Hello everyone,
My bandsaw finally showed up today. I had it delivered to my warehouse because I have several docks and a forklift to unload it. I did a quick inspection to make sure everything is intact then loaded it in one of our delivery trucks with a lift gate and headed home. (I didn’t have to pay UPS $200 for lift gate service.) I brought 2 guys with me to help unload it. I ran into a little problem when I got home, the bandsaw was too tall for my garage door. We had to unbolt it from the pallet, which made it difficult to move because I can no longer use the pallet jack. Once we got it inside, I ran into another problem. How to get it on the mobile base? (Woodcraft mobile base, the kind you add your own plywood to. Works great for this saw) It took some muscle and a little bit of brain but we managed.
I spent about 2 hrs on assembly and adjustments.
Here are my observations in random order.
Overall, this saw is not the greatest but it’s not bad at all for the money. My 2 main complaints are the amount of rust I found and the wimpy stamped trunion. I wonder if anyone else has similar problems with rust on their Grizzly equipment. I will contact Grizzly tomorrow about the table and pulley. I’ll also post some pictures tomorrow.
- Fit and finish on the main frame and wheel cover is excellent..
- Very large table is perfectly flat and had a mirror finish, but severely rusted on one edge and one corner. The plastic bag that covers the table and contained the cosmoline was ripped at the same edge and corner. That explains the rust. I tried to clean it with WD-40 and steel wool, which made it somewhat smooth, but still very ugly.
- Wheels are very heavy cast iron with a poor paint job, has some rust.
- Tires are crowned and looks decent.
- The trunion is stamped steel, way to wimpy to support the large heavy table. When you bump the table it wobbles a bit. It is the worst part of this saw, in my opinion.
- The guides are large double bearings with curl knobs but require an Allen wrench to adjust, fairly easy to do. The thrust bearings however, are a little harder to adjust. The bearings need slight adjustments when the guide post is raised or lowered.
- Blade changing is fairly easy thanks to the quick tension lever and the large hand wheel. Tracking the blade is also very easy. The tension lever operates very smooth. The hand wheels could be better, they’re plastic.
- The motor is 220v 3hp, plenty of power with some to spare. It runs almost as quiet as my 12” Jet, with very little vibration. It cuts through an 11” log with ease. I haven’t try re-sawing yet, waiting for my Timber Wolf blades.
- The pulley is rusted pretty badly. It transfers a lot of it onto the v-belt. I think the pulley either needs to be replaced or taken out for a good cleaning.
- Just about all the screws on this machine have some degree of rust on it. I know that sounds odd but I spent a fair amount of time with a can of WD-40 and a wire brush.
- I almost forgot about the fence. Both the front and back rails is thin gauge aluminum. The fence itself is very hefty cast iron. (???) It comes with a decent re-saw fence that you can attach to the cast iron fence. The fence doesn’t slide very smoothly along the rails but silicon spray helps. It locks down pretty solid, but watch out for the thumb crushing lever when you release it. (I’m still hurting!) The locking lever is too short. I have mixed feelings about this fence, but overall it’s very useable.
Liem
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It makes me wonder if conditions in China/Tiawan/etc. are very humid and prone to rust. Also, if training is lacking and the people doing the final assembly/packing work just do not understand why rust preventative is important.
Originally Posted by Liem Tran
