Grizzly G1182HW>Semi-gloat

[John Miliunas]

I say, "semi-gloat", as I'm not as satisfied as I thought I would, could or should be with the unit. The following stands as my "1st impression(s)" of the unit, as well as the actual email I sent off to Grizzly Tech Support this morning. It read:

Greetings,

I took delivery on one of your G1182HW jointers this last Thursday, June 5th. First, the good: Quick delivery, as I had just ordered the unit the previous Saturday! The shipper, who delivered the unit, also gets very high marks. They were in contact with me before the delivery was made and went to, what I believe to be, extra pains to make the delivery. Impressed! The unit was packed very well and came out of the carton without a scratch to be found anywhere! Again, very impressive and I was pleased.

The actual assembly instructions leave a bit to be desired, but I was able to get it together, albeit with some degree of difficulty on mounting and aligning the motor. I also opted to put a “Link-Belt” on to help suppress some of the vibration inherent with rubber belts. There was probably enough “Cosmoline” on the ground surfaces to take care of *two* units, but that’s OK. Once cleaned, the surfaces looked beautiful and, at least with the straightedges I have available, appear to be quite flat. The preset 90* on the fence was also very acceptable.

Now, the bad. Minor, but still an issue. I set the out-feed table per instructions and adjusted the in-feed to only take a touch over a 64th/inch off my stock. Not wanting to waste expensive stock to tweak it in, I used plain old, soft Pine. The piece I tried was clear, but warped. In the end, I was able to achieve a flat surface, BUT, the piece also had two very distinct ridges to it, running the length of the piece, about three inches apart. I rechecked the knife settings and all three looked to be very well set from the factory. I double-checked to be sure all the “Cosmoline” had been cleaned off and that all the gib bolts were tight. All looks good, but the ridges are there.

I suppose a guy could go ahead and order some new knives or have the current ones sharpened, but I don’t know that I can justify that with a brand new machine, which is otherwise in great working order. Any suggestions or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
John K. Miliunas
**********************************

OK, so in general, I was kind of pleased with the overall condition and the way the transaction was handled. The bottom line, though, is the machine failed to perform the way I had expected in the one function it's built for. I did receive an email from Grizzly Tech Support. In a nutshell, they indicated that "the knives aren't guaranteed and that this is caused by nicks in the knives". It further indicated that "...this could have been due to a hard spot, knots, metal..." or such in the wood. No further recourse, suggestions or help was indicated in the email, except for "an apology for the inconvenience".

THIS is where the "semi" part of the gloat comes in. As far as I'm concerned, in Grizzly's book, *I* caused the nicks in the knives and therefore it's a done deal, except for an empty apology and "their hope that I will buy more equipment from them." Well, that *HAD* been my intention(s)!

Oh, I totally understand them not guaranteeing the knives, as such things can and do happen. My point is that, I was extremely careful in the setup and the subsequent testing of the machine. When I said "plain old soft Pine", I meant it. Though I didn't mention it, this stuff was some leftover 1" stock from shelving and clear of knots. I've had a planer for many years and am well aware of issues associated with knots, nails and even dirt. I was careful to pick a couple pieces clear of any such defects. The thing which rails me is that the indication is this was *my own* doing and Grizzly simply can NOT be held accountable! This complaint wasn't lodged several weeks or months down the road. This is a *brand new* unit! Sorry, but nowhere in the assembly/instruction manual does it say to remove and inspect the knives under magnification before use! And even then, it sounds as though they'd still pawn it off as end-user error.

I don't know; Maybe it's because I didn't order one of their multi-thousand dollar units, but I'm glad I didn't, because then I'd really be torqued! As my email to them mentioned, I was otherwise very pleased with everything, from the original order right on down to the final assembly. BUT, they still managed to let me down in their "after the sale" service.

Granted, the issue is relatively minor, but it's not 100% any which way you cut it. For prepping boards to run through the planer, it will work OK until I get new blades or have them resharpened properly. I *had* intended on doing some edge jointing for glue ups, but that will now have to wait until I replace/sharpen the blades. Oh, and I don't think I'll be buying them through Grizzly, either!

Sorry for the "rant" folks, but I've had a few inquiries asking for followup on this unit (after I bragged about ordering it!). I seriously doubt you'll be seeing any future reviews from me on Grizzly products! I had intended on, at least, two more major machine purchases, both of which could have easily gone to Grizz. Guess the old saying about "You get what you pay for." applies! My next items will most likely be Jet or Bridgewood from Wilke Machinery. At least there I *know* that Jet stands behind their products 110% and Wilke bends over backwards for their customers.

There. I feel a smidgen better now. 'Scuse me while I go try to figure out how I'm going to best handle this little
problem.

[Jim Becker]

John, to correct the problem for now, just move one of the knives over slightly, being sure to keep it at the same height. (It's one of the "preservation" tips for when you get a real-I-did-it-myself nick on them in the future)

Now...go make some chips!

[Chuck Wintle]

Would they respond if you placed a phone call to them? And once on the phone with them don't ease off until a new set of knives are being shipped. Its reasonable to expect the knives to be in perfect shape.

[nic obie]

Originally posted by Charles Wintle
Would they respond if you placed a phone call to them? And once on the pohone with them don't ease off until a new set of knives are being shipped. Its a reasonable to expect the knives to be in perfect shape.

I'm sure that they'd want the damaged knives sent back before shipping new ones.

That would take at least a week or three.

Just shift one over a smuge as Jim suggested. You need to learn how to do this anyway.

Hoverer I figure the real problem is, U should have bought the 8".

[John Miliunas]

Appreciate the suggestions.

Jim: Yeah, I know about the "shifting of the knives" trick. As mentioned earlier, the proud owner of an older "lunchbox" planer, which has seen its share of *rough* lumber! I will say this, though: I've fed some mighty knotty stuff through that little Ryobi and it took many, many passes before *any* nicks showed up. Fact is, I just recently replaced the original knives in it, after several years of hard use! Lots of brd/ft. of Walnut, Maple and Oak went past those blades!

Charles, I thought about that today, but was way too busy and, quite frankly, a bit too P.O.'d to talk to them! I didn't want to offend someone who probably has no authority to do anything about it. May still try tomorrow, but I'm not putting a lot of faith into it.

Nic, you're probably right and that's probably what they're counting on, if they do indeed decide to even try to do anything about it. That would simply mean I'd be without the tool I had already spent my hard earned $$ on! Oh, I'd be happy to return the defective one(s), but not until I had a clean set in-hand. Probably a mute point, anyway. My luck with Grizz has not been good and probably the best way for me to stop belly-achin' about it is to find a better vendor. That's not hard to do, but it will cost me a few more bucks. As for the 8"er, I had to eliminate that by reason of real estate. (Just don't have enough of it in my little shop!)

In the end, I may first try another suggestion, that being, contact our SMC contact for Grizz (Bill Croffut) and see if he has any thoughts on it. Win, loose or draw, I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again for your input!

[Doug Cowan]

My quess, hope, is that your email went to a Tech who didn't read it as closely as he should. With the jointer right out of the box, and on clear pine, that sounds like a defect in one or more of the knives.

As far as thier wanting the old part before they ship the new, that hasn't been my experinece. I bought the same model jointer and it arrived with three of the base pieces crunched from shipping. I called Grizzly and they immediately agreed to send out the replacement pieces. I told them that I planned to beat the original pieces back into shape for temporary use as I was in the middle of a project and couldn't wait. They said that was fine and to send them the old pieces when it was convenient.

I think that you are taking the right approach, calm down a day and contact them again. I would be very surprised if they don't make it right. Good luck, and let us know how it plays out.

[David Hayes]

John,
Sorry to hear of your problem. You can still do the edge jointing you want to do by just relocating the fence to miss the nicks in the blades.

I do feel your pain - but mine was self caused. I "found" a piece of an old nail in some very clear poplar that I was jointing one week after setting up my new jointer. Three nice nicks in my brand new blades. I went with a metal detector to hopefully ease my frustration in the future.

Dave in West TN

[John Miliunas]

Thanks again for your suggestions. Me thinks the issue has been resolved. Our very own knight in shining armor, that being, Bill Crofutt, has once again, come to the rescue. He did chastise me a bit for "over-reacting" (admittedly so...) and repeated that he IS COMMITTED TO HELPING THE MEMBERS OF SMC OUT with issues regarding Grizzly!!! He suggested that I may have happened upon one of the many newer TS folks on their ever-growing team, who may not have completely understood the situation, nor the possible resolution(s). Bill is making sure a fresh set of blades are getting sent out to me, as I write this! I have all the faith in the world that he will be good to his word and, in the meantime, I've already done the "shifting of the blade" to compensate for whichever one was schmucked up.

I REPEAT (Sorry for yelling!), Grizzly is, at this point, doing whatever they have to do to keep yours truly as a customer, for now and into the future. Hmmmm....I smell a large green OSS in my future!!! At any rate, it looks like my little Grizz jointer will be back in the shape it was meant to be.

My apologies to fellow SMC members, as well as to Grizzly for my somewhat "emotional" outpour. Just that I'd been wanting one of these things for a LONG time, had saved up enough cash to get one and then it just didn't quite meet the mark. Guess I shoulda' counted to ten or a hundred or something like that before going ballistic. Thanks especially to Bill Crofutt and to Jim Becker who suggested I contact him. Seems they are BOTH true SMC-ers!

[Chuck Wintle]

Sometimes it takes a good rant to set things straight! Grizzley, like any company, is only as good as the employees who work there. The decisions made by these employees in response to emails or telephone calls reflect the customer service training. If only this was consistently good regardless of the company

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Originally posted by John Miliunas
Thanks again for your suggestions. Me thinks the issue has been resolved. Our very own knight in shining armor, that being, Bill Crofutt, has once again, come to the rescue. He did chastise me a bit for "over-reacting" (admittedly so...) and repeated that he IS COMMITTED TO HELPING THE MEMBERS OF SMC OUT with issues regarding Grizzly!!! He suggested that I may have happened upon one of the many newer TS folks on their ever-growing team, who may not have completely understood the situation, nor the possible resolution(s). Bill is making sure a fresh set of blades are getting sent out to me, as I write this! I have all the faith in the world that he will be good to his word and, in the meantime, I've already done the "shifting of the blade" to compensate for whichever one was schmucked up.

I REPEAT (Sorry for yelling!), Grizzly is, at this point, doing whatever they have to do to keep yours truly as a customer, for now and into the future. Hmmmm....I smell a large green OSS in my future!!! At any rate, it looks like my little Grizz jointer will be back in the shape it was meant to be.

My apologies to fellow SMC members, as well as to Grizzly for my somewhat "emotional" outpour. Just that I'd been wanting one of these things for a LONG time, had saved up enough cash to get one and then it just didn't quite meet the mark. Guess I shoulda' counted to ten or a hundred or something like that before going ballistic. Thanks especially to Bill Crofutt and to Jim Becker who suggested I contact him. Seems they are BOTH true SMC-ers!

John,

No need to apologize for your post. I think that is what this board are for. You had a problem and you put it out there and we all discussed it. Who says you have to be totally unemotional about our machines. I think we are all very passionate about our hobby here and you just showed that in your post. It was nice to hear that Grizzly took care of this as they should have. I mean isn't it worth it to Grizzly to have you a satisfied customer who will use them again in the future for just their cost of some blades? I know I will consider them in the future for equipment upgrades. Enjoy your new "toy". Alan in Md.

[Ken Salisbury]

Once again the power of SMC surfaces. A lot of manufacturers are monitoring this forum and we have seen or heard of several who have responded with resolutions to problems with their products and/or services.

As SMC continues to grow and the membership increases this type of activity will rise even higher. All the more reason for ALL members to urge their woodworking friends/associates to become members at SMC.

[David Blangger]

John,

I kept silent on your post because my shop has much more green than yellow. You would think I work for Grizz

In the last couple of years they (Grizzly) has tried to make giant positive strides.

I am sorry about your problem but I am sure there will or has been a meeting and now even the new jr. reps knows who you and SMC represent..... customers

David

[John Miliunas]

Hey David, if your shop carries a green & yellow theme, you're in the wrong state! I do, however, think you're probably right about SMC becoming a part of Grizzly's native tongue, as it were. Bill C. is highly aware of our presence and very willing to assist when necessary. That's really pretty cool. Like Keith keeps saying, it sure would be neat if more vendors jumped on in with the same type of interest. It's really gotten to the point where so much of the equipment out there is similar in function, features, quality and, in many cases most importantly, price. The only remaining item, which becomes a deciding factor for many is the vendor's Customer Service, before, during and after the sale. I know that I've often even paid *more* for the same or similar items, in favor of a company/vendor with known good CS.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Hmmm. If I'm reading the problem correctly, I don't think you should limit the search to just the knives. Based on the machining quality of the Grizzly stuff we've got, I think I might suspect some sort of 'catch' caused by an imperfection on the outfeed table...and particularly a burr that might need filing off right next to the cutterhead.

KC

[Dave Arbuckle]

Let me make sure I got this right. An e-mail from Grizzly Tech Support says, and the quotes are yours:

they indicated that "the knives aren't guaranteed and that this is caused by nicks in the knives".

And Croffutt says you overreacted?

BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAA

(places Grizzly lower on the list. And I was thinking of getting a G5959.....)

Dave