New grizz jointer adjustment - does this sound ok to do?

[Ken Platt]

Folks - I'm in the process of setting up a new 8" grizzly 0490X, with the parallelogram beds. and I noticed when I went to use it for the first try that the little table attached to the cutterhead side of the infeed table (they call it the infeed "lip" is a bit raised relative to the infeed table, at the front (rabbeting table side). It's about 5-6 thousandths up, according to my dial indicator. The lip is held on by a couple of screws on the cutterhead side. They can be seen but not accessed. In the one pic you can see the lips on either side of the cutter head. In the other pic, you can sort of see that the lip is up a bit, and the feeler gauge under the piece of wood is .005"

So I called Grizzly. The first tech guy told me to put a piece of wood on the infeed table so it rested on this lip and whack it a few times. I tried that, but when the protruding side moves down, the other side (fence side) moves up, as though the lip is pivoting on it's middle screw attachment.

So I called back. THe second guy wants me to loosen the front and back set screws holding ONE of the eccentric bushings (the one nearest the cutter head) and then whack out the "table shaft" that runs through the bushings. Yes, take that shaft out completely. Apparently this will allow the infeed table to pivot upwards like a drawbridge opening - which will then let me get at the screws holding that lip in place, loosen them, align the lip with the table, and put it back together. I asked whether that wouldn't screw up the table alignment and he told me (a bit indignantly) that he wouldn't have advised doing this if that were the case.

I'm a bit leery, but not sure what choice I have. Yes, I whacked it again a few more time, same result. If anyone has had to do anything like this, or has thoughts on what I'm thinking of doing here, I'd appreciate hearing about how it worked out.

[Doug Richardson]

Just finished putting my 0490X together this last weekend. I wondered what they called those infeed lips..... OK, I really didn't wonder, but I did wonder about the purpose of them, as opposed to solid cast right up to the cutterhead. I guess I would try what he told you. I can't imagine that you could screw up a whole lot..... ;-)

My biggest complaint about assembly would have been that it would be a lot easier to align the pulleys and tension the belt..... BEFORE mounting the fence carriage, instead of after, like the assembly instructions want you to do.....

[Matt Day]

I'd proceed as the tech suggested and remove the rod. It's a pretty simple machine when it comes down to it, though finicky. After you do this, you'll want to check that the beds are coplanar and everything.


Good luck!

[glenn bradley]

That's unfortunate and shoddy assembly. . . especially seeing what has to be done to correct it. I agree that there is no way to get at those screws with the head in the way. I would sooner pull the table than the head. Mark your eccentric positions and you may not have to do much tweaking once reassembled. I'm sorry this happened.

[Richard Coers]

I'd tell them to ship me another one before I put in hours doing a rebuild on an assembly problem. It's a simple process during the assembly, not so much when it's all put together. All the assembly person had to do was check it with a finger nail. Too bad they can't take the time to do that.

[Ken Platt]

So, an update of sorts. I hadn't had the courage or time to attempts the repair as yet. Today I got a call from another Grizzly tech support guy, who had a different and supposedly better way to make the repair. He said that it's easy to take off the cutterhead and doing so doesn't get me into any table alignment difficulties. I'll have to take off the belt, then undo two screws front and back that hold the cutterhead in place, then apparently just lift it out of the way. I'm not sure about this, as in looking at it it doesn't seem as though there will be clearance between the two tables (even with lowering them as far as they will go) to pick up the cutterhead. So I may not have understood the instructions; I'll call the guyh back tomorrow before trying anything.

Glenn and Richard, I agree that this doesn't speak well for the QC, although I have no idea if it is possible for the lip to move a bit after assembly. Also concerning is that I'm now on my 3rd set of instructions on how to get to those screws. I was first told that they could be accessed by lowering the infeed table as far as it would go - wrong. Then I had the table flip up deal, now the cutterhead removal. I'm not happy.

On the bright side, I asked the guy today how he happened to call me, and he said that my post here was noted, and someone (apparently it wasn't him) took the time to look up the purchase, get my phone number, and get it to him. That's a level of attentiveness that I don't think is found with many other companies.

I'll update after I see about the cutterhead-ectomy tomorrow.

Ken

[Myk Rian]

Can you slide the head out the back?

[Rod Sheridan]

Before I started taking the cutter head out of a new jointer, I'd be looking for them to hire a local repairman, or send a new machine............Rod.

[Ken Platt]

Update - kind of a bad news/bad news deal. I took off the cutterhead, which wasn't terribly complicated or difficult, but came off a bit roughly, so I'm worried that after it goes back on I'll have to realign it to the tables. It just didn't come off with the smooth feel of a part that will go right back on and sit the same way it was.

Then, after taking off the cutterhead, that lip on the infeed table (which started this saga) couldn't be adjusted to be flush with the infeed table. So I took it completely off and discovered that it has a .012 (yes, over a hundredth) + dip across it's length, using both the infeed table itself and a straightedge to check. BTW, the end of the infeed table is dead flat by my straightedge. Also concerning is that the one screw hole (on the rabbet side) where the lip was screwed in seems to be a bit stripped - I'm guessing that whomever put the lip on tried to force it to fit by overtightening that screw, so that now the screw will still go in, but not smoothly or easily - it needs to be forced.

So now I'm waiting the "3 to 5 business days" for a new lip part to get here (is it me, or should that be shipped to me by a faster means given what I'm putting up with here on a NEW machine?). Then I get to put it all back together and see if it works, or else be stuck in alignment purgatory - at which point I will start asking for a new machine.

I'm really not happy.

Ken

[Ken Platt]

Myk, on the question of the cutterhead removal, it turned out that the tables slid apart further than it had appeared. So the cutterhead with the support blocks kind of half lifted, half slid out.

Rod, if I thought a local repairman was a viable option, I'd have asked, but that didn't occur to me. Regarding getting a new machine, well, I feel the same but as a practical matter there was a lot of effort getting the machine into the basement and assembled, so the thought of the work involved in getting another in, and this one out, well, as unhappy as I am about having to take the cutterhead off a new machine, the other option seems even worse. But I'm close on that. I just hope that whomever at Grizzly saw my original post is following this thread. This sort of problem that puts one between a rock and a hard place is exactly what I think all of us fear when buying a machine from a not-local vendor.

Ken

[Jim Barrett]

Seems that Grizzly stuff is hit and miss...some folks swear by them and other swear they will never purchase another product from them! As others have noted their Customer Service is top notch...for me I hope to never contact CS with a machine problem but if I do hopefully it is good!
I would be upset as well...new machine and have to remove the cutter head...but not much of a choice for you after getting it downstairs.
Good luck and let us know how things work out.

Jim

[Richard Coers]

"So now I'm waiting the "3 to 5 business days" for a new lip part to get here (is it me, or should that be shipped to me by a faster means given what I'm putting up with here on a NEW machine?)."

It's part of the ballgame with a Grizzly machine Ken. To some folks, it just okey, dokey, and they swear that this is the greatest company in the world, with a world class customer service department. I had two of those 3 to 5 day waits on the last machine I bought from them. Emphasis for me now are on the words, "the last".

[Ken Platt]

For those who had been following this thread, I wanted to update events.

Later in the day after my last post, I got a another call from the guy at Grizzly who had called me the previous day after seeing my first post. I'm assuming he'd seen the second post about the disassembly and the measurement on the infeed table lip. (I don't think I should post names, so I'm leaving it at "the guy").

He said that he'd discussed my machine with his boss, and they were thinking perhaps they should just go ahead and send me another machine, which he said he would personally inspect before it shipped.

I think it was reasonable of them to make that offer, and I appreciated that they were willing to do that without making me go through the replacement of the lip and reassembly and, potentially, realignment of the cutterhead. OTOH, as for most of us, moving and setting up one of these machines is a rather large undertaking, so I will confess that the idea of expending all that effort just to end up with the machine I should have had already wasn't making me jump for joy. I asked the guy if I could consider things overnight.

So then my wife suggested that maybe I ought to ask to upgrade the machine, so that at least after putting in the all the extra effort I'd have something to show for it. This might not have been the solution for others, but for me it seemed like a positive solution (whereas the other two options I had, repair or replace with the same machine, weren't especially attractive).

I suggested it to the guy at Grizzly, he discussed it with folks there, and they agreed to replace my current machine with the 12" G0609X for a price of 10% off and no (further) shipping (the shipping on the G0609 is $75 more than the shipping I'd paid on the 0490). They took a credit card number and will refund amount I paid for the G0490 when I ship it back to them. He also did not ask me to disassemble the 0490, but just asked me to put it as is into the crate that the 0609 will come in (that one comes as a single crate) and secure it. I think this was a pretty reasonable offer.

So I have to say at this point that I feel very good about Grizzly's support and that they were willing to go the extra mile to make me happy.

Ken

[Jim Andrew]

Great! You'll like the G0609. Are you getting the helical cutterhead?

[Jeff Duncan]

, but I did wonder about the purpose of them, as opposed to solid cast right up to the cutterhead. .

I'm not absolutely positive but my W.A.G. would be those are in place for when you screw up and answer the phone while changing your jointer knives, and then fire up the machine without having completely snugged them all down yet:eek: The reason I would think this is I've seen enough jointers that have been around the block with repairs done to the cast iron in this area. It would seem odd to take such a pre-emptive step against such an incident.....but can't see any other reason for them:confused:

JeffD

[Ken Platt]

Jim, yes, the X model, with the helical cutterhead. Getting one of these cutterheads was one of the main reasons I was getting a new jointer in the first place- I really want to be done forever with knife changes and tearout.

Ken

[glenn bradley]

So I have to say at this point that I feel very good about Grizzly's support and that they were willing to go the extra mile to make me happy.

Ken

Wow. I am sorry for the inconvenience but, what a come back!

[Myk Rian]

So then my wife suggested that maybe I ought to ask to upgrade the machine, so that at least after putting in the all the extra effort I'd have something to show for it. This might not have been the solution for others, but for me it seemed like a positive solution (whereas the other two options I had, repair or replace with the same machine, weren't especially attractive).
Damn. That would have a heck of a solution for me.