Maybe ten years from now, when I know what I'm talking about, I'll write a review of the Grizzly G0690 cabinet saw I recently got. But at the moment I'm just a guy who lately spends too much free time tinkering with modest projects, buying power tools, and hitting refresh on SMC, so I'll try to stick to areas of relative competence.
My primary motive for posting this is guilt. I've learned a ton from this site, so I wanted to take an opportunity to contribute something useful myself, and not many have posted yet about the G0690 or the G0691 (same saw with longer rails & extension table).
Delivery. The boxes my saw arrived in were beat up pretty good. Having read others' bad experiences here, I was concerned. I was careful to note the damage on the shipping invoice, which is necessary to follow up with Grizzly about a damaged shipment. In the end, my concerns were unfounded. The only damage was to the particleboard extension table (sits outboard of the right cast iron extension table). I called Grizzly, told them the problem, and a few days later I had a new one. Great service.
Fit and finish. Again, I don't have much perspective here, but my overall impression is very positive. I noted two minor fit/finish issues. One I posted about here: one of the faceplates on the fence was not dead flat. When I mentioned this to Grizzly, they said no problem, we'll send you another, and they did. The new one was better, but dead flat is going to require shimming. I get the idea that's par for the course. The second issue was that the motor housing cover does not fit perfectly against the body of the saw -- the curve on the door handle seems to be bent at the wrong angle. (see photo). A non-issue in practice for me. Other than that, no problems noted.
Impressions. First, a digression.
Before I bought this, I had a hand-me-down Ridgid 2412 10" contractor saw that scared me. The blade guard/splitter was terrible so I never used it; that, combined with my careful but inexperienced technique resulted in one big piece of wood zipping past me and, a couple weeks later, another into my ribs. Ooof. It routinely bogged down to a dead stop when I was ripping. It always burned the piece I was cutting, even with a WWII. The fence was no joy to use, and my dust collection efforts were largely for naught. Bad technique may well have been to blame for much of that, but suffice to say this was a saw that put a spotlight to my every mistake.
So believe me when I say that the fact that I love my new saw doesn't mean much.
But I do love it. It passed the nickel test on the first try. Fence moves with one finger. Power galore. Dust collection okay, certainly better than my contractor saw. The stock guard is good enough that I use it all the time except when making non-through cuts. I'm not scared of my saw anymore. And, suddenly, my inexperience is a LOT less obvious.
If I had it to do all over again ... I struggled for a while with whether to buy a new saw. Did I really want to spend that much on this hobby? If I did, wouldn't I be better off getting a tool I didn't have (bandsaw, jointer) instead of upgrading one I did?
After a couple month's use, I am 100% glad I upgraded the saw. The "reasonable compromise" tool I bought new just a few months ago, a benchtop drill press, I'm already hunting around to upgrade. I don't foresee any reason why I'd need to upgrade this saw, ever. And having a good saw has made this hobby a good deal more satisfying.
But did I upgrade to the right saw? I seriously considered one more expensive option, a Sawstop. For me, having a guard/splitter I actually can use has resulted in a massive safety improvement. The added benefit a sawstop would provide on top of that seems pretty meager, and it ain't free. So I have no regrets there.
I also seriously considered one cheaper option, waiting for a used cabinet saw like a used unisaw or griz 1023 on CL. The main reason I decided on the 690 instead was because it had a riving knife. In retrospect, I think a usable guard/splitter was a lot more important, and that's something I could have had on any used saw for a lot less. If I had it to do over again, I might jump at that used 1023 that came along right before I got this. Might not. Like I said, I love this saw.
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