Grizzley vs Jet Band Saw Opinions

[Paul Merrill]

I've been looking at picking up a band saw for my shop. I've narrowed it down to the Grizzley G0513P and the Jet JWBS-14DXPRO. The Grizzley comes with a 2 hp motor, the Jet a 1-1/4 hp, the other specs look pretty similar. Prices are pretty close, the Grizzley does come with a fence and miter gauge. Has any one had any experiences with either of these?

[Steven Hsieh]

If you can get the G0513X2.
if not the G0513P is fine

[glenn bradley]

Since you're after the resaw height, the power would be very important to me. I have a G0513X and am very happy with it. I would not want any less power though when resawing taller material.

[Joseph Tarantino]

i own a jet BS. buy the grizzly. buying the jet will only result in your wishing you'd bought the grizzly.

[Kent Chasson]

I have the G0513X2 and it's a great saw for the money. Although I wouldn't recommend it for continuous resawwing, it has done fine with several hours at a time, 4-5 days a year. Does fine with 9" Wenge.

I would strongly recommend upgrading to the Extreme series with the foot brake though. With the motor off, the blade will spin for a full 30 seconds with no brake.

[Bill White]

Go Grizz. You won't be unhappy.
Bill

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Does Jet have a great website, where you can order parts from a diagram?

[Joseph Tarantino]

Prices are pretty close, the Grizzley does come with a fence and miter gauge.

not meaning to beat a dead horse, but you noted that the grizz includes a fence and miter gauge. wouldn't adding those items to the cost of the jet make it a bit more expensive than the grizz?

[Richard Coers]

Go with the Jet, I had a horrible Grizzly bandsaw experience. I sent the machine back after spending 2 weeks ordering and waiting for parts, twice. Many hours spent rebuilding it, and it still vibrated horribly.

[Joe Angrisani]

Go with the Grizzly. I had a fantastic Grizzly bandsaw experience. After a 5 minute phone call with Grizzly customer service, they sent the parts I needed and they were in my hand in three days. No hassles or denials from Grizzly about the "lifting tire" I was experiencing on my 513X2B. Quick fix, and no vibrations.

[Jerome Stanek]

[QUOTE=Joe Angrisani;1788920]Go with the Grizzly. I had a fantastic Grizzly bandsaw experience. After a 5 minute phone call with Grizzly customer service, they sent the parts I needed and they were in my hand in three days. No hassles or denials from Grizzly about the "lifting tire" I was experiencing on my 513X2B. Quick fix, and no vibrations.[/QUOTE

Does ordering parts for a new saw and wait a couple of days make it a good experience. Wouldn't ordering a saw that you don't need to fix be a better experience.

[Jerome Hanby]

In a perfect world, yes. In the one I live in, a great tool that needed a little issue addressed right after purchase trumps a crappy tool that remains crappy the entire time I can stand owning it. If I could spend an extra $1000 and get a tool that arrived in perfect shape and was just as good for my purposes as the one I had to "fix", I'd chose to still have the $1000 in my pocket...


[QUOTE=Joe Angrisani;1788920]Go with the Grizzly. I had a fantastic Grizzly bandsaw experience. After a 5 minute phone call with Grizzly customer service, they sent the parts I needed and they were in my hand in three days. No hassles or denials from Grizzly about the "lifting tire" I was experiencing on my 513X2B. Quick fix, and no vibrations.[/QUOTE

Does ordering parts for a new saw and wait a couple of days make it a good experience. Wouldn't ordering a saw that you don't need to fix be a better experience.

[Joe Angrisani]

Does ordering parts for a new saw and wait a couple of days make it a good experience. Wouldn't ordering a saw that you don't need to fix be a better experience.


In a perfect world, yes. In the one I live in, a great tool that needed a little issue addressed right after purchase trumps a crappy tool that remains crappy the entire time I can stand owning it. If I could spend an extra $1000 and get a tool that arrived in perfect shape and was just as good for my purposes as the one I had to "fix", I'd chose to still have the $1000 in my pocket...

The Hanby Jerome nailed it. It worked fine out of the box - I think most people would never have noticed what I did. And I feel a little dialing-in to make it perfect is just fine at the Grizzly price point.

And in case it wasn't obvious, my response was a bit tongue-in-cheek to Richard's post. ;)