Brand new Grizzly jointer problems

[Greg Woloshyn]

I just received a G0656PX 8" jointer from Grizzly and I can't say I'm really happy with it so far. I'm not sure if it's something I'm not doing right, or just the overall quality of this particular jointer is poor. First, I found both the tables are dished .004. What will Grizzly tell me their manufacturing tolerances are? I know .004 is no big deal, but I expected flat tables. My main concern right now is getting the tables coplanar. The outfeed table is in line with the infeed table at the front of the machine, but at the back the outfeed is low .018. I also had to shim the back bearing of the cutterhead up, to get it straight to the infeed table. It's my understanding the infeed table should not be shimmed.

I'm trying to have patience with this thing but 8 hours just to get the tables setup shouldn't happen, and neither should adding shims to a brand new machine.

Anyone have any tips for me? Should I call Grizzly and ask for a replacement? It's would be a major pain to have to send this one back.

[Phil Thien]

Did you face/edge joint any stock before you started making adjustments? Were you able to get straight/square surfaces?

I'd certainly try both some 4" wide and 8" wide stock (the 4" wide because you said the tables were dished and a 4" should highlight any problems as one corner should be in the center of the dip).

If you can get good, flat, square surfaces, I'd not worry about it too much.

The .004" certainly would be within specifications, I imagine.

The cutterhead doesn't have to be perfectly aligned to either table, just the knives. If you wanted the cutterhead aligned with the tables and decided to shim, that is fine (I might have done the same thing if the deviation was drastic).

In terms of tables drooped I think the key is that at the end of the table, it matters quite a bit less. The further from the cutterhead, the less critical either a droop or rise would be, though a rise would be far worse than a droop.

[Greg Woloshyn]

Did you face/edge joint any stock before you started making adjustments? Were you able to get straight/square surfaces?

I'd certainly try both some 4" wide and 8" wide stock (the 4" wide because you said the tables were dished and a 4" should highlight any problems as one corner should be in the center of the dip).

If you can get good, flat, square surfaces, I'd not worry about it too much.

The .004" certainly would be within specifications, I imagine.

The cutterhead doesn't have to be perfectly aligned to either table, just the knives. If you wanted the cutterhead aligned with the tables and decided to shim, that is fine (I might have done the same thing if the deviation was drastic).

In terms of tables drooped I think the key is that at the end of the table, it matters quite a bit less. The further from the cutterhead, the less critical either a droop or rise would be, though a rise would be far worse than a droop.


I didn't test out the jointer yet because I wanted to get everything setup during assembly, with the fence out of the way.

The tables are dished along their length, not width. They start to dish up at the very ends, and like you said, less critical.

[David C. Roseman]

Greg, I'd just ring up Grizzly tech support in Springfield on Monday and talk with them about this. They can tell you (or can check and call you back) whether your discrepancies are within their quality control tolerances for that machine. Make a note of whom you speak with. Grizzly tech support is among the best, and in any event you're not giving anything up by calling.

[David Kumm]

I think you are unlikely to find any new jointer short of the high end $5000+ stuff that is spec'd within .004 other than by luck anymore. If the area near the head is good and it is only on the end, I'd either live with it or sand the end until I could. You might find the replacement to be worse. Dave

[Matt Day]

All jointers take time and patience to get dialed in, especially if you are anal about the numbers. Part of the deal with buying from a company like grizzly is you sometimes have to take on a bit more setup and calibration.

Remember we are working with wood, not machining parts to go on a space ship. 0.004 over the length of the bed sounds pretty good.

[scott spencer]

I would not look to sending it back unless there are some obvious issues that can't be resolved. Jointers can be kind of tedious to setup...give it time. I think Phil's suggestion to try it has merit. Get the basic setup done, then try it. If it's already working great, your setup work is done.

[Jason White]

If your board is straight and square after running it through the jointer, then there's nothing wrong with the jointer.



Did you face/edge joint any stock before you started making adjustments? Were you able to get straight/square surfaces?

I'd certainly try both some 4" wide and 8" wide stock (the 4" wide because you said the tables were dished and a 4" should highlight any problems as one corner should be in the center of the dip).

If you can get good, flat, square surfaces, I'd not worry about it too much.

The .004" certainly would be within specifications, I imagine.

The cutterhead doesn't have to be perfectly aligned to either table, just the knives. If you wanted the cutterhead aligned with the tables and decided to shim, that is fine (I might have done the same thing if the deviation was drastic).

In terms of tables drooped I think the key is that at the end of the table, it matters quite a bit less. The further from the cutterhead, the less critical either a droop or rise would be, though a rise would be far worse than a droop.

[Greg Woloshyn]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I got it setup today and was able to run some short pieces through and they came out great. The finish is ultra smooth! And the machine is VERY quiet. I have a backround in precision machining so maybe I'm being too particular with setup, but for now it's good enough.

[Phil Thien]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I got it setup today and was able to run some short pieces through and they came out great. The finish is ultra smooth! And the machine is VERY quiet. I have a backround in precision machining so maybe I'm being too particular with setup, but for now it's good enough.

You aren't the first SMC member to head down that road.

[scott spencer]

You aren't the first SMC member to head down that road.

True....or the first non-SMC member to take that journey! Glad you've got it doing what it should.