G0555X vs. G0513X2 Grizzly bandsaw purchase

[Tom Hassad]

Ideally, I want the G0513X2 but these are the reasons I am looking at the G0555x:

1) I need 220V service to the garage and need to hire an electrician to wire this - I suppose that could be anywhere from $200 to $500. I am guesstimating. I won't even think of doing it myself - I want a licensed person to do this work.

2) I can foresee problems getting the heavier 17 inch bandsaw off the pallet - I can't ask friends - they have physical limitations. The alternative is to buy a $200 harbor freight hoist to lift the bandsaw, remove the pallet and put a mobile base under it. That seems like a waste of money - trying to come up with a creative solution as to how I would get the bandsaw unpacked and onto a mobile base without help.

I made the mistake of buying a harbor freight bandsaw and I don't want to make the mistake of getting a bandsaw that is underpowered for resawing. That was a nightmare with my old bandsaw - I also want the ability to resaw up to 12 inch wide boards and would need to get the riser kit if I went with the G0555x.

I cannot say how often I would resaw vs. make other kinds of cuts - I know the smaller saw is good enough for the regular cutting- I just have not read enough reviews of people confirming that the G0555x does an adequate job of resawing wide stock.

The only other thing that weighs in favor of the G0513X2 is that someday I want to upgrade my jointer and planer to a jointer/planer and that will also need 220V but that purchase is in the future - I can only afford to do the bandsaw - not sure if the extra money, obstacles to get the g0513x2 is reasonable at this point. Does anyone have any comments/thoughts to help me? Thanks - Tom

[Roger Newby]

I have the G0555 and I'm very happy with it. This was an upgrade from a 12" Jet so there is no comparison. I have resawn 10" oak with no problems. No complaints.:)

[Chuck Saunders]

Greetings Tom,
These are my thoughts.
1. If you feel that the G0555x is a compromise then you will tend to be unhappy with the tool, blaming yourself for not getting what you wanted in the first place. Otherwise the G0555x is a good saw.

2. It sounds like you are planning to run 220 to the garage eventually so it might as well be now, after all money grows on trees so no problem there:).

3. I have the G0513X2 and it will walk off of the pallet very easily no need to hoist it off. Getting it on the mobile base is just as easy.

Hope this helps
Chuck

[Salem Ganzhorn]

Another idea is to look for a local woodworking club. You can usually find some nice people in these groups. The only thing I like more than making sawdust is drooling over new tools :). My guess is you could find lots of people willing to help for the cost of a beer and some conversation.

[GERALD HARGROVE]

I agree with Chuck, mine was very easy to walk off the pallet onto the mobile base. I use mine for eveything now, cuts through wood like butter. If I had it to do again, I would buy the 17" again.

[David Christopher]

Tom, you dont have your location posted but Ill bet you can find someone willing to help....if you can afford it I recomend getting the one that you want or you will be sorry later

[Cary Falk]

I have the 513x2. I love it. I moved up from a Delta 14" and all I can say is WOW! I ran my own 220V line. I walked it ovv the pallet and onto the mobile base myself. If you are already thinking about the 513x2, I say go ahead and buy it and avoid the later upgrade.

[Jason Beam]

The G0513x2 is a WHOLE 'nother class of machine compared to any of the 14" cast iron saws. I have a Jet 14" saw that I love love love love ... so much that I'm not willing to get rid of it after buying the G0513x2. It's a much beefier saw, FAR better suited to resawing than my Jet 14" is. Everything on the Grizz is just flat out bigger, stronger, beefier, tougher ... the spring, for example, is enormous by comparison - it's about twice as long, 3x as fat and made of MUCH thicker steel than even the yellow Carter Cobra coil i put on my jet. The wheel bearings are much bigger. the wheels themselves are made beefier.

Downsides ... ya need Allen wrenches to adjust the blade guides (thus change blades). That's probably my biggest problem with it and why I'm keeping my jet. It's loaded with thumb screws and makes changing blades a snap. The other reason I am keeping the Jet is that it has standard cool blocks for guides instead of bearings. For thinner blades, this works better for curvy cuts. So, i'm gonna keep a big fat resawing blade on the grizz and my 1/4" blade on the jet ... it's a luxury that i'm thankful to have :)

You can solve the above gripe ... a hardware store run for a dozen thumb screws wouldn't cost much at all ... but i won't tell my wife that :D

[Cody Colston]

If you are serious about your woodworking and intend to have serious equipment, then you will need 230 VAC outlets. That should not be the determining factor on the type tools you buy.

Both bandsaws are good ones but there are some limitations with the GO555 that are not associated with the bigger, beefier 513X2.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Don't forget that the G0555X out of the box is shorter than the G0513X2 so you'll need to get and install the riser block to get close to an apples and apples comparison.

I was able to walk my G0513X2 off the pallet and right into the mobile base. The G0513X2 also comes complete with a lift point in the top of the machine, if you can make use of that.

[jerry nazard]

+1 for G0513. It's a great saw!!

[Jim Finn]

$500 is VERY cheap to have an electrican wire that for you. Better get a bid.
I have the GO-555 and it rewasws 12 in hardwoods well. I set it up myself by attaching the base to the saw before standing it up in place.

[glenn bradley]

There are many happy G0555 owners out there. I'm one of the happy G0513X owners and really love using that saw. The mistake I made was to buy a lower powered TS so I could run it on 110v. A few months later I bought the G0513X and ran the 220v anyway. Now I have other tools on 220v. I love my TS but 3HP would sure be nice sometimes. I should have just gone for it. Get the G0513X2; JMHO.

[Howard Acheson]

>> I need 220V service to the garage and need to hire an electrician to wire this

Not for the G0555x. The Grizzly G0555x bandsaw runs just fine on 120 volts. I have both 240 volts and 120 volts in my shop and have been running my G0555x on 120 volts from day one. No problem whatsoever.

I don't do a lot of resawing but it has not had any problem resawing 10" stock for veneers. Resawing is more a function of the blade and proper set up than lots of power.

[Paul Johnstone]

Ideally, I want the G0513X2 but these are the reasons I am looking at the G0555x:

1) I need 220V service to the garage and need to hire an electrician to wire this - I suppose that could be anywhere from $200 to $500. I am guesstimating. I won't even think of doing it myself - I want a licensed person to do this work.

2) I can foresee problems getting the heavier 17 inch bandsaw off the pallet - I can't ask friends - they have physical limitations. The alternative is to buy a $200 harbor freight hoist to lift the bandsaw, remove the pallet and put a mobile base under it. That seems like a waste of money - trying to come up with a creative solution as to how I would get the bandsaw unpacked and onto a mobile base without help.


Not familiar with the Griz line, but get the saw you really want.
These seem like pretty weak excuses. Hire some college kids to help you get the saw off the pallet, that will cost much less than $200. Running 220V is no big deal at all. At least price it before you decide it is cost prohibitive.

I foresee you wishing you got the bigger saw in about 6 months. Assuming you can afford the bigger saw, just get it.

[Tom Hassad]

Thanks for the comments - I was being honest about the issues that had me debating what to get - I know I really want to get the G0513X2 - I now just need to go through the steps of getting my garage wired. I think the problems I have now look bigger than they really are and should not outweight the many years of usage I hope to get out of the machine - thank again - Tom

[Barry Vabeach]

Tom, good luck on your purchase, many of us have bought the 17 inch bandsaw, the GO513x2 and love it. I have made a few mods ( made thumbscrews for the bearing adjusters, and a few other minor things) No matter what saw you get, get some decent blades, the stock blade is garbage. I suggest you consider 1/2" width, do some searching here and while some suggest that wider is better, most agree 1/2 is plenty. TPI to suit your task. I just stole a dryer outlet to hook mine up, but I agree with the others that a couple of 220 lines can be helpful.

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

G0513X2 owner here. Great tool.
Run the 220 and get it over with.
Always get the most you can ever see yourself using. Don't talk yourself down as you will be annoyed later.
Goodluck.

[Art Bianconi]

Wiring is not that difficult. There are any number of How To books on the subject. Rural communities frequently allow a home owner to do his own wiring, provided the local inspector is called in to inspect the work and sign off on it. That costs you nothing.

I don't have 3 phase 220 in my current home shop. I do, however, have a 220 volt 4 prong dryer receptacle that mysteriously popped into existence one day, right next to my panel! Imagine that!

A HD extension cord with appropriate 4 prong plugs brings power into the shop where it feeds 220 single phase to a 3 phase inverter. I don't know how I got along without that unit.

I bought a 17 Grizzly last month and had two neighbors help me get it down the stairs into the basement. I mounted it by myself on my home made base which I discussed here when the Fox movable base turned out to be substandard. I don't advise your doing that solo. It's ripe with risk and potential for injury. I urge you to get some neighbors to help.

That saw can run on 110 or 220 and comes pre wired for 220. I simply ran 20 feet of Romex to the panel, pulled the main breakers and screwed the wires to the siamesed CB. It took me a half hour to snake the Romex, 10 minutes to remove the panel and finish the job there.

Granted, your garage is likely in a seperate building and that probably requires you to trench deep enough to satisfy local ordinances for buried power utilities. Or you can run an outdoor overhead line. I discourage that.

Typically a utility trench is about 18 inches deep. Romex designed for direct burial is called for here and just to be certain, I laid a few sections of 2" PVC and snaked the wire through that. I also took the time to lay in a half inch copper pipe to feed the gas fired heater in the shop, network cable and telephone wires. Several runners made from HD fishing line were blown through the pipe to assist any possible need to snake more lines at a later date.

A copper cold water supply was snaked through a seperate, dedicated PVC pipe next to the first one and then the whole shebang buried.

Connecting everything took a seperate weekend but the effort was immediately appreciated when I powered up the Oliver jointer and the Bridgeport milling machine simultaneously and the lights didn't flicker a bit!

220 is definitely the way to go and, if you can justify the extra expense for a 3 phase motor, I encourage you to buy the saw with one. The advantages to a variable speed band saw are endless and you can do it without having to change pulley's.

Art

[Will Hon]

save yourself the money and run the wire yourself... your looking at $5-15 for 25-50' of wire, $5-10 for the breaker, $2 for the wall mount, $5-15 for the female receptacle, and your labor. That adds up to what $17-35.... even in this economy thats cheap. I've ran two 220V runs to my shop and a couple of extra 20amps in the last month. Its really easy work, just run the wire to your garage (not hooked up to breaker yet) and cut it to rough length. Then install and hook up outlet to the wire in the garage. Now, (TO BE SAFE), and make yourself feel better, shut off the main breaker to the house, killing all the power, install the breaker and hook up the wire to the breaker. This eliminates the chance of blasting yourself... and Voillat! youy have 220 in your shop.

[Brian Kincaid]

I hired an electrician to run 3 easy 220V drops. Cost me $200 (cash) :D I sleep well at night knowing he did a good job and did it right.

I moved a 21" Grizzly band saw with a little help (keep it from tipping while I was rolling it)
1) Remove the table
2) Remove the wheels
3) Wanted to remove the motor, but could not get the pully wheels off
4) Tilt the saw back onto a furniture dolly (rides on its spine)
5) Roll the saw to its home
6) Tip it back up
7) Re-assemble
It went much better than I expected.

-Brian

[Jerry Casler]

I bought the GO555 when it was sale with a 6 in riser and have been total happy with my purchase. Saw runs great had fun putting it together by myself. Then I tackled the GO444z TS that was a bear doing it by yourself but I love the heavy cast iron tables on both. The motors on these two are pretty stout and run well and Grizzly's customer service is excellent when II had a slight problem on my Shop fox oscillating DP the gear had snap from shipping company and then shipped one right out. I love my GRIZZLY TOOLS!!!

[richard poitras]

Tom, Pm sent about a GO514X I am selling...

[Prashun Patel]

If you plan to resaw wider stock, then you really should be investing in a 17" saw built to do it. You can certainly get away with the G0555x, but a taller saw's frame will suffer less stress than a 14" with a riser block.

I respect if yr on a budget. But if you can at all afford the electrician and the better saw, you won't regret it; both are good investments.

All that being said, I have a G0555 (not even the X, and no riser block) and I am quite happy with it. I rarely have occasion to resaw thick stock. My saw @110v resaws stuff up to about 6" just fine. Ultimately, $$ drove my decision.

[Stephen Edwards]

I'm well pleased with my GO555X and riser block. I suppose it depends on how much resawing of wide stock one is going to do. I use mine for the occasional 12" board and it works fine, though it's not super fast when sawing something that wide. For boards 8" or less, it's a breeze. The saw works as advertised and suits my needs.

If I every buy another BS, I'll go with the larger one that you're considering and use it only for resawing. The G0555X will then be dedicated for curved sawing. Chances are that won't happen though 'cause I'm restoring an old Craftsman 12" that I've had since the late 60s for curved sawing. For my needs and uses, these two saws will likely suit me for the rest of my life.