Grizzly G0490 review and shop photos

[Don Bullock]

Bob, thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that Grizzly came through for you on the base. I've run just a few more boards through my jointer than you have and have found it to be a good machine. Enjoy.

[Tom Ruflin]

Bob, I got rid of the belt slap at start and stop by using quick grip clamps to tension the belt. The link belt also helped. See the picture attached. You have to pull down on the pully side and pull/push up on the other side to keep the motor parallel and have good pully/belt alignment. Proper alignment and the link belt really help to reduce vibration.

Note that I used a 3/4 " board in the bottom of the cabinet for the bottom of the clamp to hook under. I used full hand/squeeze pressure on the pully side and double checked the pressure after everything was checked for parrallel and then tighened all the bolts and removed the clamps and board in the bottom.

[bob cohen]

did you tighten the clamps with full hand strength?

[Mike Marcade]

I did the same thing. With perfect belt aligment and really good tension using some of those one handed spreader clamps mine makes no bang or rubbing whatsoever, even with a link belt on. I can place a nickel on the outfeed and start it up, let it run, and stop it and the nickel never moves.

[Greg Shields]

I may have to try that with mine. I have a slight bang at startup but after that it is smooth.

[Rob Blaustein]

Mike and Tom: Do you leave those clamps there all the time to maintain proper tension, or do you make some adjustment while clamped, then remove the clamps?

[Mike Marcade]

Rob,

You loosen the bolts to adjust the motor, then apply the spreaders to put the correct tension on the belt, then tighten the bolts and remove the clamps.

[Rob Blaustein]

Rob,

You loosen the bolts to adjust the motor, then apply the spreaders to put the correct tension on the belt, then tighten the bolts and remove the clamps.

Thanks Mike. I was curious since I have a G0490 sitting in my garage still crated waiting for me to make room for it and to get help assembling it. One of these days... Rob

[Russ Massery]

Congrats, on the jointer I upgraded to a G0490 also from the same jointer (6" Delta) a few years ago. I've been very happy with mine also. This pasted year I put a Byrd head in mine. Looks like a nice shop.

[Mike Marcade]

Thanks Mike. I was curious since I have a G0490 sitting in my garage still crated waiting for me to make room for it and to get help assembling it. One of these days... Rob

Mine took me a couple of months to get completely running too. also BTW I am leveraging your Board Buddy mounting design for my tablesaw fence.

[Rob Blaustein]

Mine took me a couple of months to get completely running too. also BTW I am leveraging your Board Buddy mounting design for my tablesaw fence.

Mike-Good luck with the board buddies installation. As you probably noticed, I based mine on a bunch of different folks' methods after searching the archives. It was handy to actually print out some pics and take them down to the shop. I'm sure one day I'll hit you up for advice on the jointer. One day... --Rob

[Mike Marcade]

Mike-Good luck with the board buddies installation. As you probably noticed, I based mine on a bunch of different folks' methods after searching the archives. It was handy to actually print out some pics and take them down to the shop. I'm sure one day I'll hit you up for advice on the jointer. One day... --Rob

I actually looked at your pics and then designed my setup on Pro/Engineer. Just PM me if you need some jointer help.

[Don Bullock]

Bob, I got rid of the belt slap at start and stop by using quick grip clamps to tension the belt. The link belt also helped. See the picture attached. You have to pull down on the pully side and pull/push up on the other side to keep the motor parallel and have good pully/belt alignment. Proper alignment and the link belt really help to reduce vibration.

Note that I used a 3/4 " board in the bottom of the cabinet for the bottom of the clamp to hook under. I used full hand/squeeze pressure on the pully side and double checked the pressure after everything was checked for parrallel and then tighened all the bolts and removed the clamps and board in the bottom.

Tom, thanks for the post. When I get a chance I'll try that with mine.

[Russ Massery]

I went to a link belt on mine. I found the stock belt too stiff and caused the belt to have a lot of memory. Link belt did the trick.