Are Grizzly and Shop Fox like Ford and Mercury?

[Rich Riddle]

Are Grizzly and Shop Fox manufactured/sold by the same company? If so, are the Shop Fox models supposed to be an "upgrade" like the Lincoln is for the Ford? Your insights are appreciated including if one proves superior to the other.

[Dave Lehnert]

Kinda,
ShopFox is Grizzly tools sold by other retailers. They most often have an upgrade of some kind like a 2 hp motor vs 1.5hp etc...

[Rick Fisher]

Good analogy. Shop Fox is the wholesale arm of Grizzly. Same owner, same customer service attitude, same basic product.

I have a couple of Shop Fox tools and a couple of General International tools .. I would rank them the same except if I had a problem, I would rather have it with Shop Fox ..

[Cary Falk]

Shop Fox is sold by Dealers like the way Delta, PM, etc are sold. If you want to pay more for a middle man then go for it. If you are ok with talking to Grizzly to get problems fixed then save yourself a couple hundred bucks. The tools are the same. Most of the tools I have looked at only differ by cosmetic things like paint and handwheels. Sometimes the features are different but I wouldn't say that the better features are on the Shop Fox version.

[Rich Riddle]

Shop Fox is sold by Dealers like the way Delta, PM, etc are sold. If you want to pay more for a middle man then go for it. If you are ok with talking to Grizzly to get problems fixed then save yourself a couple hundred bucks. The tools are the same. Most of the tools I have looked at only differ by cosmetic things like paint and handwheels. Sometimes the features are different but I wouldn't say that the better features are on the Shop Fox version.
Someone in a local woodworking club is selling his Shop Fox 1742 and offering it to club members for $600. If I go with the new Grizzly, the cost will be about $1100 shipped. The used unit looks in good condition.

[Cary Falk]

I have a shop Fox 1741 8" jointer because I got a deal that made it cheaper than the G0490. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would jump on that planer.

[Jim O'Dell]

If talking buying new, I think the Shop Fox comes with a longer warranty. Won't matter for this purchase, but might for others reading the thread. Jim.

[Cary Falk]

If talking buying new, I think the Shop Fox comes with a longer warranty. Won't matter for this purchase, but might for others reading the thread. Jim.

That is true. Shop Fox comes with a 2 year. Grizzly comes with 1 year.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, although we can only hope that one brand doesn't go the way of Mercury... ;)

[Ernie Miller]

I have several ShopFox machines and, if I had to do it all over again, I would go with Grizzly. Not that there's anything wrong with ShopFox, but if you don't have a local dealer (mine went out of business) getting parts is a royal pain. You can't buy them online, or on the phone, directly from ShopFox. Instead, you have to go through a dealer - and I no longer have one.

[Kevin Groenke]

I have several ShopFox machines and, if I had to do it all over again, I would go with Grizzly. Not that there's anything wrong with ShopFox, but if you don't have a local dealer (mine went out of business) getting parts is a royal pain. You can't buy them online, or on the phone, directly from ShopFox. Instead, you have to go through a dealer - and I no longer have one.


Since Shop Fox machines are (primarily)the same as Grizzly machines, couldn't one simply get repair parts/accessories directly from Grizzly by referring to Grizzly's extensive on-line exploded drawings and part's lists for the comparable Shop Fox model? Of course doing this could result in a hybrid white and green "Zebra" machine.

-kg

[Curt Harms]

Since Shop Fox machines are (primarily)the same as Grizzly machines, couldn't one simply get repair parts/accessories directly from Grizzly by referring to Grizzly's extensive on-line exploded drawings and part's lists for the comparable Shop Fox model? Of course doing this could result in a hybrid white and green "Zebra" machine.

-kg

A can of spray paint ain't THAT expensive :D. I got parts for a Shop Fox metal cutting band saw from Grizzly. I don't remember though if I ordered Shop Fox parts or Grizzly parts that turned out to be the right color (cream).

[Ernie Miller]

Since Shop Fox machines are (primarily)the same as Grizzly machines, couldn't one simply get repair parts/accessories directly from Grizzly by referring to Grizzly's extensive on-line exploded drawings and part's lists for the comparable Shop Fox model? Of course doing this could result in a hybrid white and green "Zebra" machine.

-kg

I suppose that would work...sometimes. While the machines appear to be identical they're not always so. I ordered some bolts for my 12" disk sander from Grizzly and they didn't fit on the ShopFox version of the machine. On any expensive part I would want to know if the parts are really interchangeable or, at least, returnable.

[Rick Fisher]

I have several ShopFox machines and, if I had to do it all over again, I would go with Grizzly. Not that there's anything wrong with ShopFox, but if you don't have a local dealer (mine went out of business) getting parts is a royal pain. You can't buy them online, or on the phone, directly from ShopFox. Instead, you have to go through a dealer - and I no longer have one.


Grizzly is a dealer for Shop Fox . You can order shop fox parts from them ..

[Ernie Miller]

Grizzly is a dealer for Shop Fox . You can order shop fox parts from them ..

Thanks for this info... it's been awhile since I needed parts from ShopFox. In the past, this wasn't true. Good news!

[Rich Riddle]

Thanks for all the information. It seems there is a lot of overlap but it's not guaranteed. Grizzly seems more and more the easiest option for me.

[Keith Weber]

A better analogy than Ford/Mercury would be Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation/Nanjing Automobile... just saying!