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My accomplishment for the day yesterday was tuning my new Grizzly G0555X BS. I FINALLY got it right on the money! I removed the table and I put a new 3/4" 3POS Timberwolf blade on it and made necessary minor adjustments so that the blade is tracking perfectly. Then, I readjusted the lower blade guides from scratch. There are two bolts that hold that mechanism on to the base of the trunion....lots of play for movement when the bolts are loose. The whole mechanism was out of line.

I used a known true thickness shim (1/8") to make sure that it's parrallel to the trunion before re-tightening the bolts. Before setting blade guides against the blade it's very important to FIRST set the forward/ backward position of the guides because when you tighten the thumb screw that sets that position, it moves everything to the left as it tightens.

I then painstakingly adjusted the upper and lower ball bearing guides. It requires patience because the blade guides are on an eccentric bearing. For the wider blade you can get about 1/8 inch extra forward positioning on the guides by gently pushing them from the back of their housing. Again, I used a known thickness shim to make sure that both sides are the same distance forward. Then, you position the guides as best you can so that the front edge of the guides sit just behind the gullets of the blade. On this saw, with a 3/4 inch blade, you can't get them quite as close to the gullets as I've read is recommended. It doesn't seem to matter. The important thing is that both the upper and lower guides gently and firmly touch the blade behind the gullet and that the edges of the guides are parrallel with the blade. When I hand spin the upper wheel all of the guides roll. Furthermore, I can independtly spin each roller guide with my fingers. Then I set the thrust bearing according to instructions in the manual; a dollar bill folded 4 times as a spacer.

I put the table back on it. My prior setting for the positive stop at 90 degrees for the blade was perfect. The blade was perfectly square to the table using an 8" square. My test cuts on 9 inch wide appx 16 inches long, cherry were perfect and consistent, 1/8 inch slices the length of the board with no blade drift at all. None.

I've read reviews of the resaw fence that comes with this saw, both good and bad. Mine is perfect. It too is perfectly square with the table and parrallel to the blade the full 6 inches height of the fence. I couldn't ask for a better fence. It's very well designed and milled. It's also quick and easy to remove the higher part so that you're back to the standard cast iron fence that comes with the saw for sawing smaller boards.

I ruined the 1/2" 3POS Timberwolf blade that I purchased with the saw because of the lower blade assembly not being set right. The blade got bent and wouldn't track correctly again. Grizzly customer service replaced that blade for free, no hassles. Though Grizzly sells Timberwolf blades, they don't sell the 3/4" 3POS Timberwolf blade in 105 inch length (length required for this saw with riser block). It seems logical that they should sell that blade for this saw for resaw purposes. Afterall, this saw is made for 12" resawing (with the riser block) for small shops. Since Grizzly doesn't offer the ideal blade for tall resawing where a really fine finish isn't required, I purchased mine from Timberwolf directly. The 1/2" Timberwolf 3 POS that Grizzly does sell is fine for heights up to 6 inches but doesn't cut the mustard for taller boards.

I had pondered long and hard before buying this Band Saw. I was torn between it and the Rikon. I decided to go with the Grizzly because of other Grizzly tools that I've purchased and the 5 Star customer service that I've experienced with Grizzly. Their customer service is second to none.

One needs to remember that there's a learning curve with Band Saws. They are a bit finicky and require some patience and thought to properly tune.

The G0555X is indeed an extremely fine saw in it's size class. Properly tuned and with a good blade installed I'm a 100% satisfied customer with my purchase. It does exactly what it's supposed to do. I recommend this saw to anyone who's decided to purchase a 14" inch bandsaw with 12" resaw capacity.

Just remember, it's not a high speed production machine for large commercial shops that do a lot of 12" resawing, nor is it advertised as such. For the serious hobbyist or small shop it's perfect!