Does Oneida have something to fear from Grizzly?

[Michael Ballent]

It appears that Oneida did have something to fear and they responded (too late for me ) with the Dust Gorilla.

Here is link to a recent open letter from Oneida re thier competition: http://www.oneida-air.com/letter_to_woodworkers.htm

I have said it in the past and I will continue to say it... Competition is good and let the best company win . I personally like the idea that the Oneida is made in the USA and they have gone to the trouble to point out why their machine is superior... Now Griz will have to pony up and upgrade their machine or they may be shut out... based on the fact both machines seem to be priced the same I would go for the Oneida, just because the welds seem to be better and USA made.

[Chris McKimson]

It appears that Oneida did have something to fear and they responded (too late for me ) with the Dust Gorilla.

Here is link to a recent open letter from Oneida re thier competition: http://www.oneida-air.com/letter_to_woodworkers.htm

Not to late for me. I ordered the 3HP Super Gorilla this morning. I considered the Grizzly but shipping was alot less than I expected from Oneida and I didn't have to pay the sales tax I would have for the G0441.

Chris

[Joe Horne]

I own a Oneida Cyclone........I love it........and I would buy it again, no matter the price. Sure, I own a few Griz Tools too, but when it comes to Dust Collection, nobody does it better than Oneida, IMO. I looked at the rest, then bought the best.

The customer and duct design service I received with my Cyclone was invaluable............just plain nice folks to deal with, period!

[John Bush]

Hi Chris,
Did you send the G0440 back and are getting the ductwork from Oneida too? Good luck, John.

[Chris McKimson]

I had pickup up the G0440 at the showroom, but had second thoughts as we had discussed. In the end, I arranged to swap the G0440 for a G0441 and the CS rep. I spoke with on the phone and through email placed the order for the G0441 (thereby holding one they had in stock) and created a return authorization for the G0440. I had arranged to take some time off to drive up to Bellingham (I work in Olympia) I got an email the afternoon before that, gee, they were out of stock and it would be 6 weeks before another came in. I thought of the Seinfeld episode where he make a reservation for the car, but they have no car. In the meantime, I had a G0440 sitting boxed up in the garage I could either take more time off to take back or trip over in my garage for the next 6 weeks. Neither worked will for me.

It's not that "things" don't happen, they do, but how a company deals with a problem. Grizzly customer service response for the most part was "Sorry". Nobody ever even suggested "maybe we could get one from another location" or "maybe we could arrange for you to drop off the G0441 at a time when the showroom is closed." (wouldn't have to take time off from work) or "we will send a shipper out to pick up the G0440 so it's not in your way" But all I got was "Sorry".

I placed the order for the Oneida after a call to them suggested that I wouldn't have to wait 6 weeks and I wouldn't have to pay tax and shipping would be a whole lot less than I thought.

In any event, I'm sure the Oneida will perform ever bit as well as a Grizzly would, I"m sure I'd be happy with either. The Oneida will end up being alot easier to get in the garage than the Grizzly. Thanks again for the shop tour and demo of the G0440 and fellas you should see John's shop, sure is a nice one.

Chris

[Allan Johanson]

Hi Chris,

Congrats on pulling the trigger on a nice machine. You will be very happy with it. Just promise me you won't be choking the poor thing down with 4" ducting.

Cheers,

Allan

[Chris McKimson]

Hi Chris,

Congrats on pulling the trigger on a nice machine. You will be very happy with it. Just promise me you won't be choking the poor thing down with 4" ducting.

Cheers,

Allan

Allan, I don't have any money left for ducting. Can't I just turn the machine on and left it suck all the stuff up?

I had planned on Oneida coming up with a design they suggest, then getting ducting from them, Air Handling or Spiral Mfg. As an alternative, I've seen you suggest driving around your neighborhood looking for those who make ducting, I just don't know where you live.

Chris

[Gary Sutherland]

You know, if this drama plays out the way many do in industry these days, Oneida will eventually move it's manufacturing to China, in order to survive increasing competition.

I'm sure they have no such plans at this point, and don't want to ever make such a move, but many fine American companies, after heroic struggles against it, have been forced to do it or die.

Gary

[Michael Gabbay]

I've used Oneida in the past for ducting and duct design for my small shop. Even though I already had a Jet DC and only wanted the duct work Oneida never once made any indication that I should buy their product. I really felt like they gave me good information. They did mention perfomance of the Jet would be pushing things but did it in such a way that was not a sales pitch but more of a design concern. I had already determined that what I wanted to do was not optimal but it was what I could afford.

Deciding on Grizzly versus Oneida for dust collection equipment... I'd rather go with the company that specializes in dust collection. Nothing against Grizzly. It's kind of like going to a General Practictioner when you need brain surgery.

I would have preferred that Oneida keep silent and market their product and not get into negative campaigning.

Mike

[Martin Lutz]

I have just started dealing with Oneida this week for a new system for my shop. Things are going well, friendly, courteous service. I'll keep you posted.

[Frank Pellow]

...
I would have preferred that Oneida keep silent and market their product and not get into negative campaigning.
...
Mike

I agree with you Michael (and that's why I posted Oneida's new open letter that shows that they are not going to keep silent -in spite of what we think).

[J.R. Rutter]

The new Woodworker's Supply catalog has their version of the cyclone, with performance curves for them, Grizzly, and Oneida. They said they collected the data at the same elevation, implying that they actually tested all of the units. It does show that the Grizzly 3 HP finished last, behind the 2 HP Oneida...

[Chip Charnley]

I had planned on Oneida coming up with a design they suggest, then getting ducting from them, Air Handling or Spiral Mfg. As an alternative, I've seen you suggest driving around your neighborhood looking for those who make ducting, I just don't know where you live.

Chris[/quote]

Chris,

If you haven't already bought the ducting from Oneida and this is a hobby shop not a business, contact a local HVAC company or two and get a quote on the CAD you get from Oneida. I bought a 3HP Oneida a year or so ago and considered going the route you are. But after figuring out what it would cost me for their parts and the work it would take me, I got a local HVAC company to install ducting to Oneida's specs (albeit smooth HVAC duct instead of spiral) for nearly the same cost as just buying the Oneida spiral duct parts. I had to go back and caulk some seams but it's pretty solid aside from that.

Chip

[Rob Blaustein]

Chris--I know this has been debated a lot here, but have you considered 6" PVC instead of metal ducting? It seems to be much less expensive and my sense from Rodney Cole's now classic article is that the sparking/grounding thing is really a non-issue for a home/hobbyist shop.

[Chris McKimson]

I did think about PVC and who knows, may end up there, but had originally decided to get the Nordfab stuff that Grizzly sells. I could pick it up locally at the Bellingham showroom, but a preliminary rundown of what I need for my smallish shop came up to 2200.00 just for the ducting (7" main + 6" drops). I plan on building a detached 3 car garage in the next few months and will have to redo the ductwork once I move the shop and was attracted to the ease of install/uninstall of the Nordfab, but still 2200.00

I priced out the same stuff from Penn State and came up with closer to 900.00, which is more digestable. I plan to take the list Oneida will give me and figuring out all my options and who knows, might do the Nordfab or end up with PVC, but probably something in between.

Chris