Major upgrade- Grizzly 24” bandsaw has arrived

[Andrew Hughes]

I would also like to add another point.
Big saw doesn't mean you have to save it for cutting large wood.
Some woodworkers think big machines are for big wide board like a jointer.
It's just not true.
Good luck

[Richard Coers]

I was just test cutting a pair of Cypress shingles out of a 6" wide 24" long board. The 24" sliced it as fast as I could push it through. The 14" with a 1/2" resaw blade took a bit over 20 seconds I think mostly just getting the sawdust cleared.

1" Woodmaster CT 1.3 TPI blade in the big guy.

I'd still like to see a video with a clock on it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Stock blades are universally bad. Throw it out. If you want to resaw and cut veneer, get a Lennox Woodmaster CT. You will be amazed.

John

That’s the one I have in my cart!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I would also like to add another point.
Big saw doesn't mean you have to save it for cutting large wood.
Some woodworkers think big machines are for big wide board like a jointer.
It's just not true.
Good luck

I agree, although the primary justification for the purchase was making veneers- lots of them. We are keeping the two smaller Rikons for smaller work and tight curves- mainly so we don’t have to change blades constantly. We were going to sell one but decided to keep it with a really narrow blade, keep the 3hp one with a slightly larger blade, and the Grizzly will mainly be for resawing and for cutting big curves, ie arched doors. My favorite saw I have ever used was a massive 33” Tannewitz that would run forever after you turned it off due to the inertia of the wheels and the non-functioning blade brake. (Was not my saw). It cut so fast and so smooth! I used that saw for massive doors and tiny detail work. It was the sole saw in that shop- very versatile saw.

[Jared Sankovich]

That’s the one I have in my cart!

I have the 21" [shopfox] version of that saw running a 1" 1.3t woodmaster CT. I think you will be happy with that combination.

[Alex Zeller]

Got it powered up. Some vibration- not much. The big disappointment is the blade that comes with the saw is just horrible. The 14” 3hp cut faster with a proper blade. Ordering a quality blade and will reserve comments until it arrives. It does track perfect and I can make a thin veneer in hard maple, but the blade is just as if it isn’t even sharpened, and has a lot of scratches all over it from either poor manufacturing or poor handling before being installed at the factory.

When I got my 19" Grizzy BS it had a fair bit of vibration. It also had the throw away blade. What I found was the urethane tires on the wheels were causing the vibrations. I removed them and ran the saw with the junk blade and it was smooth as silk. I could have gotten replacements from Grizzly but I bought a set of Blue Max tires and the saw is so smooth I can stand a dime up on edge, start the saw, let it run, and shut it off. The dime doesn't fall over but does want to poll off the table. I think you'll be very happy with the saw.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Hello all: I finally got the new blade- The Woodmaster Carbon Tipped 2TPI. It took longer than expected to receive the blade, but I am very pleased with it. We made literally over 100 yellow birch veneers with it this week, and it took half the time it took with the Rikon 3hp. ** The Rikon is a gem, and I love it, and I am keeping it, but for what we do, we needed a bigger saw.

The saw cuts true, runs quiet, and has very little vibration- and I mean even for a smaller saw, but for a saw this large, I expected SOME vibration, but it is minimal. We do have it on a mobile base, and I think floor mounting it would make the vibration almost unnoticeable. I haven't tried balancing a quarter on it, but I suspect it would probably balance.

The dust collection works fairly well with a dedicated 2hp Grizzly dust collector attached. There was dust inside the machine below the wheels after running a number of 88" long veneers. That's to be expected. I did have a little "whoopsie" where I THOUGHT I had turned on the dust collector, but apparently didn't hit the button well, and I ran a few veneers with no dust collection. I quickly noticed that it was raining sawdust out of the top of the saw, and that caused me to look over at the deflated dust collector! *I have a remote wired switch for the dust collection, so when I hit it I am not standing right at the dust collector. I vacuumed all that up and ran the rest of the veneers- over 100 of them. At the end the majority of the dust was from where the dust stayed in the kerf and when I opened the veneer up from the piece I was sawing, dust would pour out, so that's not a fault of the dust collection. Inside the saw there was a handfull of dust near the port where the port meets the vertical of the saw, and so there is a ledge there (*hard to explain). There was also dust in the bottom of the saw where it travelled along the blade and dumped as it came around the lower wheel. Again- that's just normal bandsaw stuff. I feel like the dust collection worked fine.

The blade brake has an off-switch so you can turn the saw off just by hitting the blade brake and not the stop button. I like that. The blade brake rubs on the tire and it smells like someone just did a burnout in the shop when you use it. Not sure if that will dissipate over time. I don't like it, mainly because I associate burning rubber smells with electrical problems, so I kind of wish it didn't make that smell when you use the blade brake. Honestly, I almost never use blade brakes since it's just me and my shopmate in the shop. If my daughter is there, I will stop the blade to be sure she doesn't get curious while I'm not looking, but she's past the age where I have to worry with that.

I would give this saw the highest marks, except for the absolutely awful blade they send it with. That is my ONLY complaint. It's not a big complaint, as I had planned to get a better blade anyway, but I was very let down when I had waited so long to try the saw, and I had friends there waiting to see it work. I took a piece of wood and did a test cut, and everyone looked at me like, "Um- is that all she can do." With the new blade, however, it's a beast. It cuts through 12" wide birch with little effort, and didn't wander in the cut. We did make an auxiliary fence for doing tall pieces, but that's kind of something I would do with any saw.

Will try to get a video- we are hugely busy right now, and I have to be honest and let you know I may forget.

[Jim Becker]

I think that manufacturers "throw in a band" just so they can say it's ready to cut. I have not seen anyone declare that a band that comes with a bandsaw "cuts well". LOL

'Glad that hefty band worked out and worked fast for you. The saw with a proper band for the job sounds like the perfect solution for your work!

[Alex Zeller]

I used the one that came with my 19" Grizzly to identify the urethane tires were bad. I removed the tires and put the blade on the cast wheels and the vibration was gone. I got a set of Blue Max tires (didn't bother calling Grizzly to get replacements under warranty) and haven't had an issue. Other than that the blade hasn't moved. I have some conduit that I put magnets on to stick the blades to.

[John TenEyck]

I'm pretty sure the tires on Malcolm's saw are vulcanized, like they are on my G0636X. If so, they are trued at the factory and the wheels run very smoothly.

Malcolm if you are getting sawdust stuck in the kerf, which falls out when you remove the veneer from the board at the end of the cut, your DC is not up to the task. You need in the range of 800 cfm to remove the dust from that saw. A 2 hp DC pulling through the two 4" ports on the saw is just about up to the task IF it's the only thing the DC is connected to at the time, and the piping is short enough that you don't have too much static pressure losses. I had to make a lot of changes in my 2 hp DC in order to capture all the dust out of my G0636X, but now the kerf and cabinet are clean, even cutting 12" wide veneer.

The 1.3 tpi Woodmaster CT will clear the sawdust better than the 2 tpi on wide veneer, too. It will cut faster and the finish will be every bit as good. They cost less, too. I know it sounds too good to be true, but several folks here will attest to how well it cuts.

John

[Tom Trees]

I'm pretty sure the tires on Malcolm's saw are vulcanized, like they are on my G0636X. If so, they are trued at the factory and the wheels run very smoothly.


John

I wasn't aware of that, and presumed that it was some butyl type rubber like compound, like what I thought the Centauro tires were,
but Erik has mentioned those aren't run of the mill either....
"the modern Centauro tires feel more like plastic than rubber (though they should be made from gold-inlaid graphene, for what Parts Pronto asks for them)."

*Assuming someone in the business, might perhaps have better contacts for bulk stock holders of supplies.
I've got a spare CO600 tire , and they seem to be pre dressed with some sort of grinding device, rather than moulded.
On the Canadian forum, member Stickman seems very knowledgable on the subject of what's real rubber, and what's not.
I would've thought Grizzly would make a point about that, if it's the case.

I'd sure be interested if there were some ligature on the subject, seeing as your machine is running so well,
I did have a look to see before, but perhaps missed that.
Cheers

Tom

[John TenEyck]

I wasn't aware of that, and presumed that it was some butyl type rubber like compound, like what I thought the Centauro tires were,
but Erik has mentioned those aren't run of the mill either....
"the modern Centauro tires feel more like plastic than rubber (though they should be made from gold-inlaid graphene, for what Parts Pronto asks for them)."

*Assuming someone in the business, might perhaps have better contacts for bulk stock holders of supplies.
I've got a spare CO600 tire , and they seem to be pre dressed with some sort of grinding device, rather than moulded.
On the Canadian forum, member Stickman seems very knowledgable on the subject of what's real rubber, and what's not.
I would've thought Grizzly would make a point about that, if it's the case.

I'd sure be interested if there were some ligature on the subject, seeing as your machine is running so well,
I did have a look to see before, but perhaps missed that.
Cheers

Tom

Well now I'm not sure. The tires on my saw are vulcanized. When I just went to look at the specs for it on Grizzly's website it says the current one has urethane tires. Then I looked at the specs for the 24" saw Malcolm has and there's a video about how to change tires on a bandsaw. So it seems they have changed things. Sorry for the confusion.

John

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm pretty sure the tires on Malcolm's saw are vulcanized, like they are on my G0636X. If so, they are trued at the factory and the wheels run very smoothly.

Malcolm if you are getting sawdust stuck in the kerf, which falls out when you remove the veneer from the board at the end of the cut, your DC is not up to the task. You need in the range of 800 cfm to remove the dust from that saw. A 2 hp DC pulling through the two 4" ports on the saw is just about up to the task IF it's the only thing the DC is connected to at the time, and the piping is short enough that you don't have too much static pressure losses. I had to make a lot of changes in my 2 hp DC in order to capture all the dust out of my G0636X, but now the kerf and cabinet are clean, even cutting 12" wide veneer.

The 1.3 tpi Woodmaster CT will clear the sawdust better than the 2 tpi on wide veneer, too. It will cut faster and the finish will be every bit as good. They cost less, too. I know it sounds too good to be true, but several folks here will attest to how well it cuts.

John

It is vulcanized rubber, because it smells like you did a burnout in the shop when you hit the brake!

I have a 2hp grizzly hooked directly to the saw with just enough flex hose to connect it. I know flex hose loses some CFM, but it’s directly connected to the dust collector right next to the saw. There is another saw connected, but I have a gate right at the dust collector. It pulls 1550 CFM according to Grizzly. The dust between the veneers is mostly happening on larger pieces, ie 10” and wider.

[Derek Kessler]

Congrats on the upgrade! That's a beast of a bandsaw. It's great to hear about the setup process, looking forward to see the video showing its performance.

[John TenEyck]

It is vulcanized rubber, because it smells like you did a burnout in the shop when you hit the brake!

I have a 2hp grizzly hooked directly to the saw with just enough flex hose to connect it. I know flex hose loses some CFM, but it’s directly connected to the dust collector right next to the saw. There is another saw connected, but I have a gate right at the dust collector. It pulls 1550 CFM according to Grizzly. The dust between the veneers is mostly happening on larger pieces, ie 10” and wider.

I thought they would be vulcanized if they are on mine. But it's strange why Grizzly would post a video for changing the tires on the page for your saw.

The brake looks to be the same type as on mine. The brake pedal is connected to a brake pad that presses on a hub behind the lower wheel. Whatever smell it's making isn't coming from the tire, fortunately.

Your DC is rated for 1550 cfm (hard to imagine for a 2 hp motor) in the test they run. That test is run with a very short section of piping and no backpressure on the exhaust side. It will never do that in real life. If they supplied a fan curve it would show that the flow drops in a hurry as static pressure increases. They do show in the manual for that DC that the maximum static pressure is 11", meaning that's the point of zero CFM. The maximum flow through a 4" dust port is 400 CFM. Both ports, if the DC can manage enough flow at the static pressure loss of those ports, will give 800 CFM, which is about what's needed to keep the dust from building up in the bottom of the saw. Since you have the DC hooked up as close as possible might just be enough.

That leaves the blade as the probable source of why dust is ending up between the veneers. It's pretty hard for a 2 tpi blade to clear the dust from a 10" cut. If it works, it works, but if you plan to saw a lot of wide veneer you'll get better performance from the 1.3 tpi blade. The quality will be the same, there will be less heat generated, and you'll be able to cut faster.

Enjoy the saw. I'm sure it will serve you well for many years.

John