Any Polar Bears out there yet?

[Raymond Fries]

I have been thinking about their table saw and possibly upgrading my bandsaw and wondering how people like them. Earlier posts said they were shipping mid Sept.

Just looking for user feedback if it is out there.

Thanks

[Karl Card]

Well I wished I could tell ya but I am having to end up waiting until middle of january. I just hope the intro price is still going on then. I am looking at there 17 inch bandsaw.

[Steven Hsieh]

I own a Grizzly G0555P Bandsaw, works great. I suggest you not buying white paint tools or else you will be cleaning everyday to keep it clean.

[Mark Ashmeade]

I have the G0513P bandsaw.

I have not had much time to fully assess it since its arrival, but in the brief time I have been able to spend, it has fully met my expectations. It replaced a 14" RIDGID, and is a vast improvement.

For the hell of it, I resawed a 6 inch piece of scrap walnut I had, and it breezed through it with no trouble at all. Very smooth cut, no blade drift to speak of, standard fence worked well, not too much dust on the surface of the table.

I had one small issue with the table grinding, and called to request it be put right. The offer of a new table, or a blade of my choice by way of compensation was made. I went with the blade, as it really did not warrant replacement, although I would have preferred it be perfect out of the box. I asked for a 1" resaw blade, and it arrived the other day. It's an absolute beast, and perhaps I should have asked for a 3/4; I would think the kerf will be nearly as wide as a table saw!

My one "operation" gripe (which is specific to me) is that my DC (a HF with several mods inc Thien separator) makes the top of the lower door whistle with the air intake. Putting a strip of magnetic material over the top of the door stopped it. It's kind of a reverse gripe. If the DC didn't suck so much, the door wouldn't whistle!

In all, I am a very satisfied customer so far. And it looks great in (off-) white.

[Jim O'Dell]

Which table saw are you looking at? You've had several answers on the BS. I don't know if you can say the G0690/1 saws are in the Polar Bear line, but the color scheme is there. I have the 691 and love it! Let us know which saws you are looking at, and maybe we can give you some specific answers to those items. Jim.

[Sam Joyce]

I'll second the value of the 513P bandsaw. It is the first bandsaw I've owned and i was going to get the ridgid until this came along. Very glad i went with this. I was actually thinking of the 513x2 but my rational for not other then the savings was that although cast iron wheels are great the 513x2 doesnt come with a brake so the wheels would take a long time to spin down; inconvenient for some. The guides on this saw are plenty good enough, the table plenty big enough and i have added my own custom resaw fence that slips over the stock one. Put a 3/4 woodslicer on it and its in its element.

[Van Huskey]

I assume you mean the hybrid G0714P since it is the only TS in the Polar Bear line. I was at the Muncy showroom this morning and they did not have one on the floor, though I did not inquire.

[Saul Levinson]

I too own the Grizzly G0555P bandsaw. It is really quite well built and great value for the money. It took about two hours to accurately set the bandsaw up, and I did replace the blade with a 1/2" 14 tpi high quality blade.
I can easily shave off 1/8 inch slices of 4 inch stock, or accurately make 90 degree cuts in hard maple. The new blade also makes such smooth cuts that I was surprised that my bandsaw was capable of doing that.

Saul

[Rich Noterman]

I own the G0513P Great band saw for the price, I have had it July installed a 1" blade for resaw with short fence that comes with the saw I can resaw maple and cherry 7" and is very even. If I had to do it over I would buy the same saw again
Rich

[Steven Hsieh]

I too own the Grizzly G0555P bandsaw. It is really quite well built and great value for the money. It took about two hours to accurately set the bandsaw up, and I did replace the blade with a 1/2" 14 tpi high quality blade.
I can easily shave off 1/8 inch slices of 4 inch stock, or accurately make 90 degree cuts in hard maple. The new blade also makes such smooth cuts that I was surprised that my bandsaw was capable of doing that.

Saul

Sauld question for you.

Are you having hard time tracking the lower wheel, because there is couple people who olwn the G0555P bandsaw cant track in the middle.

[Todd Williard]

I assume you mean the hybrid G0714P since it is the only TS in the Polar Bear line. I was at the Muncy showroom this morning and they did not have one on the floor, though I did not inquire.


I ordered the G0715p TS. I cannot find the 714p you mention, must be a typo. I was told to expect delivery early Nov. I have several other Grizzly machines and love all of them. Shipping to date has also been exceptional.
BTW, i love visiting the Muncy showroom... just wish they had more Ts's on display. Seems to be an overload of drill presses, milling machines and dust collectors there.

[Chris Kennedy]

I have seen the ads for the Polar Bear line, and I have been trying to figure out what specifies the Polar Bear line? Admittedly, I haven't looked tremendously closely, but they appear to be standard Grizzly offerings with a standard Grizzly price point. (That isn't saying much since Grizzly's offerings pretty much run the spectrum). It can't just be the paint job. So, what makes something a Polar Bear?

Cheers,

Chris

[Jim O'Dell]

I think it is the color, and slightly different features/price points. It seems that the Polar Bear line doesn't have an exact duplicate in the Grizzly Green. Now I haven't studied them closely, but that was my initial impression. Jim.

[Van Huskey]

I think it is the color, and slightly different features/price points. It seems that the Polar Bear line doesn't have an exact duplicate in the Grizzly Green. Now I haven't studied them closely, but that was my initial impression. Jim.


Actually, it is ONLY color, Shiraz posted this when the line was first announced.. There is an exact machine spec for spec in the regular green line for everything except the announced Hybrid TS, which I guess will also come in green at some point.

I did say only color BUT the introductory prices on the Polar line was slightly different than they sale prices of the regular line. The greenies are no longer on sale, the PB line sale remains.

[Saul Levinson]

I have not had a problem with the bottom wheel blade tracking. The blade has stayed centered on both wheels with heavy load and light load.
I think I've avoided problems when I set up the bandsaw by being sure that the tension was set as directed in the instructions, and being sure that both the upper and lower blade guides were set as recommended. It takes a fair amount of time and effort to set these parameters correctly... but it's important to avoid tracking and blade wandering problems.

Saul

[Van Huskey]

I ordered the G0715p TS. I cannot find the 714p you mention, must be a typo.


Yep, the 4 and 5 are next to each other!

[Raymond Fries]

...in the G0715P hybrid saw.

I want to upgrade from my Dewalt contractor to a larger saw and just wondering if I really need a 3 HP cabinet saw. I doubt I will ever have much need for anything thicker 8/4. I was saving to the 690 or 691 and then the Polar Bear series was introduced and I thought that this saw might meet my needs and the money I saved by not buying the 690/691 would mostly cover the band saw upgrade I was considering. I currently have a Shop Fox 14" band saw.

[Steve Griffin]

...in the G0715P hybrid saw.

I want to upgrade from my Dewalt contractor to a larger saw and just wondering if I really need a 3 HP cabinet saw. I doubt I will ever have much need for anything thicker 8/4. I was saving to the 690 or 691 and then the Polar Bear series was introduced and I thought that this saw might meet my needs and the money I saved by not buying the 690/691 would mostly cover the band saw upgrade I was considering. I currently have a Shop Fox 14" band saw.

As I always say, NEVER buy the best tool you can afford. It doesn't leave anything left to set it up well.

What I mean to say is that a well set up contractors saw is way better than having a bigger saw. If you budget driven, I would only consider upgrading if you have already tricked out your present saw with all of the below:

1)Outfeed table?
2)Sliding table to cut sheetgoods? I used an Excaibur for years on a contractors saw and it's a must have if you cut and dado/groove sheetgoods often. Of course it comes in handy for wood tops and wide boards too.
3)Set of premium dado blades and a nice assortment of blades--ATB, Rip, general purpose. Two of each if you are active in the shop and don't like downtime when they are out for sharpening.
4)Dust collection


-Steve