in-person support.

Sold for $150 a bunch of years later to a guy upgrading from a bench top screamer and he loved it.

M

[Will Overton]

Just one (so far) two or 3 years ago. G0604zx

I would buy from them again if they have what I'm looking for at the time.

[Keith Outten]

I purchased my first Grizzly machine on May 17th, 1988. It was a G1021 15" planner. I just checked my file cabinet looking for the owners manual and found the original receipt, the planner was $695.00 plus $85.60 shipping.

I still own this planner, it has been the toughest machine I have ever owned. For over a decade my Dad and I kiln dried red and white oak lumber and sold it S2S, the Grizzly planner has seen more hours than most. It still has the original motor which is surprising since I ran it so hard in the early years it was common for the motor surface to get so hot I thought it was going to melt. My planner has the the old style bearings that you have to manually oil before each use and it is single speed. It isn't pretty but it sure has been an incredible machine.

I will take exception to JML's remarks above. When I bought my planner from Grizzly the Delta line of machines were so far out of my range financially I would never have owned a planner. Delta never lost a sale from me, their machines were top notch in those days but the price wasn't a consideration for most hobby woodworkers.

After 22 years of woodworking I doubt you could tell two boards apart if they were each machined on different planners, one of them being my old Grizzly. Now if anyone thinks that the value of this machine is suspect after over two decades of use step on up. One of the reasons this planner has lasted so long is that I purchased a slow speed (wet) knife grinder. I have always kept my knives razor sharp with an extra set on the shelf ready to change them when they lost their edge.

My second Grizzly machine was the 1.5 hp dust collector that I bought about a week after the planner. I still run the DC to this day and there are days that it runs for eight hours continiously when my CNC Router is cutting 3d projects.

About ten years ago I started woodworking for a living when I was awarded a three year contract to build cabinets for the York County School system. For many years the Grizzly tools in my shop were used every day all day long with three of us working full time. The list includes a 1023 table saw and an 8" jointer. My Grizzly machines are all old and the fit and finish isn't much to brag about......but I was never late on a customer delivery because any of my machines broke down or couldn't handle the job

If I had to machine 500 board feet of hickory tomorrow morning I wouldn't hesitate for a second. The depth almost always stays on 1/8" and the planner never gets a break while I change out bags because I use a chip box, we only stop for lunch.

Maybe the new machines aren't as good as the old ones.....I don't know
.

[Mike Cruz]

Hey, I've gotta say that Grizzly machines did used to be a bit so-so/iffy/verging on junky. But they have come a long way. They make some pretty nice stuff now. The best? No. But let me say this about them: The stuff they make, now and of recent, has been good enough to sway me their way over Delta. Why? CS. Parts availability. Tech support. Delta lacks what Grizzly excels at. Ask a Delta rep for a part for your machine... better have the exact part number. Better be ready to pay out the nose for it. Better be ready for your order to maybe be right. I know. I own a Uni and a DJ-20, and used to own a 6" Delta jointer. For the 6" jointer, I needed all the bolts and screws (a CL deal that was awesome, but hadn't been put together and didn't include the hardware). I called Delta. They didn't have a "package" of the hardware that comes with the jointer. I had to order each one individually, by number...that I had to figure out. After doing all that, the amount for each one started adding up. I ended up going to the local hardware store and getting everything for 20 some odd bucks. Recently, when I wanted new bearings for the cutterhead to put in a Byrd, Delta quote me something like $30 to $40 per bearing! They were under $5 each from Grizzly...well under if I remember correctly.

Grizzly may have started out with shady machines, but they have come a long way and there is NO OTHER WWING COMPANY I would rather deal with... and I have even had an issue or two with them. But I still have found them to be more reliable and helpful than any other company.

It is not a sad day to try to remember your first Grizzly. Your first (and last) Yugo, maybe. But Grizzly is simply not that bad. I shouldn't even say that. They are way above a remark like that. They may not be/are not a top of the line model, and frankly, I hope they never are...then that great CS would not be available to the regular Joe.

Kudos to you, Grizzly. On this thread, I remembered my first Grizzly that I owned. It certainly wasn't the first Grizzly that I ww'ed with. I used a bunch of those machines that were...well...iffy. But I learned to appreciate tools. We all can't afford Lagunas and MM's.

ALL HAIL GRIZZLY

[Steve Kohn]

I own a grizzly 19' bandsaw, oscillating spindle sander, dust collector, and 15 inch open ended wide belt sander. If I could figure how how to sneak a 20 inch spiral planer past my wife I would have that too.

It's OK to bemoan the fact that the American brands couldn't compete with the Asian clones but there is no way I would be able to afford the tooling I have now without global competition driving pricing down to affordable levels.

I would submit that most of the hobby woodworkers could not enjoy this hobby without the cost advantage that global competition is offering on tooling. I would also submit that the old "American" brands wouldn't be selling anywhere near the number of machines they do sell, since the total available market would be much smaller without us in the hobby.

[eugene thomas]

i bought a table saw, 2 hp dust collector and 8" jointer in 1994 to start my tool collection. Sold the dust collector last year for 50$ less than paided for it. Bought a 14" band saw in 1995 for $295. sold if few weeks ago for $225. Rooled that money into new 513 x2b band saw. some of the tools bought from grizzly where starter tools but when sold them defenitly got my moneys worth out of them. the only repairs i have had to make on them tools is new bearings on table saw and new start box for table saw and jointer. well the table saw fence was bunch of junk but friend gave me a biesmier fence and now works great.

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, if this is a contest, I sure won't win. My first, and only so far, is my G0691 table saw I purchased around 12/28/09, received the first week of 2010. I'm very happy with it, and wouldn't hesitate to purchase Grizzly again. Will it be the only brand I'll buy from now on? No, probably not. But it will get it's due look. Jim.

[Lance Norris]

May 2006 I bought my G0457 bandsaw. Since then Ive added a 1021X planer and a G0548 Dust Collector. All excellent machines. I also have newer vintage Delta, Jet, and General International machines. The Delta stuff is the worst of it all.