shop fox 8" jointer models w1741s vs w1741sw

[Brandon Hanley]

While getting ready to click submit on the order for a shop fox w1741w for $1212 I see an advertisement for the w1741s for $1364. That catches my interests because its only $150 more and has the spiral cutter. While trying to research it i keep finding stuff referencing the w1741sw which seems to have the exact same specs but rings up $1593.

I cant seem to find any info on the differences and am assuming the more expensive one is a newer production of the same thing. Does anyone have any more solid info than that?

Im willing to spend the $150 to upgrade from the non spiral model if it is infact an upgrade, but if some sort of issue is to blame for them changing the model name i wonder if i would be better off just sticking with the W1741w and paying to upgrade the cutter head later if i feel the need.

[Cary Falk]

I don't know the differences between all of the model numbers. Grizzly changed mfg facilities and added some letters to the G0490( same as the W1741)so I would guess this is the same deal. I have W1741 and spent $300 to put a Byrd head in it. I don't regret it one bit. I have never heard anyone say that they regretted the spiral in their jointer either. You might try calling Grizzly or Woodstock Int. and see if hey can tell you.

[Brandon Hanley]

I may have to do that. so far the only difference in the listings i see is that the w1741s doesnt mention "single v belt drive" maybe that is the only differance, not sure if that in its self is a big deal or not.

[Ernie Miller]

Do you have a ShopFox dealer nearby? If not, getting parts is a hassle as you can't order them from Woodstock Int. You must order through a dealer.

[Doug Garson]

On another forum I belong to there is a thread on Grizzly service, only a few posts but all positive including some relating how they got parts shipped directly to them from Grizzly with no hassle.

[Ernie Miller]

Yes, you can order parts directly from Grizzly, and many of them (but not all of them) can be used on the equivalent ShopFox version. Several of my machines (ShopFox) are needing replacement, and I will buy Grizzly to avoid the parts hassle.

[Matt Day]

I've order a number of grizzly parts for other clones (jet, ship fox, Powermatic, etc) and never had an issue with parts.

[Brandon Hanley]

The grizzly is the one I want, I am just sick of waiting it seems like it has been on back order for the last year. Meanwhile the shop Fox is available now with free shipping and no sales tax for the same or less than it would cost for the grizzly.

Shop Fox list Fastenal as a dealer and I have a few of those around but I don't see many shop Fox tools at all listed on their website

[Brandon Hanley]

I talked to Grizzly today but they didn't have any good news. It seems I have a few options but none that I really like. I hate the idea of waiting months for a jointer considering I've already got a project in mind that I need it for but I also hate the idea of not being able to get parts for months at a time later on down the road. If there are a few reliable dealers for shop Fox Parts in the area I wouldn't mind having to deal with them but so far unless the website is out of date they only listed about 4 places as dealers and Fastenal was the only one I have ever heard of.

All the 8in grizzly models with parallelogram beds and spiral cutter heads are on backorder until at least mid-october and she said the keyword was "hoping" they would have more in-stock with that shipment. The plain g0490 that has the parallelogram beds but not the spiral cutterhead is expected to be back in stock middle of next month.

That leaves me to these options none of which I really like but I don't see anything else that I would like better either in my budget

1. Wait a month and a half for the exact Grizzly model I want with parallelogram beds and spiral cutterhead

2. Get the grizzly without the spiral cutterhead and later make the decision if it is worth upgrading or not or even if I should just get the spiral cutter head for a planer instead.

3. By the shop Fox with parallelogram beds and spiral cutterhead and have it within a week ready to rock and roll until it doesn't rock and roll anymore and hope I can find parts.

I'm leaning towards the second option. Only because of the issue with trying to get parts for the shop Fox. It scares me to spend that much money on a tool that may end up just sitting around broken for months on end. If I could somehow be reassured that I would have no problem getting parts for the shop Fox I would order that in a second.

[Ernie Miller]

You might call Grizzly again and ask if Grizzly parts will work on the ShopFox machine. If so, that would make your decision much easier.

[Brandon Hanley]

I should have mentioned but I did pacifically asked that and was told that while some parts are compatible others aren't. That was about as much as I could get out of her.

I had already gathered that much from the internet but the only issue is nobody scenes to know exactly which parts are and aren't interchangeable

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Think about Grizzly 12" Jointer/Planer Combo with Spiral Cutter. Checks off all the boxes.
Sell your Planer. Never Look Back.

[Ted Baxter]

Like you I got tired of waiting on tne Grizzly G0490X jointer so I started looking around. I ended up on the phone with a very nice gentelman at
Woodstock International I have since forgotten his name.

We discussed the fact that Steelex, Shop Fox, and Grizzly among other companies are all owned by the same person. I mentioned that the Steelex was the same as the GO490X as far as I coud see. He said they were pretty much the very same machine except the Steelex has the Helical cutter head with 15mmX15mm carbide inserts and the head runs at a higher RPM making more cuts per minute.

Also the Steelex has a 2 year warrenty the Grizzly has a 1 year warrenty. Since they only do wholesale he sugested a couple of dealers that have the Steelex in stock. I asked him if I could buy it from Grizzly he checked their inventory and said yes. He was very kind and informative after I hung up I called Grizzly and asked if I could order a Steelx ST1011 he said sure they were in stock and it would ship the next day since i was calling after 5.00pm I bought it and it was here in 3 day. It was $1350.00 plus free shipping $45.00 less than the Grizzly G0490X I got more bang for my buck and still deal with Grizzly who I have had good service from in the past. I have had it setup and running for about a week and I am please with it so far. Just for fun I downloaded the Grizzly G0490X manual to compare and they are almost indentical clearly they are the same machine except for the few differences mentioned. I would sugest you call Grizzly and see if they still have them in stock if not call woodstock Intern. and they will give you a dealers name that has them but they may cost more.

[Matt Day]

#3 hands down. It's the same machine as the grizzly - you won't have parts issues.

Or don't take my advice and waste a month and a half and hope what you want is in stock.

[glenn bradley]

Of coursethere's a reason they can't make them fast enough :-) They have been one of the best bang for the buck 8 inch jointer's for quite some time.