Grizzly G0691 vs JET XACTASAW Deluxe 708675PK

[William Long]

Another help me decide on my table saw thread!

There are a lot of options out there and I've narrowed down my decision on these two saws.... but can't decide.

Both have...
Nice riving knifes
Nice fences

It really comes down to this in my perspective...

Grizzly
Cheaper by $600
Good customer service
Parts readily available

Jet
Beefier trunnion
Dust shroud on blade
5 year warranty

[Steve Sawyer]

William - I'm a bit prejudiced, because I bought the Deluxe Xacta about a year ago at just about the same price (delivered) that you're going to pay for the Grizzly. I've had absolutely no complaints about it at all. The dust collection is great and it came extremely well dialed-in right out of the box.

That said, given the price increase that I understand Jet has instituted (I also got mine on sale), and the reputation Grizzly has I'd say that this new saw should definitely be given some consideration. I know that I might have gone with the Grizzly given a similar price differential had it been available. I originally tried to buy the G0661, but that has only begun shipping recently. A riving knife was also one of my "must have" features, and at that time the only other riving-knife-equipped saws that Grizzly offered were just too big for my shop.

I couldn't tell from the catalog pages, but if it's like the Jet, it comes with a standard-kerf riving knife that doubles as a support for the blade guard. I had to invest in a thin-kerf riving knife, and when I installed my over-arm blade guard, had to invest again in the low-profile "shark fin" riving knives. Also, on the Jet you have to fork over an additional $40 or so for a dado-friendly blade insert (or make your own).

[Jeff Monson]

The jet gets my vote, the xacta saw is really a nice saw. I say if you can swing the extra dough go with the jet, you will never regret buying quality tools.

[Mike Sandman]

I have the Jet and it's a very well made saw that arrived properly set up. The guard is easy enough to mount and dismount so that I actually use it, and the riving knife was a very important feature. But... like Steve I bought mine last April when there was a Jet rebate plus a deal at Rockler and the price had not been raised. If the net delivered price different is $600 (including shipping, sales tax if any, etc.) and if the guard and riving knife are designed like the Jet's I would lean buy the Grizzly.

[Ron Bott]

IMO, the Jet is worth the extra expense. It will hold its value better, fit and finish better than the Grizzly tools I have seen, and hopefully no shipping nightmares!

[Gerold Griffin]

William: I do not have the G0691 but rather the G1023SLX which I got used from a professional cabinet shop used. No complants with it at all. Also at work they just bought several new tools for the wood shop. When I seen the table saws I freaked out. All Grizzlys! They could have had any saw on the market. When I asked about the choice I was told that Grizzly could supply any part that was needed within a few days to get the machine up and running. These saws are run most of the day, 5 days a week, so down time to them is important. I do not know how fast other companys can supply all the parts you need, hopefully you will never have to worry about that whatever saw you choose. However, if a Grizzly is good enough for the Naval Construction Battion Center, it is plenty good enough for me. Good Luck and Be Safe!!

[Brian Frances]

A short while ago I was looking into the PM2000 in addition to these two saws. If you look at the pictures of the G0690 which is the same saw as the G0691 except for the shorter extension table, you will notice that the riving knife doesn't appear to raise and lower with the blade. A closer look at the trunnion picture shows that indeed the blade pivots without the riving knife. You will therefore have to remove the riving knife for thru cuts.
I think the dust collection of the Xacta is also superior to the Grizzly in that vacuum sucks most of the dust away from the blade below the table not allowing it to be thrown above the table, where as you will have to do alot more cleanup with the Grizzley.
I have the PM2000 and I can notice a big difference in dust handling when the vacuum is turned off.
One other advantage of the Xacta saw in the blade guard, which happens to be the same as the the PM2000, is a very functional guard- I think you would pleasure using... One other- the table is 2" deeper!

Hope this helps

[Shiraz Balolia]

A short while ago I was looking into the PM2000 in addition to these two saws. If you look at the pictures of the G0690 which is the same saw as the G0691 except for the shorter extension table, you will notice that the riving knife doesn't appear to raise and lower with the blade. A closer look at the trunnion picture shows that indeed the blade pivots without the riving knife. You will therefore have to remove the riving knife for thru cuts.


That's just not true.

The riving knife raises and lowers with the blade. The mechanism is different than other saws, that is perhaps why you would think otherwise.

[Dave Lehnert]

I own an older style JET saw and love it. Wish it had the new riving knife. I used a Shopsmith saw for years and that is one thing I miss on my JET.
That said if the Grizzly is $600 less I would give it a good long look.
I think you would be happy with any of the two saws.

In case you don't know the post above this one by Shiraz Balolia is the owner of Grizzly tools.

[Jeremy Rayburn]

Granted, I've never used the Jet, and just got the G0691 a couple weeks ago, but I love this saw. The only adjustment I had to make during assembly the fence was slightly off. I even had an issue with UPS Freight, and Grizzly CS has called me 3 different times in the past two weeks to make sure I wasn't having any issues.

[Steve Sawyer]

The only adjustment I had to make during assembly the fence was slightly off.

While my Jet was perfectly set up w/regard to the table in relation to the blade, some adjustment of the fence was necessary for me too - but this really wasn't unexpected, and with good quality fences it probably takes all of five minutes to get it perfectly squared away.

[William Long]

I'm new to this board but have been woodworking for 30 years. This place is great! Thanks to everyone that responds.

I'm leaning toward the Grizzly. For $600 difference and the CS I think I'm sold. Plus, it just seems like Grizzly is getting to be a better and better company over the years. 15 years ago I wouldn't have consider them, but now it's a different story. I only have one Grizzly piece right now and it's the 2hp cyclone DC. I can't imagine a better machine. They even added the "muffler" later on, probably based on feedback. It took me two years to actually it it installed (not because of the difficulty :)) but I had a foam piece that had dried out. Called Grizzly on Monday and had the new piece on Thursday. Out of warranty so I had to pay, but was up and running in no time.

[Paul Greathouse]

William,

First let me say Welcome to Sawmill Creek and Thank You for becoming a Contributor so early on in you membership, its people like you that make this a great place to be. I'm sure your 30years woodworking experience will benefit many of us in the future.

I have two Grizzly tools, a planer and a jointer and feel they are both great tools, I can't see how you would go wrong with Grizzly. Considering the price difference the choice becomes even easier.

[Mikail Khan]

I don't have experience with either saw. The Gizz 691 is supposed to be basically the same as the Laguna Platinum TS.

Laguna has a nice video outlining the saw's features.

http://www.lagunatools.com/tablesaw.platinumlt.aspx

click on videos.

It may help with your decision.

MK

[John Hedges]

$600 difference. I think if you look around you'll find significantly lower prices. Look at equipmentsalesandsurplus here (Not sure if we can post links or not but I did see the icon to add one, so I am guessing it's OK, mods feel free to remove this if necessary)

http://equipmentsalesandsurplus.com/productDetail.cfm?type=new&productID=340&categoryID=25

and Timberline tools for starters. Be sure to call as often times they'll have specials that aren't even listed on their sites. I got a PM2000 and a PM 15HH planer from Timberline and saved almost 1K over the Woodcraft retail prices.

I would go with the Jet myself. I have been significantly happier with the quality of my PM and Jet tools over my Grizzly tools.

[keith ouellette]

I have a jet exact and its great. Other than never getting the mobile base I payed for it has been the only close to perfect machine I have bought.

I can only imagine the Deluxe model would be even better.

Grizzly makes some good products though and a $600 dollar difference is pretty stout.

If you have the extra money I would get the jet exacta DELUXE.

[Jim O'Dell]

$600 difference ARE YOU CRAZY?????????????????????????????????.
snip



John, it doesn't say for sure, but I don't think that one has the riving knife. It doesn't say it is the Deluxe model anywhere on the page. If it is not, then it's not comparing like saws. That saw appears to be closer to the Grizzly 1023 series for comparison purposes.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here. But I think the price difference quoted for the Jet with the riving knife is pretty close. Jim.

[John Hedges]

John, it doesn't say for sure, but I don't think that one has the riving knife. It doesn't say it is the Deluxe model anywhere on the page. If it is not, then it's not comparing like saws. That saw appears to be closer to the Grizzly 1023 series for comparison purposes.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here. But I think the price difference quoted for the Jet with the riving knife is pretty close. Jim.


Jim, your absolutely right, sorry bout that. I would still call, as my point remains the same. You can find deals for significantly less than retail if you shop around a little.

[Jim O'Dell]

snip I would still call, as my point remains the same. You can find deals for significantly less than retail if you shop around a little.

I agree, and shopping is part of the fun of the acquisition!! :D Sometimes a little patience thrown in helps in finding that best deal as well. Jim.

[John Thompson]

[quote=Brian Frances;1080889]A short while ago I was looking into the PM2000 in addition to these two saws. If you look at the pictures of the G0690 which is the same saw as the G0691 except for the shorter extension table, you will notice that the riving knife doesn't appear to raise and lower with the blade. A closer look at the trunnion picture shows that indeed the blade pivots without the riving knife. You will therefore have to remove the riving knife for thru cuts.

Shiraz is 100% correct in telling you it "is" a riving knife. It doesn't matter how it is engineered to do it but.... a riving knife moves up and down with the blade and tilts with it also. It is positioned close the to back of the dangerous rear rising teeth and stays in that position regardless of if you raise... lower.. or tilt the blade. That is the diffrence between a riving knife and a splitter.

With that said.. there are two types of riving knives.. tall and short. It you have a tall that stands proud well above the top blade teeth.. you do have to remove it for a non throught cut. If you have a short.. you can leave it on. Each have their pro's and con's. The tall allows you to mount a "crown" guard.. the short won't allow but can stay on the saw during a non-through cut. And a good reason to have both a short and tall.

Sarge..

[Shiraz Balolia]

Sarge - To clarify, the G0690/691 uses a true riving knife where the knife remains at the same height in relation to the blade. The G0690/91 use a different method than the one where the whole assembly moves up and down like our other riving knife saws like the G0651 for example.

http://grizzly.com/products/10-Heavy-Duty-Cabinet-Table-Saw-With-Riving-Knife/G0651

If I am not mistaken, the G0690/91 come with both a "tall" and short riving knife. The tall one is more like a splitter to which the blade guard is attached. I will verify on Monday, but that is what I remember seeing on the saw. Obviously we need better descriptions on our web page so that these types of questions can be answered with authority rather than people looking at pictures and making suppositions.

Thank you.

[John Thompson]

Sarge - To clarify, the G0690/691 uses a true riving knife where the knife remains at the same height in relation to the blade. The G0690/91 use a different method than the one where the whole assembly moves up and down like our other riving knife saws like the G0651 for example.

http://grizzly.com/products/10-Heavy-Duty-Cabinet-Table-Saw-With-Riving-Knife/G0651

If I am not mistaken, the G0690/91 come with both a "tall" and short riving knife. The tall one is more like a splitter to which the blade guard is attached. I will verify on Monday, but that is what I remember seeing on the saw. Obviously we need better descriptions on our web page so that these types of questions can be answered with authority rather than people looking at pictures and making suppositions.

Thank you.

Opps... I will edit this Shiraz, as I missed your first quote. Yes.. we are saying the very same thing in that regardless of how it moves up.. down.. and tilts with the blade.. if it does it is a riving knife. If it doesn't.. it is a splitter. It can perform those task using "unknown alien technology" but regardless. if it does that then it is most definitely a rivng knife and not a splitter which remains at the same height constantly. :>)

If it does have a short and tall version.. that is a plus and you should state that on your site. I prefer the tall as I do make my own "crown" guards to mount on top of a riving knife or splitter. I am from the U.S. but what little formal training I have is from Euro teachers and they both ran "crown" gaurds.

And yes.. many don't quite seem to understand what really is a riving knife and what is not. Nor the fact that riving knives can be short or tall. I have seen many state it sits below the blade. Many Euro manufacturers have riving knife designs that sit above the blade for the simple reason of adding a crown gaurd or an over-head dust collector. This is all new to many as the use of a riving knife here in the U.S. has only taken hold in the past several years as you know.

BTW.. I was hoping to meet you at IWF last fall. I demonstrated machines for Steel City Toolworks at their booth when I was ask by Scott Box to do so. I believe you didn't make the Show last fall from what I picked up from your guys in the booth? So.. maybe at Las Vegas or the next IWF.

Regards...

Sarge..

[Jim O'Dell]

Shiraz, I can save you the time on Monday to look at it.:D But if you do look at one, please fondle it for me. :rolleyes:
The G0690 and G0691 both come with true riving knives that are the short version, when mounted sits just below the top edge of the blade's top, so works with non through cuts. It tilts and rises and lowers with the blade. These saws also come with a blade guard/splitter with anti kickback pawls. This also tilts and raises and lowers with the blade, but is always above the top of the blade. The two sides of the guard part move independently of each other, instead of as a unit as most guards do. To see these, look at the G0690 and click on the thumbnails to show the larger pictures. The G0691 only has the one picture for some reason. Jim. (who has a down loaded copy of the G0690/G0691 owner's manual sitting on his computer desk)

edit: If you've watched the Laguna Platinum series video, it is the same, or at least appears to be the same, guard/splitter that Laguna has. The Laguna saw evidently does not come with the short riving knife...at least it is never mentioned during the video.

[John Callahan]

Apples and oranges I think, John. Good prices but they for the older models without the riving knife. Newer models (708674PK, 708675PK) are considerably more.

[Rob Cooper]

I wish grizzly would post more pictures on their website. The go690/1 are very enticing products, but decisions on new products are slowly made. I think the old adage that a picture is worth a 1,000 words is more relevant and perhaps amplified on the net. We just surf through too many pages and are bombarded with too many bits of info. A picture of the riving knife at 45 and 90 and both riving knives would be nice. Also, I like to see some of the components to assess heft and quality.

Grizzly's pictures seem to be very good quality, I think more pictures would help those of us who have never seen their products up close.

2 cents...done

[Shiraz Balolia]

I wish grizzly would post more pictures on their website. The go690/1 are very enticing products, but decisions on new products are slowly made. I think the old adage that a picture is worth a 1,000 words is more relevant and perhaps amplified on the net. We just surf through too many pages and are bombarded with too many bits of info. A picture of the riving knife at 45 and 90 and both riving knives would be nice. Also, I like to see some of the components to assess heft and quality.

Grizzly's pictures seem to be very good quality, I think more pictures would help those of us who have never seen their products up close.

2 cents...done

Rob - your 2 cents is worth a lot to us. I will instruct our photo studio to get cracking. This machine has become very popular, very quickly.

Jim - I even talk to them when no one is around! After all, I'm a tool/machine nut. Thanks for checking the two riving knives for me.

John T. - I had to miss IWF for the first time in many years. Came down with a really bad case of the flu.

[guy knight]

Another help me decide on my table saw thread!

There are a lot of options out there and I've narrowed down my decision on these two saws.... but can't decide.

Both have...
Nice riving knifes
Nice fences

It really comes down to this in my perspective...

Grizzly
Cheaper by $600
Good customer service
Parts readily available

Jet
Beefier trunnion
Dust shroud on blade
5 year warranty

Jet has great cs
Jet has readily available parts
and one that grizz doesn't have better resale value