I want a new planer - G0453ZW

[Mark W Pugh]

OK, have an old Buffalo 15" planer from the 80's. I think it is an early Grizzly type item, but I don't know. I want a spiral cutting head, and I really don't know if a replacement spiral head will fit. I don't want to spend the money just to find out it won't work.

So, I'm looking at the Grizzly G0453ZW. Any comments, good or bad?

It's around $2000 delivered. I'm NOT interested in something WAY more expensive, and I'm not waiting for Craig's list where I live.

So again, any comments?

Thanks for your time

[ed vitanovec]

That is a fine looking Planer and Spiral cutter head too. I have this type of cutter on my jointer and liked it a lot. I had a similar planer once and it is a work horse, nice that you have cast iron extensions too. Go for it you will really like it. Looking forward to your gloat review.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Mark
I don't have the grizzly planer but I do have the 8 inch jointer with spiral head, grizzly cabinet table saw, grizzly 22/46 lathe and grizzly 19 inch band saw. I've purchased all of these in the last year or so. Every time I've received each tool and set it up I was amazed and the thought was "what else could I want in this tool". I still feel that way and when I need the next tool I am definitely going to look at Grizzly. If I had the money, I would upgrade from my 15 inch Jet spiral planer to the Grizzly 20 inch, with no worries, tomorrow.

[Bryan Cramer]

I have one and it does it's job accurately. It's not a great finishing machine because the out feed roller is serrated. If you adjust the rollers and back the pressure way off on the out feed one it leaves a good finish. I wasn't able to stop the snipe until I abandoned the bed rollers by lowering them all the way down, leveling the tables perfectly flat and then made a bed with 1/2" melamine. The spiral isn't a true shear cutter because the inserts aren't set at an angle, but so far that hasn't mattered much. The machine seems to have a mind of it's own because sometimes it will feed a board funny. As a hobbiest, get it; as a professional probably not. I have been using mine professionally and however it is working, but sometimes I wish I got a better machine.

[Cary Falk]

I have the G0453Z. I am happy with it. I dropped the bed rollers below the table and have the infeed and outfeed tables flat and do not get any snipe. You can reduce the pressure on the infeed and outfeed roller so you won't get any marks. I have installed some Delta rubber feed rollers in mine. Not really needed but after a thread or 2 on here I want to see if they would fit and wanted to get some before they were obsolete through Delta. My motor went out a little after a year. My credit card extended the warranty by a year so they replaced the motor with a better one. The fit and finish isn't as great as the rest of my Grizzly stuff but it is fine. Put a Wixey DRO on it because the thickness scale sucks. The spiral cutter head is great. I have not had to rotate the cutters yet and I have had it for about 4 years. It is super quiet compared to my lunchbox I replaced it with.

[Jim Andrew]

I have the polar bear version, G0453px. I don't worry about a tiny bit of snipe, because I plane boards to 13/16 and do my glueups, then run the panels through my G9983 wide belt sander. The sander flattens as well as sands the panels. I use my 12" G0609 jointer to flatten boards before planing in the G0453px. My projects looks manufactured, because everything is so flat and square, unlike high school projects. Of course, our local school has wide belt sander and planers and wide jointers now, unlike my school days nearly 50 years ago.

[glenn bradley]

I've run the G0453Z since 2010. I am a bit overdue on turning the cutters for the first time but, hope to get through the current workload. I adjusted mine as Cary describes but, still have the steel rollers; snipe is not present. I also added a DRO which I can trust implicitly. The built-in mobile base makes the heavy machine very easy to move around. Dost collection is quite good with a 2HP cyclone. It is eerily quiet for a machine doing what it is doing.

[larry senen]

I have the G0453Z. I am happy with it. I dropped the bed rollers below the table and have the infeed and outfeed tables flat and do not get any snipe. You can reduce the pressure on the infeed and outfeed roller so you won't get any marks. I have installed some Delta rubber feed rollers in mine. Not really needed but after a thread or 2 on here I want to see if they would fit and wanted to get some before they were obsolete through Delta. My motor went out a little after a year. My credit card extended the warranty by a year so they replaced the motor with a better one. The fit and finish isn't as great as the rest of my Grizzly stuff but it is fine. Put a Wixey DRO on it because the thickness scale sucks. The spiral cutter head is great. I have not had to rotate the cutters yet and I have had it for about 4 years. It is super quiet compared to my lunchbox I replaced it with.


so,,what delta rollers fit the grizzly? part #'s and web site please. T.I.A.

[Wes Ramsey]

I've got the G0453PX. The only comparison I have is to an old 13" Foley-Belsaw, but the Grizzly is worlds better in every way. I need to back the pressure off my infeed roller - I don't get imprinting from the outfeed, but I do from the infeed just taking a final skim pass. I have the bed rollers set to +.003" since I do a lot of rough lumber and it helps it to feed quite well. It has handled with ease everything I've thrown at it so far. The low volume level is what impresses me most about it. I still wear some ear protection just for the ambient noise of my DC, but earbuds are enough. My straight-blade 6" jointer requires muffs.

[Marty Tippin]

Very happy with my G0453PX. I've been slowly working the snipe out but haven't gotten all of it yet. And it looks like I've got a chip in one of the cutters, need to rotate it when I get a few minutes.

+1 on the Wixey digital readout. One of the most useful add-ons you can buy and easy to install. http://www.wixey.com/planer/index.html - probably a little cheaper on Amazon or elsewhere.

[Mike Tekin]

OK, have an old Buffalo 15" planer from the 80's. I think it is an early Grizzly type item, but I don't know. I want a spiral cutting head, and I really don't know if a replacement spiral head will fit. I don't want to spend the money just to find out it won't work.

So, I'm looking at the Grizzly G0453ZW. Any comments, good or bad?

It's around $2000 delivered. I'm NOT interested in something WAY more expensive, and I'm not waiting for Craig's list where I live.

So again, any comments?

Thanks for your time


Just as an FYI, to all regarding this planer, the new models with the "W" at the end of the model number is actually the same spec'd out planer, however, it now made by another Chinese manufacturer who is also now ISO9001. In addition, these new planers have rubber outfeed rollers, confirmed by Grizzly and in the specs.

I have the Polar Bear version of this planer with the old style steel outfeed rollers and I had to play with it a little to get the roller marks off the wood, thus this new change is a welcome addition.

[Marty Tippin]

Just as an FYI, to all regarding this planer, the new models with the "W" at the end of the model number is actually the same spec'd out planer, however, it now made by another Chinese manufacturer who is also now ISO9001. In addition, these new planers have rubber outfeed rollers, confirmed by Grizzly and in the specs.

I have the Polar Bear version of this planer with the old style steel outfeed rollers and I had to play with it a little to get the roller marks off the wood, thus this new change is a welcome addition.

I wonder if we can retrofit the G0453PX with the new rubber rollers? Maybe worth a call to Grizzly...

[Mike Tekin]

I wonder if we can retrofit the G0453PX with the new rubber rollers? Maybe worth a call to Grizzly...

I know the helical cutter head is slightly different because they have a new part # for the Byrd in their catalog.

I did ask via email about the rubber out feed roller and never got a response- maybe someone else will have luck.

[Cary Falk]

so,,what delta rollers fit the grizzly? part #'s and web site please. T.I.A.

I posted all the info about the swap in a thread here but I sure can't find it. This is the part 1349339 Outfeed Roller http://www.ereplacementparts.com/outfeed-roller-p-87736.html. The shaft was a little short so I bought spacers. I think they were 98055A255 from McMaster-Carr. I think it took 4 per side.

[Marty Tippin]

I posted all the info about the swap in a thread here but I sure can't find it.

This is probably what you're looking for http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?217637-Powermatic-Model-15-Questions&p=2270484#post2270484 - this plus several followup posts in the same thread. (yes, my Google-Fu is strong... :D)

[Cary Falk]

Marty,
That's the one. Thanks!!!
Cary

[Ken Platt]

Another happy owner, although my only comparison was a Dewalt lunchbox style. Great performance essentially right out of the box (I think I fiddled around a bit with the rollers as per some threads here). I'd buy again in a heartbeat.

Ken

[larry senen]

well i think if i went to the trouble of removing the roller,i would just go ahead and machine out the serrations.

[Cary Falk]

You probably wouldn't have to machine them out. You could probably just file off the sharp edges.

[larry senen]

well,,, i tried that when it is on the machine. that roller is tougher than most grizzly parts.