Grizzly G9717 6" Bench Grinder Review

[Jason Ritchie]

When I was ordering my new lathe I decided to go ahead and order a new grinder to replace my aging Harbor Freight 8" Wet 6" dry grinder. Since I planned on buying the Wolverine sharpening system I wanted a grinder with wheels on both sides so I could rough grind for changing shapes and fine grind of sharpening. I decided to order the Grizzly G9717 6" grinder for $29.99. The grinder came shipped separately, in its original packaging, which was pretty beat up by the time it got to me. I took it out of the box and plugged it in for a test and that's when I notice the severe vibration. The thing danced all over my shop floor. I tried to true the wheels with my diamond dresser but that didn't help. It wasn't until I tried to loosen the wheels and re-seat them to try and improve the balance that I noticed the wheel on the right has a wobbly shaft and the wheel wobbles no matter what. I had bought a Norton 6" Aluminum oxide stone to use but it will not fit. The shaft on the grinder was too small for the adapters that came with the Norton wheel. It was supposed to fit a 1/2" arbor but maybe its that metric over seas thing again. I am building a tool right now out of 1/2" steel bar purchased from the big box store and needed to do some grinding on the tip to round it off so I removed the wobbly wheel on the right to stop so much of the vibration and then tried to grind the tip round on the steel bar. What a joke. The grind halts to a stop as soon as you start to grind. No power at all. I went back to my Harbor Freight grinder to get the job done. I pretty much wrote off the Grizzly grinder as a $30 loss but had one more use in mind. I have some buffing wheels I bought a while back and though I would just remove the guards and mount the buffing wheels to have a dedicated buffer. I'm kind of surprised here as it does not even have enough power for buffing duties. My Dremel honestly has more grunt I think. This is just my experience with one unit and I may have gotten a defective one so take this review as such. At $30 its not worth it for me to mess with returns and whatnot and I just mounted my Norton wheel on my Harbor Freight grinder and will just use the right side for sharpening for now until I can decide which grinder to get for using both sides.

[Roger Chandler]

Wow, Jason..........thanks for the heads- up on this grinder.........looks like one to stay away from! Most of the folks who have gotten the 8 inch grinder from WoodCraft, have like it pretty well........sometimes they run a special on it for $89, so you might want to keep your eyes open for it.

[Jason Ritchie]

Hey thanks for that Roger! I didn't know about that one. I will keep my eye on it for sure for sales. With the white aluminum oxide wheels already on it I would think it was already a great deal at $124. I think I paid around $30 for just one white wheel from Norton alone.

[Roger Chandler]

Hey thanks for that Roger! I didn't know about that one. I will keep my eye on it for sure for sales. With the white aluminum oxide wheels already on it I would think it was already a great deal at $124. I think I paid around $30 for just one white wheel from Norton alone.

Yep, those wheels get to be expensive..........I upgraded to the blue 3x wheels from Norton.......they are a lot better than the white wheels.............then in time I went whole hog, and got a CBN wheel from D-Way tools...........now that is a lifetime wheel, produces a superior edge and will last many times longer than a matrix grinding wheel and it runs so true, it never has to have any truing done on it because it is machined. Expensive yes, but will save money in the long run and eliminates many issues of wobble, truing and is a lot less dusty......no wheel matrix in the air, just metal shavings falling to the ground...........

If interested, look up D-Way tools, and CBN wheels..............maybe for a later time if the budget does not allow at present....it will be one to bookmark for future reference............

http://www.d-waytools.com/tools-diamond-grinding-wheels.html

[Jason Ritchie]

I just got a very nice call from Grizzly about this post. It appears that they read this forum looking for feedback or issues on their products! They were concerned that the unit I received was not up to par. He said that it sounds like my unit has a bad winding as the grinder should have more power and there is definitely an issue with the arbor out of round which could have happened from shipping. They are sending me a gift certificate for the price of the grinder! I have had nothing short of spectacular customer service from Grizzly and I would not hesitate to order form them again. This level of support is unheard of these days! I have always had mediocre to terrible service anytime I have had to call customer service/tech support for other companies and was completely blown away that they called me first!

[Roger Chandler]

Now that is indeed good customer service........fixing issues, and giving full support will help a customer deal with their frustration level.............I just wish that all the machines that come from PRC would be right when they come off the line!!!

Sure would save a lot of frustration and time! Good on Grizzly for stepping up!

[Ed Morgano]

Jason,
I wouldn't get my hopes up the the replacement will be any better than the first one. Hopefully it won't have a bent shaft, but a 1/3 hp grinder is going to be pretty weak. I would recommend at least a 3/4 hp for a 6" grinder and 1 hp for an 8" grinder.

[Roger Chandler]

Jason..........I took a moment and went to the Grizzly site and checked out the specs on that grinder after Ed's comments above........he has given you very sound advice...........you should have an 8 inch grinder for the wolverine jig........you can make a 6 inch work, but 8 is the standard and better..........also, the Grizzly grinder you mentioned is high speed [3450 rpm] a slow speed grinder is preferable for turning tools, although some use the high speed because of the better metal compounds in today's gouges...........most prefer the 1725 rpm grinder.....or at least a variable speed grinder that can be used on the low setting.

The 1/3 hp is way underpowered..........as I mentioned earlier if you can the WC slow speed 8" is really common among turners............that is for a reason............they work well! Good luck on your next purchase!

[Jason Ritchie]

I don't plan on using the gift certificate for a replacement but will hang on to it for some other purchase I may want down the round. Grizzly doesn't have any slow speed grinders that will work with the Wolverine jig so I have my sights set on the WC model Roger link to. I met with my financial advisor this morning and let her know I would be wanting to purchase this soon. Any ideas as to how often the sales run? I think $124 is a good deal already but $89 is better and if the sale run ofter I will wait.