Grizzly 6" jointer fence issue

[Daniel Rode]

This is my first post here. I've been reading posts for a while, tho. I'll do an into in another post.

I bought a grizzly 654 jointer through Amazon. I got it Friday. The price was really good. $445 + free (amazon prime) shipping. The box arrived and was badly crushed and torn with a foot of heavy re-taping on each end to hold it together. The result was a number of deep scratches on the base edges and elsewhere but otherwise it seemed to have survived. It went together pretty well and is very similar to a delta 6" open base planner I once owned. Same size, same basic design.

In fact, the tables were coplanar with each other and the cutter head. All I had to do was adjust the outfeed height.

My issue is the with fence. first and foremost, fence face is concave across the length. The (top to bottom) center of the fence is shallower than the edges. The difference is about the thickness of 2-3 sheets of copy paper in the center. The defect seems to be arch shapes (concave). There are some other issue with the fence but they are minor.

At this price point, I expect few creature comforts, mediocre fit and finish and to have to do a bit of fiddling. I'm OK with that. It's all I can afford now, so it's the G654 or nothing. However, this fence can never be made square to the tables, so it's worthless as is. I'm not sure how I'd ship it back if need be because the box was so damaged it can't be reused. I also don't relish the idea of dis-assembling it.

I've already sent a message to Grizzly but I wanted to check to see of anyone else has had issue with their fences. I hope they do the right thing.

[Sean Walker]

I have the G0452 jointer and also have the concave issue with the fence. I was 1-2 months outside of the warranty and they were of no help. They told me to take the fence off and lay it face down on a flat piece of cardboard (seriously) and it would flatten out. I have not done this and just deal with it. I guess to save money, they have to cut corners somewhere.

[John Lemke]

I went for the same deal and got mine last Tuesday. I just checked my fence, and although I do have a very slight vertical concavity similar to yours, a single strip cut from a sheet of 20# printer paper is trapped by my square, and in fact prevents contact between the blade of the square and the fence.

[Daniel Rode]

I have the G0452 jointer and also have the concave issue with the fence. I was 1-2 months outside of the warranty and they were of no help. They told me to take the fence off and lay it face down on a flat piece of cardboard (seriously) and it would flatten out. I have not done this and just deal with it. I guess to save money, they have to cut corners somewhere.

I'm confused by your response. Who told you that laying a cast iron part on cardboard would flatten it? Grizzly tech support? The idea is ludicrous and sounds like an insult rather than a suggestion. From everything I've heard about Grizzly, their customer service is excellent, so this seems out of character.

[Sean Walker]

I'm confused by your response. Who told you that laying a cast iron part on cardboard would flatten it? Grizzly tech support? The idea is ludicrous and sounds like an insult rather than a suggestion. From everything I've heard about Grizzly, their customer service is excellent, so this seems out of character.

The Grizzly tech told me this, I kid you not.

[Daniel Rode]

I sent an email this morning to Grizzly describing the fence and other issues, they replied before noon with a list of parts they would ship to me today or tomorrow at the latest. Since I did not want to disassemble / reassemble the scratched base, they are sending touch up paint as well. I'll reserve judgement until the parts arrive and I can check them, but my first impressions of their tech support and customer service are very positive.

[glenn bradley]

I sent an email this morning to Grizzly describing the fence and other issues, they replied before noon with a list of parts they would ship to me today or tomorrow at the latest. Since I did not want to disassemble / reassemble the scratched base, they are sending touch up paint as well. I'll reserve judgement until the parts arrive and I can check them, but my first impressions of their tech support and customer service are very positive.

This is why people are often urged to call for support versus email. The contact is immediate and things can be put in motion very quickly; email sometimes builds in a delay. The fence should be replaced and I imagine they are sending you another. As stated, at their price point Grizzly will have some issues that Mini Max or Rojek may not. Its good to hear another story of a customer being well taken care of.

[Jim Finn]

I have that same jointer and never noticed if the fence was straight or not. I only use it for straighting edges for edge gluing and I do not see why it would matter to me. What am I missing? When would a bad fence hurt me?

[glenn bradley]

I have that same jointer and never noticed if the fence was straight or not. I only use it for straighting edges for edge gluing and I do not see why it would matter to me. What am I missing? When would a bad fence hurt me?

If the path is not decently perpendicular the feed path is not true. More impactive on angled cuts, of course.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have that same jointer and never noticed if the fence was straight or not. I only use it for straighting edges for edge gluing and I do not see why it would matter to me. What am I missing? When would a bad fence hurt me?

If the boards you edge joint are wider than the fence face, you probably won't have any issues. The board is probably riding on the edges of the cup in the face, assuming you have one. So as long as the bottom and top of your fence are square to the tables, I think you should get a square edge. If you edge joint boards shorter than you fence, then you could see some edges that are not consistently square along the length of the board. Checking the fence for that cup is easy if you have a decent square. If you have a cup, you'll see daylight between the square and the fence.

[Daniel Rode]

I have that same jointer and never noticed if the fence was straight or not. I only use it for straighting edges for edge gluing and I do not see why it would matter to me. What am I missing? When would a bad fence hurt me?

It's critical that the jointer fence and tables be absolutely flat in both directions across the faces.

If the fence is curved (concave in this case), rather than flat, is cannot be set perpendicular to the table. If one sets a square on the table and against the full height of the fence to set it, only boards as high or higher than the fence would be held perpendicular. Any board shorter than the fence would rest somewhere along that curve and be at > 90 degrees.

For edge gluing specifically, the issue is that one board edge might be at 93 degrees to the face and another at 90 and a third at 91. This makes for open joints or a glue up that is not flat.

[Daniel Rode]

As a follow up, I received the parts from Grizzly today. Everything was in the shipment and in good condition. The new fence is flat and I was able to swap them in about 5 minutes. They also replaced the lift wheel that was slipping and the little shelf that was bent and sent along some touchup paint.

I can't complain, I sent an email Monday morning, got a response before noon, new parts shipped that day and in my hand on Wednesday. This is my first time buying from Grizzly, I'll definitely consider them in the future.