Quality of Grizzly Tools - 8" Jointer

[Michael Koons]

I'm in the market for a new jointer. I've always had good experiences with my Jet tools but am really stuck on the jointer decision. 8" Jet JJ-8HH with spiral cutterhead is $1750. Grizzly G0490X is $1250. Shipping costs on Grizzly is offset by sales tax on the Jet.

My local Jet dealer kept reminding me "there's a reason for the cost difference", which I usually agree with. But I've read professional and amateur reviews of both and the Grizzly continues to do well in quality and performance reviews, including the latest FWW review. I tend to like to buy quality whenever I can but I am not a big fan of throwing money out the window. This time I just can't bring myself to justify the added expense for the Jet.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'd really appreciate any insights people can offer. Thanks in advance for helping me with this.

[Mikil Phelpson]

My local Jet dealer kept reminding me "there's a reason for the cost difference"

He's right, but unfortunately the reason may not be quality.

I own the G0490x. I looked at the Jet JJ-8HH and I didn't see enough difference (if any) to justify the higher cost.

I also looked at the Powermatic PJ-882HH. Now that's a jointer that I'd spend the money on (if I had it). It felt niiiiiice :)

[Kevin Barnett]

I have the G0490X. There's not much that I can think of that could make it better. Maybe a move-able switch column and a better designed chip chute. But that's about it. Fit and finish is good. Customer service is highly rated. I really like the wheels more than I thought I would. Nice machine. If I were to pay more, I'd want a USA made motor, but I'm not sure any have that anymore.

I also have the Jet tilting arbor saw and the 22" drum sander from Jet. So I'm not really biased that much.

[Matt Meiser]

My local Delta dealer reminded me of the same when I bought my Delta Contractor saw in 2001. I really wish I'd bought the G1023 cabinet saw I was also considering. ;)

In your case, I'd the dealer is the biggest reason for the price difference. Are you willing to have to do some legwork if there's an issue? With the Jet, if the dealer is good they might come out and take care of it for you. With the Grizzly, you might have to play mechanic with parts they'll send. Or worse case occasionally a machine needs to be sent back in which case the Jet dealer might pick it up and Grizzly will need you to put it back in the crate and have the freight company pick it up.

I can tell you that I have tools from both Jet and Grizzly. I wouldn't if Grizzly had introduced the latest version of their 12" J/P about 6 months earlier.

[Derek Gilmer]

I've got a grizzly table saw (5hp cabinet g1023) and a 6" jointer G0452 and love them both. Honestly my next big powertool purchase is 99% likely to be a grizzly. Hard to justify the cost of other brands when I've been so pleased with my green bears.

[scott vroom]

I own the G0490X and it performs well.

The Grizzly has a bigger motor (3hp vs 2hp) ...could be an advantage when face planing wide boards. The Grizzly is a parallelogram design, is longer by 9", has a taller fence, and comes with a built-in mobile base.

I've never owned/used a Jet.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I will be the lone voice of caution...I have had a lot problems with my G0490 (bought about 14 months ago) and Grizzly's widely regarded CS was not especially helpful. Looking on the bright side...I didn't lose much of my prized woodworking shop time, I gained an opportunity to teach myself to be a jointer mechanic! I believe if there had been dealer involved things likely would have gone differently--one thing Grizzly has done for woodworkers is make the remaining dealers SUPER-SENSITIVE to where they are adding value. I became quite aware (Grizzly pointed it out to me!) that my jointer only had a one year warranty. The Jet standard warranty is five years.

[Richard Coers]

I don't want this to come across as bashing, just stating facts. My bandsaw is supposed to be picked up by UPS Freight on a return today. New parts did not fix my vibration issue. I had an engineer friend come over and he looked at the vibration as a torsional/natural frequency issue. We braced the top of the machine to the ceiling and half the vibration went away. We removed that brace, then braced to the floor. The vibration issue completely went away. This sure isn't a jointer, but I do feel it addresses the issue of machine quality and design you are asking about.

[Mike Goetzke]

Now it's my turn:D.

I currently have a Grizzly jointer, bandsaw, and planer. They all had problems but CS was fantastic. Would I buy from them again....I already did twice. I'm a hobbyist with some evening free time on my hands to spend tuning these machines. I quite franky, based on everyone elses experiences, expect to spend some time on these machines to get them up and running. If I were in the woodworking business and paid for someone to tweak the machines I would buy the more expensive local dealer supported machine.


Mike

[Michael Koons]

First of all, a very sincere "thank you" to everyone for thoughtful replies. This was my first post to this community and I'm very impressed with the helpful comments.

There a few things I've noticed as I've done even more investigation. I'm in Denver and I noticed that the only "local" dealers are Woodcraft and Rockler. (Woodcraft is the dealer I went to over the weekend.) I don't know what happened but seems to me the days of my local dealer who I could really work with are gone. The sad thing is that I cannot actually inspect either of these tools in person. For a purchase like this, I think a personal inspection would go a long way with the decision.

Based on the feedback, I've expanded my thought process to include PM. I like the thought of longer tables. PM is 73", Grizzly's 76" and the Jet is only 66". Not to be too crude, but in this case, I really thing the longer the better. I just wish I could call Grizzly and get some sort of quality guarantee from them. :-)

[Maik Tobin]

I may be the exception, but I own a cabinet saw, bandsaw and planer....all Grizzly. All three were perfect right out of the crate (after assembly). I could not be happier with each. I am by no means a professional woodworker, but I manage to knockout 40-50 tables per year, plus an assortment of other stuff. These tools have served me very well and I would have no problem at all buying from them again. Customer service is top notch and I would really question the actual differences between Grizzly products and the competition, most of which is far higher priced.

[Stan Mitchell]

All three were perfect right out of the crateSame experience here. I've got a shop full of their machines - including the G0490X. The spiral cutter is superb and the long table is very handy when using long lumber.

The shipping carrier seems to be a major issue in delivery of heavy machines. It's the biggest risk factor in my opinion.

[Gerald Senburn]

I ... expect to spend some time on these machines to get them up and running. If I were in the woodworking business and paid for someone to tweak the machines I would buy the more expensive local dealer supported machine.

I own a mixture of Grizzly, Powermatic, Jet, and others. Quite frankly, I find that I spent about the same amount of time tuning the expensive stuff as I do the inexpensive. My Grizzly jointer had a odd vibration caused by loose setscrews. My Powermatic bandsaw had a bad riser block. The only thing I can think of that required no tuning out of the crate was my Grizzly dust collector and my 3520b lathe.

[Craig Kalkman]

I had a Jet jointer that I sold to buy the G0490X Grizzly. No comparison in terms of value. Grizzly kills Jet. I have had no issues at all with the Grizzly jointer after one full year. Pleanty of power and great surface. Don't be scared to go Grizzly just because it looks like too good a value. They really do sell a good product.

[David Kumm]

The more important issue is the type of bed adjustment. If all of your choices are parallelogram, you have equal adjustment choices. The old wedge bed jointers-which were really good have adjustments in the wedges themselves and the tables were bolted to the wedges so adjustments could be made. I would be nervous ordering one of todays wedge type jointers without checking the tables for droop or being out of plane. They have little adjustment options other than brass shims in the wedges. My point is with the parallelogram you reduce your risk considerably, but other opinions may differ. Dave

[Rick Moyer]

Personally I don't care about the bed adjustment type as I don't adjust the beds hardly ever. Maybe others do more often such that that would be more of a consideration. I do like the longer bed though as I think it makes the jointing process easier. I can't compare Grizzly to Jet as I don't have any Jet machinery. Actually I have mostly Grizzly for two main reasons: I think they are a good value, and I don't have to worry about shipping damages as I am close enough to pick the things up. I suppose if I had more money I might have a Sawstop TS and an Agazanni BS; but my Grizzly's are working fine for me. I will say that I had to recently replace the off switch on my jointer. Not a big deal but maybe a longer warranty would have covered this? Otherwise I am generally pretty happy with the Grizzly machines I have.

[glenn bradley]

White paint is expensive. Even more so when you consider you are giving up motor power, a built in mobile base and p-beds. You may never have to adjust the beds but, having done the dovetail tango more than once, I swore I would never do it again :). A closer comparison might be the Grizzly G0656PX as it is a dovetail-way machine but it still has an extra pony and the built in mobile base for $1075.

If I owned a Jet, I might feel differently but, I have run a G0490X pretty regular for almost 3 years and it just does what it is supposed to, every time. I would have to agree that I have an unbalanced position to judge from.

Obviously we have seen posts of folks who have not had such positive experiences with Grizzly . . . or Jet . . . or Powermatic . . . or Delta . . . or whoever. I must confess that I harbor thoughts that there may have been an element of trouble in those shops no matter what color the paint was on the machines. :o Seriously though, there are many happy folks with either machine. Some of those folks just have more wood in the rack now :D

[Anthony Whitesell]

Don't forget to factor in dealer costs (Jet) and shipping (included in the Jet price, while added to the Grizzly price) to both sides of the cost equation.

[Peter Quinn]

I have not used a G0490X, but that is basically a delta DJ-20 clone, if it doesn't come from the same plant I'd be surprised. Delta did a fine job of designing that one, my DJ-20 works well after years of service, I'm the second owner. I imagine unless there is a manufacturing flaw in the G0490X you get, it will work fine as well. Its a fine design at a reasonable price. Most of the WMH stuff comes at a premium versus other brands, and whether or not that adds value is a personal decision. Maybe do like my MIL does with clothes when she can't decide; buy one of each, take them home, try them out, and keep the one you like best, return the others! Nah, they won't let you do that with a machine. Pity though there is no place to try both out under power.

Having owned several things from Jet and Powermatic I can tell you that the CS from WMH is also very good and RARELY needed, so you hear much less about it than that from some competitors. With some brands the reason everyone raves about the customer service seems to be because every one has had to use it, often to repair brand new machines. Other companies do better in terms of specing higher QA standards so CS takes a back seat in the discussion.

[Greg Bender]

Michael,
I bought a Shop Fox W1741S jointer this morning and after setting it up today I could not be happier. Finish and geometry was perfect. Motor sounds strong and the spiral cutterhead cuts clean and quiet. I also own a Grizz 12" tablesaw and the Grizz 19" 0514 Bandsaw.The TS is a hoss and the BS is a real performer for the money.I would not hesitate to go Grizzly on my next major tool purchase.
Good Luck,
Greg

[John Stan]

I have a Grizzly 8 inch spiral headed jointer and like it a lot. It joins the boards dead flat every time. I have a PM15 HH planer with a Byrd head that I have been less than impressed with. To me, I find the Grizzly head leaves a better finish than the Byrd. I also had issues with the Powermatic quality and found the CS to not stand behind their product. Never really have dealt with the Grizzly CS as both my jointer and G0636X bandsaw worked fine right out of the box.

[michael case]

I was reluctant to by Grizzly at first, but the all the good reviews of this jointer convinced me to take the plunge. I believe Griz also has a program to put you in touch with actual owners in your area so you can get firs hand feedback. I've had the G0490 for well over a year now. I love this machine. The beds are dead flat. The fence is dead straight and it has power to spare.

[keith ouellette]

I have the 490 and at first I liked it a lot but I have had a lot of problems since. I believe My problems are due to a problem with delivery (its a long story). When I have time I was told by a grizzly tech that he would help me take it apart to figure out what is wrong. I also have decided that I do not like how the motor is attached and that I have a lot of excess vibration as a result. Grizzly customer service is very good so its a plus in there corner.

I have also had a jet 3hp cabinet saw for years now. when i was at wood craft looking at saws I looked over the comparable jet,delta,and powermatic saws. For the life of me I could not figure out why the powermatic was so much more. I was given the "can start it up while balancing a penny on the table" line but couldn't spend the money for it. My jet has worked flawlessly and It can also do he penny trick. It has made me look for more jet equipment.

So you can't really compare a jointer to a table saw I know. And you can't even really compare a grizzly jointer to a jet jointer because your probably not going to get to look at each one side by side so you have to go by specs.

I don't know if anything I have said is helpful or not but this last thing will be.

DO NOT allow it to be delivered when you are not there and if the delivery service screws up and sends it when your not home have some one send it back and have it delivered on the correct day and do not sign ANYTHING until you note ALL damage on the crate and the manner in which it was delivered. Those ruled would have saved me a lot of heart ache on the second most important tool in my shop.

[Joe Shinall]

I have a Delta Unisaw, Grizzly 8" jointer, Grizzly 15" Planer, and a Grizzly 24" drum sander. I bought the Unisaw new and the Grizzly machines used. I have a Grizzly bandsaw on the way and the reason I bought this brand new is I truly do not see a difference in the quality between my old 6" Delta jointer and my 8" Grizzly. My Grizzly machines run great and have never failed me. If I would have known Grizzly was this nice, I would have saved myself money on the Uni and went with a Grizzly TS with more options.

[Myk Rian]

No matter what you buy, make sure it's in stock before hand. Seriously. There have been stock issues with Griz machines.

I have a Griz G1018 8" jointer. Casting edges aren't as nice as the 6" Jet it replaced, but it works great. They are/were both older machines, so maybe that has improved as of late.
I'm looking for a Crescent/Delta 8" to replace my Griz with, as I restore old machines.

[Joe Shinall]

No matter what you buy, make sure it's in stock before hand. Seriously. There have been stock issues with Griz machines.

+ 1 on the backorder. Waited over 3 weeks for my bandsaw, although it was a month earlier than what they predicted.

[Angela micinski]

I got lucky and was one of the first to get the new 1023 even though there had been people waiting for a year to get one. I have been pretty happy with the quality so far.

[David Kumm]

There is a new-old stock DJ 20 on Woodweb. $1300

[John TenEyck]

Have you considered a used machine? You can get nearly any machine you want for no more than half the price of new. Many of the those old American big iron machines are things of beauty - lot of mass and very smooth running. And since the ones you'll find will be local, you should be able to see it, touch it, and run it before putting your money down. Lately everyone seems to think you have to have a spiral head on your machine or it's not worth having. I'd rather have a smooth running old machine that I didn't have to pay a lot for. Just sayin'

[David Kumm]

Jointer is one of the best machines to start you down the used road. If the tables are flat and bearings good, old is better. If you compare the bearings used by oliver, porter, northfield and the like, the difference is apparent- by about $750. Both oliver and northfield made 8" machines but if you can fit a 12", go for it. Keep in mind the spiral head needs a little more power so don't skimp on the motor. Dave

[scott spencer]

The majority of the price differences is dealer markup, not overall quality. There's nothing wrong with paying a premium for good dealer support for those occasions when things go wrong if that's what's important to you, but if you're willing to be your own middle man, the price savings are often pretty attractive. Not so long ago, the jointers from Jet, Griz, Bridgewood, GI, Woodtek, Sunhill, and others were all made in the same Taiwanese factory.

I've currently got two Grizzly machines (DC and 6" jointer) and one Shop Fox (TS) in my shop that have all been super. Years ago I had a 12" 3-wheel BS that was available under a couple of different brands...it was a lousy design and performed poorly....when I couldn't get it to track, the Grizzly tech told me that they had trouble making those track correctly too, and I returned it without issue. Grizzly's CS is very good, and many of the machines are comparable quality to Jet IMHO.

[george wilson]

We had a 1960's 8" Delta jointer at the toolmaker's shop. I loved the old machine's looks,but it had just enough wear on the tables that I couldn't get the knives to set right the whole way across the tables. The 6" pot metal motor pulley was forever coming loose. This machine,in a museum,had never seen hard production,either. I bought an 8" Grizzly that was new,but being discontinued. It was a HUGE improvement over the old Delta. Extremely accurate tables,exactly flat and true with each other. No problem getting the knives to be correct in relation to the outfeed table at all. The cutter head bearings were mounted in circular housings that you could very easily loosen to shim under if needed. Today's table grinding technology is just a lot better than the old Blanchard grinding. I was thoroughly satisfied with the cheap Grizzly. At home I have an 8" Bridgewood made in Taiwan that is at least 15 + years old. I bought it used,but it is like new,being in a climate controlled shop. It is thoroughly satisfactory,too. I had put the Dispoz-a-Blade system in both jointers. Blade changes are very quick and exact.

My only wish is that the table elevation handles turn the wrong way,but you just have to get used to it. I always turned the handle clockwise to elevate the table on older machines. Oh,yes,the green color isn't my favorite either.

[Don Bullock]

My local Delta dealer reminded me of the same when I bought my Delta Contractor saw in 2001. I really wish I'd bought the G1023 cabinet saw I was also considering. ;)

In your case, I'd the dealer is the biggest reason for the price difference. Are you willing to have to do some legwork if there's an issue? With the Jet, if the dealer is good they might come out and take care of it for you. With the Grizzly, you might have to play mechanic with parts they'll send. Or worse case occasionally a machine needs to be sent back in which case the Jet dealer might pick it up and Grizzly will need you to put it back in the crate and have the freight company pick it up....

Matt's explanation is on target. A "good" dealer will set up a jointer for you and even arrange for delivery at a reasonable cost. They will also be there to take care of problems should the tool be defective. Now, I must add that not all dealers will give you this kind of service. Many just sell you the tool in a box or boxes and you have to find a way to get it home and put it together. That's what happened when I bought my bandsaw. Like that store a mail order company like Grizzly ships to you in boxes and you have to assemble the tool and set it up. With Grizzly you even have to get the tool off the truck unless you pay extra fir liftgate service. Even then the driver can just leave the tool at the curb and you have to find a way to move it from there. If you have problems with a tool from Grizzly it's your responsibility to document them and report to the shipper and/or Grizzly. They decide what, if anything, will be done to solve the problem which may include you having to re-box the item to be shipped back to them.

Like Matt I have Grizzly tools and some that I have bought at stores. My G0490 jointer is a very good quality machine for the type of work that I do. The delivery driver wheeled the crate and box right into my garage/shop for me and waited for me to inspect everything before I signed for it. Mine came in great shape, but I had to have a couple of guys to help me lift the jointer up onto the base. It wouldn't have been much different if I had bought a Jet jointer from a local store except it would have been loaded in the back of my van. I would have had to have several guys meet me at home to extricate if from the van and place it on the garage floor. Let's face it, most tool dealers won't set up our tools and even inspect them before we load them up and take them home. They, for the most part, are not very different than Grizzly except we can see what we're buying before we buy. I, for one, have learned that I will either buy from a "full service" dealer who will inspect, set up and deliver a tool to my home or I'll buy from Grizzly.