Grizzly G0690?

[John Kali]

My old contractors saw Just took a dump on me yesterday. I am leaning heavily towards replacing it with the G0690. Any reason to go with something else in the same price range? Are there any big sales coming up soon?

Thanks in advance, John K

[keith micinski]

You may want to look at the 1023. It has some added features.

[keith micinski]

Although I see they did add a riving knife to the 690. I can't see paying more for the 690 with no serpentine belt and no dust shroud around the blade.

[Pete Janke]

I don't have any experience with the 1023, but am the very happy owner of a G0691. I did change the blade guard to allow dust collection.

[John Kali]

Ahh I see, originally I was comparing the G0690 to the G1023RLW and the dust shroud wasnt mentioned on that page. It is mentioned on the G0123RL though. Are the internals different between the two? There is a 40lb difference in weight.

[scott spencer]

... Are the internals different between the two? There is a 40lb difference in weight.

In addition to what you see, the G0690 has an imported Leeson motor.

G0690:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/sawparts/Slide1-3.jpg

G1023RL:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/sawparts/g1023rl_det1.jpg

[Tom Kelley]

My old contractors saw Just took a dump on me yesterday. I am leaning heavily towards replacing it with the G0690. Any reason to go with something else in the same price range? Are there any big sales coming up soon?

Thanks in advance, John K
John,
I just sold my old contractor's saw. My G0690 is in transit. I expect delivery this week. It looked to me that the 690 has a better fence, and longer rip to the right. I don't have room for the 691. I read somewhere that the serpentine belt is not really that much better. The dust shroud? Yes, that probably is a benefit. But then the 690 comes with a better motor. (I think companies do this to drive us crazy.) I have never read anything bad about the 690 so I went with that. Good luck with your choice. I guess either one would be a good choice. But for me the G0690 was mine.
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

[glenn bradley]

It looked to me that the 690 has a better fence, and longer rip to the right.

Interestingly I was very close to ordering a G0691 and the fence and dust port location are what sent me that way vs. the 1023. Both are nice machines but, I have been spoiled by my Beisemeyer. I ended up talking myself out of the purchase as my current hybrid does everything I ever ask of it and cannot say which way I might eventually go if I pursue this later. So many people have each model and so many people have so much good to say about each, it seems a safe bet either way,

The dust collection at the blade is of little consequence to me as my current saw does not have it and collecting from the cabinet has always been great since I got a decent DC. The 1023 trunnions do appear more massive and are of a new design to support the riving knife (the RK is what got me started looking again) and the 690's have the RK designed in as well.

My current saw runs a serpentine belt but I have had saws with one or three belts and the drive transmission method has never been an issue for me. Our preferences are based on our experiences so if my belts gave me trouble or my fence was inaccurate or dust collection was a problem; a saw that fixed that for me would gain extra praise from me and deservedly so. That's what is so great about forums; we get to hear everyone's opinions and experiences and factor them into our own decisions.

P.s. On either saw you can shift the front fence tube to the right (as I have done) and gain extra rip capacity. This is at the sacrifice of a reduction in rip capacity to the left of the blade which I don't really care about. I found the stock 30" capacity of my saw to frequently be too little. The current 40" capacity is rarely not enough. YMMV.

[John Kali]

Man oh man, they sure dont make it easy on us. I like everything about the 690 better except that it doesnt have a dust shroud...I guess that any cabnit saw will have better dust collection than my old contractors saw, but I imagine that the dust shroud would greatly help with keeping the internals of the saw cleaner. My old saw had dust and pitch covering every square inch, and part under the table.

On a side note, I guess this isnt the worst decision to be stuck with :)

[Matt Mackinnon]

I am wondering if the 1023 has a shrowd dust collection like the 623? Yes, it's nice that it's there, but in reality it doesn't do a heap of a lot. If you go by the calculations, you'd need around 500-600cfm at the blade to get rid of the dust. But on the 623, they put a 5" dust port on the back, but a 3" flex pipe inside. So the port on the back has the capacity to carry the cfm required, but the 3" port makes that just about impossible as the static pressure required due to the small pipe size.

You'd almost be just as wise to remove it, and build some box to capture the dust and flow it away from the blade into a properly sized port.

[keith micinski]

You are correct about it not being a bad decision either way. A few things to remember is that the "better" Leeson motor probably shouldn't even factor in considing your probably not a contractor that is going to be using this saw 4 hours a day 6 days a week. Even if the Chinese motor is not as durable which is yet to be seen it's a pretty safe bet that you will never find out. Also I always hear a lot of trunnion talk around here and I find it humorous. At this point I think it is safe to say most of the cabinet saw's out there have figured out trunnion desgin. I have yet to see a single thread where someone writes boy I wish the trunnion would have been bigger an beefier because I turned the saw on today and it just flew into pieces. That having been said if a trunnion was a real concern it seems like the 1023 would be the way to go because it was designed specifically for the riving knife and I believe the 690 was just retrofitted although I may be wrong on that. As far as I can tell its the same basic fence design which is to say there both grizzly knock off's of a biesmeyer. I am biased in this aspect because I love my unifence and absolutely hate a biesmeyer so I don't think my analyses would do you much good there because I would sell the fence and take the extra money you saved and get a really nice unifence.

[keith micinski]

I am wondering if the 1023 has a shrowd dust collection like the 623? Yes, it's nice that it's there, but in reality it doesn't do a heap of a lot. If you go by the calculations, you'd need around 500-600cfm at the blade to get rid of the dust. But on the 623, they put a 5" dust port on the back, but a 3" flex pipe inside. So the port on the back has the capacity to carry the cfm required, but the 3" port makes that just about impossible as the static pressure required due to the small pipe size.

You'd almost be just as wise to remove it, and build some box to capture the dust and flow it away from the blade into a properly sized port.

Just out of curiousity how could you do any calculations not knowing the size of the dust collector being used or the amount of make up air and where it is coming from and most importantly how could you ever figure out how much cfm it takes around a saw blade? By the way I was going to do a test and remove my blade shroud but when I watched it throw 90 percent of the dust right down the throat of the shroud with the dust collector not even turned on I didn't even figure it was worth wasting my time.

[John Kali]

Well, I actually think I have decided to go with the G1023RLW. Its overall table dementions fit my shop just a bit better than the 690. Between that, the dust shroud, and the serpentine belt drive, it just seems to be a better choice for me. Im not too worried about the fence system, because I can promise that anything will be better than the wobbly fence that was on my 30 year old craftsman. Plus the router wing couldnt hurt...I already have a dedicated router table that I love, but hey, a guy cant have too many router systems!

[Nick Spencer-Berger]

I went to the grizzly tent sale this past June leaning towards the 1023. While they had some of both the 1023s and the 690s I actually liked the 690 better and went with that. It has been amazing and I wouldn't want anything different. I am very happy with it.

[John Kali]

What did you like better about it? To me based on the pictures it almost looks like the fit and finish is a bit better on the 690. But Ive never seen either in person so I am going soley on info from grizzly, and what I read here.

[Jim O'Dell]

Over the past year, there have been many discussions here between the differences of these two series of saws. It would be nice if there was a saw that had the best aspects combined, but I doubt that we will see it. When I saw the G0690/691 series announced, what 3 years ago?, I knew it was my dream saw for the money. Yes, I'd prefer to have the MM 10 1/2 foot slider, but that just isn't going to happen. The things I wanted in a cabinet saw: A good motor. The Leeson designed Asian built motor fits that desire. Riving knife was a must. Good dust collection, and just as important, the dust port on the right (read that the CORRECT;)) side of the saw. And a plus is that this saw has the dust hookup on a removable door that made enlarging to 6" very very easy, and doesn't compromise the cabinet of the saw. Order a replacement door, and the saw is back to stock. A decent fence, although this may be the weakest point of this saw, and it is still a good fence, but while a Biese clone, it doesn't compare to my real Biese. I will eventually add some longer Biese rails and swap the fence back and forth between the 2 saws. But it holds square to the blade without moving, and that is what a fence is supposed to do.
Now, the blade shroud is a great idea. I'd love to put one on mine. But I have no issues with dust collection on my 691. I use the RK exclusively and an over head guard for protection and dust collection. I have even thought about cutting the factory supplied splitter/guard down for another RK and having it ground down for the 30 tooth TK blade I have, but purchased a new blade for ripping instead. Probably saved a lot of money and have a better ripper to boot. The serpentine belt is supposed to transfer power better/more efficiently. There is a reason cars went away from V belts. This would greatly simplify belt changes. Not sure if the 690/1 series pulleys could be changed out with aftermarket pulleys to change to this or not.
I have seen both saws. I helped a fellow Creeker do the initial setup on his 1023RLX. It is also a very well built saw. What is interesting is that the new 1023R series is the new from the ground up saw, and the 690/1 is the old 1023 revamped to have the RK and different dust port and more efficient Leeson designed motor.
So it all boils down to features. Which feature package do you like best? Both saws will last you a life time. If I was buying a new saw today with these two choices, I'd still go with the 691. But that is ME. Jim.

edit: John, having had my hands on both saws, fit and finish is a tie. They are both nice. That is not something I'd base a decision on between these two saws.

[Cary Falk]

I went with the G1023RL last September. I am still very happy with it. I moved from an old UNI for the blade shroud and riving knife. The 690 did not have a blade shroud. I am not convinced the Leeson motor is going last any longer in a hobby envirnnment. I feel the serpentine belt is better then the old 3 v belt system. The 690 gets great reviews also so I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[keith micinski]

Over the past year, there have been many discussions here between the differences of these two series of saws. It would be nice if there was a saw that had the best aspects combined, but I doubt that we will see it. When I saw the G0690/691 series announced, what 3 years ago?, I knew it was my dream saw for the money. Yes, I'd prefer to have the MM 10 1/2 foot slider, but that just isn't going to happen. The things I wanted in a cabinet saw: A good motor. The Leeson designed Asian built motor fits that desire. Riving knife was a must. Good dust collection, and just as important, the dust port on the right (read that the CORRECT;)) side of the saw. And a plus is that this saw has the dust hookup on a removable door that made enlarging to 6" very very easy, and doesn't compromise the cabinet of the saw. Order a replacement door, and the saw is back to stock. A decent fence, although this may be the weakest point of this saw, and it is still a good fence, but while a Biese clone, it doesn't compare to my real Biese. I will eventually add some longer Biese rails and swap the fence back and forth between the 2 saws. But it holds square to the blade without moving, and that is what a fence is supposed to do.
Now, the blade shroud is a great idea. I'd love to put one on mine. But I have no issues with dust collection on my 691. I use the RK exclusively and an over head guard for protection and dust collection. I have even thought about cutting the factory supplied splitter/guard down for another RK and having it ground down for the 30 tooth TK blade I have, but purchased a new blade for ripping instead. Probably saved a lot of money and have a better ripper to boot. The serpentine belt is supposed to transfer power better/more efficiently. There is a reason cars went away from V belts. This would greatly simplify belt changes. Not sure if the 690/1 series pulleys could be changed out with aftermarket pulleys to change to this or not.
I have seen both saws. I helped a fellow Creeker do the initial setup on his 1023RLX. It is also a very well built saw. What is interesting is that the new 1023R series is the new from the ground up saw, and the 690/1 is the old 1023 revamped to have the RK and different dust port and more efficient Leeson designed motor.
So it all boils down to features. Which feature package do you like best? Both saws will last you a life time. If I was buying a new saw today with these two choices, I'd still go with the 691. But that is ME. Jim.

edit: John, having had my hands on both saws, fit and finish is a tie. They are both nice. That is not something I'd base a decision on between these two saws.


Just curious what is the advantage of having the dust port on the side of the saw? I looked at this as a disadvantage because you now have to have your dust collecter on the right side of the machine or your going to have an extra elbow in the system. Plus if you want to build a side table you have to mess around underneath of something to get to it. I guess this also applies to the 1023 if you have an out feed table but I don't have one yet and it just seems like a more universal setup then coming out the right.

[Jim O'Dell]

Keith, for me, the right side of the saw has an end as to how far the fence will travel. It stops just before the end of the table.:eek: :D:D So I have a place that I can bring the ducting down from the ceiling and it won't be in the way of anything I cut that uses the entire amount of rip space that I have. Which after moving the fence to the right, is about 65". I don't have to worry about a pipe behind the saw getting in the way of anything going out on the outfeed table, which for me is a mobile cart and my contractor saw that buts up to the back of the extension table of my 691. The duct doesn't have to make a 90 degree turn to the back of the saw. It is mostly a straight shot although I have a little wiggle in it to accomodate the under saw cabinet, and to allow for a wye that feeds the contractor saw. It would have been easy to make it a straight shot to the saw if I didn't want storage under the ext. table. Having the saw come straight to the back of the saw was not an option for me as the end of my 6' outfeed table is about 3' from the cyclone body. So for me, the right side is the correct side. Now different shops are set up differently. If I had a basement under my shop floor and ran all my ducting under the floor, then the either side of the saw would be fine as the pipe wouldn't be in the way. About a year before the 690/1 came out, there was a thread here where I wondered out loud why cabinet saws didn't have the duct on the right side of the saw...I felt like Pappa Bear made this saw just for me!!! :cool: Jim.217171217172

[glenn bradley]

Like Jim, my shop layout puts the right side dust port in just the right location. My current saw's port exits the rear and has to take a turn as my outfeed area is out there. I generally rip longer stock than I crosscut so I need that area open ;). Different needs for different shops and different woodworkers.

[David Larsen]

Just curious what is the advantage of having the dust port on the side of the saw? I looked at this as a disadvantage because you now have to have your dust collecter on the right side of the machine or your going to have an extra elbow in the system. Plus if you want to build a side table you have to mess around underneath of something to get to it. I guess this also applies to the 1023 if you have an out feed table but I don't have one yet and it just seems like a more universal setup then coming out the right.

A tablesaw rips with the waste to the left of the blade. The extension is to the right. Depending on space issues, you normally can jamb a table saw pretty close to a wall on the right side. Putting the left side of a saw right up to the wall is difficult because you need to stay far enough away to allow for your rip capacity. I have a G0690. My dust collection runs along the right side wall so the right dust port was perfect for my system. Also, I have a gate activated dust collector and am right handed, so when I walk up to the saw, I just bend down and pull the gate open with my right hand. Reaching down to the left with a left hand would feel pretty awkward.

[keith micinski]

I will agree that if your dust collection and shop is set up on the right side of the saw then it coming out to the right would be an advantage but if it doesn't then your making turns. I am kind of spoiled in that I have a 12x24 area to work in and then two more spots if I move the cars out so sometimes space doesnt factor in much to me. I think the reason they put it on the back is that it is more universal and I am glad they did because in my case I have a router table and a set of cabinets built into my side feed so I would have had issues with it coming out to the right.

[John Kali]

Thanks for all the great info everyone! I have been measuring and re-measuring, and I think the saw that will fit the best in my shop is the G1023RL. The G1023RLW and Go690 are both a bit wider, and that extra few inches does make a difference in a narrow shop (14x30). Plus that dust shroud is a biggy for me. I just run one of those 4 inch expandable dustrite hoses from rockler right now, and with that, need all the help I can get with dust collection!
For anyone else reading this in the future with space limitations, I called Grizzly and here are the overall dementions including handweels, and fence rails.

G0690 62x41x40
G1023RLW 60x47x39
G1023RL 56x47x39

[Gene Waara]

I bought the G690 because the green 1023 clashed with my purple overalls while the white G690 complimented them. Okay, I really bought the G690 a couple of years ago when it had been designed with a riving knife and the 1023 was not. A riving knife was a major consideration for me. Also, like Jim, the right side dust port set up better for my dust collection system and the G690 offered a wider rip cut. Good luck with your decision, you really can't go wrong either way.