Grizzly Frustration

[julian abram]

I've been wanting to upgrade my planer & jointer so during Christmas I sold my 6" Jet and Dewalt 635 to a nice young fellow who is starting woodworking as a hobby. I had some extra Christmas money so I ordered a Grizzly G04543ZW 15" spiral planer and G0490x 8" spiral jointer. When I placed the order about 10 days ago, I was told the jointer is backordered and should ship around Feb 15th. Ok, I need to use it before then but I am willing to wait. Grizzly shipped the planer, it arrived today damaged. It looked like a forklift fork had pierced the upper portion of the crate and struck the planer. Not sure this was the right decision but I refused it without opening the crate, sent it back. I checked Grizzly's website and found that this planer model is now discontinued.
I'm thinking ok, I'll ask Grizzly to cancel both machines and purchase their 12" spiral jointer/planer combo. As I am looking on their website I see the 12" combo units are all backordered as well.
My gosh this is frustrating, what does a guy have to do buy one of their machines and have it delivered undamaged? I recall reading some other members stories about waiting 7 or 8 months on Grizzly backordered machines. Seems like you may need to plan a year in advance to be assured of receiving one of their machines.
This seriously has me thinking about cancelling the whole order and spending the extra money for a better grade of machine and service. :(:(:(

[Jacob Mac]

I ended up doing the same thing. I cancelled my jointer and planer order from Grizzly and got a combo machine from someone else. I’m not anti Grizzly, but I just didn’t want to keep waiting.

[Scott DelPorte]

Unless you plan to pick up your machine, you might end up with the same shipping company anyway. Were the customer service people at Grizzly helpful when you contacted them?

[Mike Ontko]

Keep in mind too that the reason for the back orders is that Grizzly is a popular source because of the quality they provide at the price point they sell to but especially because of their customer service and support record. And no, I'm not on the payroll but I do have a bit of the green in my own shop (plus, it also helps that I'm only 20 minutes away from their main Bellingham, WA office and warehouse :) ).

As a post script, if you do decide to reorder through them you might see if it's possible to make other arrangements for shipping.

[Ben Rivel]

This seriously has me thinking about cancelling the whole order and spending the extra money for a better grade of machine and service. :(:(:(
I would. After my experiences with Grizzly Im not at all impressed. They did solve the problems over the course of months, but yea, it took a while and a lot of time on my part. Save up a bit more and look at a Hammer A3-31 12" jointer/planer combo if youre going to consider a combo.

[Matt Day]

Things gets damaged in shipping. You’re certainly not the first and will not be the last. Sometimes you have to wait to get something. Seems like you gave up on Grizzly pretty quick.

See if the same models in white (Shop Fox) are available.

[Cary Falk]

The majority of my shop is Grizzly. I only waited on 2 machines ant that was that they were introduced the year I bought them. I am glad that I won't be needing any tools in the near future because I see more and more posts about stuff on backorder. I can understand you frustration. I would be curious to know if the issues is increased popularity in Grizzly tools or supply issues. All of my grizzly tools arrived without damage. I picked a few of them up at the shipping terminal. I don't know if that made a difference. They usually some tools listed on E-bay but it looks like that is very limited at this time also.

[keith micinski]

If your frustration is things being back ordered I guess I can understand that but if it’s because there was shipping damage I’m not sure how Grizzly can be held responsible for that at all. Also it sounds like your talking about a pretty big difference in what your wanting to do, going from hobbiest stuff, to dedicated machines to possibly foreign combo machines. Seems like a big commitment to make and a little more research needs to be done for you to be happy.

[John TenEyck]

I understand your frustration but you should not have sold your old machines until after the new ones arrived in good shape. I've only bought a few Grizzly machines; all arrived on time and w/o damage. I've always called to place my order. That way I can verify what I want is in stock and when it will ship.

John

[Brian W Evans]

I have no problem with Grizzly - I have a couple of their machines. That said, I decided a couple of years ago that I would only buy machines that couldn't reasonably be upgraded unless I started a serious business. I looked at some Grizzly machines but eventually went with a Minimax FS41 (16") J/P combo. I couldn't be happier with it and, for the first time in 20+ years of woodworking as a hobbyist, I'm not lusting after a bigger, better machine. I guess that places me solidly in the "buy once, cry once" camp.

Another thing to consider is that 8" is quite limiting in terms of what lumber you can easily flatten. 12" will cover most situations, but 16" will cover all but slabs and also allow you to skew pieces with tricky grain. Also, if you buy a combination machine, you are limiting your planing to the same width as the jointer. That's another reason to consider a 16" machine.

Best of luck with your decision.

[Chris Padilla]

Generally speaking, Grizzly makes a fine product at their price points. I honestly don't think you can get a better bang for your buck and so do lots of other people and hence the popularity. I think if you're patient, you will be happy, but there are other vendors out there, too. I went with Minimax many many years ago for my 16" J/P combo machine. While my planer width isn't anything to write home about, my jointer width is envious. :)

[julian abram]

Ok, don't want everyone to think I hate Grizzly, just seems like everything I want to purchase is backordered or discontinued, then arrival of the damaged planer this afternoon was the cherry on top of frustration. I have their 690 tablesaw and have purchased a couple of their bandsaws picked up at the Springfield showroom. Agree that their equipment is good quality for the price point. I sent customer service an email about the damage. Being deaf makes phone and customer services calls a no go without involving wife or others. I'm sure we'll get this worked out to my satisfaction.

[Jim Andrew]

My nephew was going to order a Grizzly 490 jointer, and the backorder time was too long, so he ordered another brand from Grizzly, but was not Shopfox. Think they have a 3rd brand now as well. The jointer looks just like the 490, but forgot the name.

[Ted Baxter]

Jim did your nephew buy the Steelex jointer from Grizzly? I did because of the long back order time it is the same as the GO490X but with the helical head and 2 year warrenty

[Jim Andrew]

Yes, that was the name.

[Carroll Courtney]

If Griz sells machines for a living you would think that they would be better and keep supplies in stock.Heck they been around for awhile,computers are setup to let then know what is sold,whats on the floor and what needs to be order.True????But maybe the problem is not here but across the pond,I just can't see myself waiting that long when the I get the hots for a machine.If I pay for it,I don't want to wait to long.How long is to long?If a person goes through a Drive Through at your favorite fast food place"I's sorry Happy Meals are on back order"what do you do?Just saying

[Leo Graywacz]

I would. After my experiences with Grizzly Im not at all impressed. They did solve the problems over the course of months, but yea, it took a while and a lot of time on my part. Save up a bit more and look at a Hammer A3-31 12" jointer/planer combo if youre going to consider a combo.

I ordered a dovetail machine from them. It arrived on time and I picked it up at the FedEx station to get it to my shop a few days quicker.

It had a defective air cylinder. It was ground out of square and lifted the board when it clamped it down. I notified them and they sent me a refurbished one that arrived quickly and worked. I thought the service was pretty darn good. Plus they didn't ask for the defective one to be returned. So I have a spare (that needs repair) in case one of them breaks.

[Barry McFadden]

I ordered a dovetail machine from them. It arrived on time and I picked it up at the FedEx station to get it to my shop a few days quicker.

It had a defective air cylinder. It was ground out of square and lifted the board when it clamped it down. I notified them and they sent me a refurbished one that arrived quickly and worked. I thought the service was pretty darn good. Plus they didn't ask for the defective one to be returned. So I have a spare (that needs repair) in case one of them breaks.

So, you're happy with refurbished parts on a NEW machine???

[glenn bradley]

A "back order" posture is one that any business would like to avoid. There are all sorts of formulas and science behind avoiding this time/cash suck scenario but, retailers are alas, subject to that most fickle of beasts . . . the consumer. I think any thinking being realizes that Grizzly has nothing to do with a shipper damaging goods en route. Any supplier using a shipper to reach you is subject to the same risk.

That being said, having to wait for months for an Asian clone is a pisser. The forums are certainly rife with stories of folks waiting months for their Euro-machines but, that is part of the business model. If you happen to want one of something in stock you can have it right away be it Asian clone or Euro-mainstay. If you want something popular or feature specific, the wait is part of the package.

The G0490's, G0453's and G0454's are very popular for Grizzly and with good reason. This popularity and frequency of purchase certainly does make them more visible when issues occur. Rather than changing your direction after long consideration I would order what you want and try to find something to take up the time until they arrive. It is hard to wait but, at least you won't find yourself saying "I should have just bought what I originally wanted". Hang in there ;-)

[Keith Outten]

In 2008 when the economy took a nose dive almost every American business had plenty of inventory. When the brakes were slammed on money that was available companies were stuck with large inventories and very few orders. Everyone had to adjust including customers, getting used to long waiting periods after inventories were exhausted became the norm. Manufacturers also took a big hit with factories going flat out they were stuck with large numbers of products and no storage facilities to keep them.

Today its pretty standard for companies to keep minimum inventory levels and you can't blame them. End users now have to plan ahead and schedule more carefully than in the past. I have had to make major changes concerning availability of materials for my business and I currently keep a larger inventory than I ever did in the past because I have to these days. For several years we had a terrible time ordering pastics, the waiting list was very long and it really hurt our ability to respond to requests for quotes as the prices climbed at the same time availability declined. As small as my company is it was not uncommon for me to place an order and purchase a suppliers complete stock of certain items and still be short for the job I was working.

FWIW we lost every one of our advertisers here at SawMill Creek in 2008 in a matter of a few months. We were forced to change our advertising strategy in order to get the costs down and convince advertisers to return.

Plan ahead or get used to waiting, this is now the norm and its not going to change.

[Shiraz Balolia]

First, I can completely understand the frustration caused by back orders specially when one wants a new machine. Here are some things that are affecting the popular machines:

1) Jointers and planers - we have the lowest prices with very good quality and the end result is we sell more than probably all other companies combined in USA. Therein lies the rub. While it is easy for us to place orders (we forecast orders based on running demand), it is not easy for the factory to keep up with the manufacturing process.

2) The main factory making these for us actually quadrupled in size into a new facility, but that actually slowed things down for a few months. In the meantime orders keep piling up and the back orders keep increasing. Its one of those things where things get worse before they start getting better.

3) Last year the Chinese government decided to crack down heavily on casting factories (similar to an EPA thing). Numerous foundries were shut down due to environmental issues. This caused a shortage and delay from the factories that remained open. Affected many machines - not just the popular ones.

4) We hate this situation as we keep losing sales from customers who cannot wait and end up buying an alternate unit. We have hundreds of containers ordered, but can only get a fraction of that a month of planers and jointers. There is no shortage of us placing orders. Making machines properly is quite complex and requires many, many different parts and castings from different suppliers. The factory is adding new German made CNC machines as fast as they can, but one cannot just add a few CNC machines and expect shipments to double right away.

The bottom line is that we are on top of the situation from our end, have no shortage of the ability to purchase and hold inventory and hate back-orders as much if not more than customers. These are not excuses, just facts and we are sorry it is happening. By the way, some customers cancel their orders and then re-order at a later date. This is a mistake as they go to the back of the line once they cancel. We are shipping everything that comes in right away. One might say this it is a good problem to have, but it really isn't. The goal of Grizzly has always been to ship all orders received within 24 hours and we have built warehouses to accommodate the cubic requirements. We have almost a million square feet actively in use and it frustrates us to have some unhappy customers. This is absolutely not an issue of keeping just in time inventory - we do not do that.

Thank you for your business.

[glenn bradley]

I am always pleased to see that Shiraz takes the time to comment here. Nothing like getting it from the horses mouth.

[Jak Kelly]

When they first came out with their hybrid 10" cabinet table saw I ordered one ASAP. Only to be told it was on back-order for 3 months, then another 3 months, to which I then learned that their were numerous people who had been on back-order for almost a year. Sometimes companies probably have no idea as to how popular or what demand a product will have. Could be other factors involved as well. I know it is frustrating waiting for the something you REALLY wanted!! I wound up getting the left tilt G1023 machine instead. Hang in there and good luck!!

[J.R. Rutter]

3) Last year the Chinese government decided to crack down heavily on casting factories (similar to an EPA thing). Numerous foundries were shut down due to environmental issues. This caused a shortage and delay from the factories that remained open. Affected many machines - not just the popular ones.


This is unfortunate for supply in the short term, but welcome for the long term worker health and the health of China as a whole. Instead of ignoring the environmental cost of things like metals and batteries so that we can have cheap products in the west, these costs will become part of the product, just like they are for western made items.

[Leo Graywacz]

So, you're happy with refurbished parts on a NEW machine???

It works like new. It's just a clamp. I can't say 100% it's refurbished, it just didn't match perfectly what was on the machine. Looked to be an older style.

Yes, I'm happy enough. I'm not one of those people that have to have pretty tools. I make my living with the tools I buy and as long as they work, and work well, I'm a happy guy.

[Rod Sheridan]

This is unfortunate for supply in the short term, but welcome for the long term worker health and the health of China as a whole. Instead of ignoring the environmental cost of things like metals and batteries so that we can have cheap products in the west, these costs will become part of the product, just like they are for western made items.

Absolutely J.R.

It's a positive step...........Happy New Year..........Regards, Rod.

[Joe Jensen]

<p>

If your frustration is things being back ordered I guess I can understand that but if it&rsquo;s because there was shipping damage I&rsquo;m not sure how Grizzly can be held responsible for that at all. Also it sounds like your talking about a pretty big difference in what your wanting to do, going from hobbiest stuff, to dedicated machines to possibly foreign combo machines. Seems like a big commitment to make and a little more research needs to be done for you to be happy. Lots of issues with shipping damage and all suppliers know product is handled roughly. It is possible to pack better and more securely. It&#39;s a matter of cost/benefit. How much more to spend on the crate to reduce damage versus how many machines will get damaged. If you ignore the customers upset factor it probably makes accounting sense to package cheaply. Here is how a 2005 Sawstop ICS was packed. My Felder was way more securely packed.</p>

[Keith Hankins]

I remember waiting a long time for my 1023slx TS only to have a big hole in the box just like you. I could peek in and see the damage. I refused and sent it back and it hurt so bad. Anyway called CS imediately, and sent them a picture and they sent a new one out the next day (i was lucky it was not in backorder), and it still took another two weeks to get there. Thankfully the next one was fine, and I used it for 10 years before selling it. It will all work out. I've had quite a bit of griz tools from TS, BS, Jointer, and Horizontal boring machine. All been fine tools.

[Simon MacGowen]

Thank you for your business.

Bonus point for facing the music.

Rob Lee of Lee Valley is an exemplary example who will handle customer concerns no matter how small or big it is.

Will more merchants -- big or small -- join the rank of these two gentlemen?

Simon

[Doug Landphair]

I did exactly what you did about 3 years ago. Sold my 13" Delta 55-580 planer and Ridgid 6' jointer. But I decided to go with Jet Equipment. Absolutely nothing against Grizzly (I have one of their band saws) but Jet was running a 10% off and they had the 15" planer and 8" jointer with the helical heads I was looking for. Another benefit is that their warehouse is located about 30 minutes from my house. If I need a part, it's just a short trip.

I've been very happy with both pieces of equipment. If you don't go with Grizzly consider Jet.

[Joe Jensen]

First, I can completely understand the frustration caused by back orders specially when one wants a new machine. Here are some things that are affecting the popular machines:

1) Jointers and planers - we have the lowest prices with very good quality and the end result is we sell more than probably all other companies combined in USA. Therein lies the rub. While it is easy for us to place orders (we forecast orders based on running demand), it is not easy for the factory to keep up with the manufacturing process.

2) The main factory making these for us actually quadrupled in size into a new facility, but that actually slowed things down for a few months. In the meantime orders keep piling up and the back orders keep increasing. Its one of those things where things get worse before they start getting better.

3) Last year the Chinese government decided to crack down heavily on casting factories (similar to an EPA thing). Numerous foundries were shut down due to environmental issues. This caused a shortage and delay from the factories that remained open. Affected many machines - not just the popular ones.

4) We hate this situation as we keep losing sales from customers who cannot wait and end up buying an alternate unit. We have hundreds of containers ordered, but can only get a fraction of that a month of planers and jointers. There is no shortage of us placing orders. Making machines properly is quite complex and requires many, many different parts and castings from different suppliers. The factory is adding new German made CNC machines as fast as they can, but one cannot just add a few CNC machines and expect shipments to double right away.

The bottom line is that we are on top of the situation from our end, have no shortage of the ability to purchase and hold inventory and hate back-orders as much if not more than customers. These are not excuses, just facts and we are sorry it is happening. By the way, some customers cancel their orders and then re-order at a later date. This is a mistake as they go to the back of the line once they cancel. We are shipping everything that comes in right away. One might say this it is a good problem to have, but it really isn't. The goal of Grizzly has always been to ship all orders received within 24 hours and we have built warehouses to accommodate the cubic requirements. We have almost a million square feet actively in use and it frustrates us to have some unhappy customers. This is absolutely not an issue of keeping just in time inventory - we do not do that.

Thank you for your business.

Appreciate the direct response...joe

[Frederick Skelly]

Bonus point for facing the music.

Rob Lee of Lee Valley is an exemplary example who will handle customer concerns no matter how small or big it is.

Will more merchants -- big or small -- join the rank of these two gentlemen?

Simon

+1. Thanks Shiraz.

[Erik Christensen]

OK - while we are whining about grizzly backorders - I just called about expected date for next container of GO776 lathes as I ordered one last weekend and was told early march..... that is soooo not right - like telling a kid santa is going to be a few months late..... WAAAAAHHHH - I want it NOW!!!!!

killer lathe at an aggressive price point - no wonder they sell out. I look at it as a confirmation that I picked out the right thing if everybody else wants one :)

[Chris Hachet]

I am always pleased to see that Shiraz takes the time to comment here. Nothing like getting it from the horses mouth.I have a shop full of OWWM but I want at least one Grizzly machine before it is all over.

[Chris Hachet]

This is unfortunate for supply in the short term, but welcome for the long term worker health and the health of China as a whole. Instead of ignoring the environmental cost of things like metals and batteries so that we can have cheap products in the west, these costs will become part of the product, just like they are for western made items.This would make me feel much better about buying Chinese.

[Chris Hachet]

Bonus point for facing the music.

Rob Lee of Lee Valley is an exemplary example who will handle customer concerns no matter how small or big it is.

Will more merchants -- big or small -- join the rank of these two gentlemen?

Simon

I so wish there would be.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for commenting, Shiraz. That's very much appreciated.

[Kelby Van Patten]

I own some Grizzly tools, and agree that they are good value for the price point. I also agree that their customer service could use some work.

I have reached out to Grizzly's customer service twice that I can recall, both with my 18" wide belt sander. The first time, they didn't respond to my e-mail, and after several days, I called. When I finally got someone to help me, they spent plenty of time with me on the phone and did everything I think they could do to help, and I was happy with the effort. But there's no reason why I should have gotten ignored for several days.

The second time was Monday of this week. I had another question about my wide belt sander. Maybe not the easiest question: I find the dust collection only satisfactory, and I was wondering if there was any reason why it would be a bad idea for me to add a second dust port, and if it wasn't a bad idea, if they had any suggestions on where I should locate the additional port. I sent that e-mail Monday evening. It is now Thursday evening, and I still haven't received a response. Someone should have gotten back to me by now, if only to say "we're looking into it."

I would still not hesitate to buy a Grizzly product if I'm on a budget for a given tool, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone shopping on a budget. But I'm at a point in life at which my time is tighter than my tool budget. So, these days, I find myself paying extra if necessary to buy from a company with more responsive customer support.

[Frederick Skelly]

I own some Grizzly tools, and agree that they are good value for the price point. I also agree that their customer service could use some work.

I have reached out to Grizzly's customer service twice that I can recall, both with my 18" wide belt sander. The first time, they didn't respond to my e-mail, and after several days, I called. When I finally got someone to help me, they spent plenty of time with me on the phone and did everything I think they could do to help, and I was happy with the effort. But there's no reason why I should have gotten ignored for several days.

The second time was Monday of this week. I had another question about my wide belt sander. Maybe not the easiest question: I find the dust collection only satisfactory, and I was wondering if there was any reason why it would be a bad idea for me to add a second dust port, and if it wasn't a bad idea, if they had any suggestions on where I should locate the additional port. I sent that e-mail Monday evening. It is now Thursday evening, and I still haven't received a response. Someone should have gotten back to me by now, if only to say "we're looking into it."

I would still not hesitate to buy a Grizzly product if I'm on a budget for a given tool, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone shopping on a budget. But I'm at a point in life at which my time is tighter than my tool budget. So, these days, I find myself paying extra if necessary to buy from a company with more responsive customer support.

I've seen plenty of times where, despite the fact that they provide an email address for customer service, nobody monitors it. Don't know why. But it's been very common for me. Perhaps that's happening in your case.

Hope you get what you need!
Fred

Fred

[Tim M Tuttle]

I've been wanting to upgrade my planer & jointer so during Christmas I sold my 6" Jet and Dewalt 635 to a nice young fellow who is starting woodworking as a hobby. I had some extra Christmas money so I ordered a Grizzly G04543ZW 15" spiral planer and G0490x 8" spiral jointer. When I placed the order about 10 days ago, I was told the jointer is backordered and should ship around Feb 15th. Ok, I need to use it before then but I am willing to wait. Grizzly shipped the planer, it arrived today damaged. It looked like a forklift fork had pierced the upper portion of the crate and struck the planer. Not sure this was the right decision but I refused it without opening the crate, sent it back. I checked Grizzly's website and found that this planer model is now discontinued.
I'm thinking ok, I'll ask Grizzly to cancel both machines and purchase their 12" spiral jointer/planer combo. As I am looking on their website I see the 12" combo units are all backordered as well.
My gosh this is frustrating, what does a guy have to do buy one of their machines and have it delivered undamaged? I recall reading some other members stories about waiting 7 or 8 months on Grizzly backordered machines. Seems like you may need to plan a year in advance to be assured of receiving one of their machines.
This seriously has me thinking about cancelling the whole order and spending the extra money for a better grade of machine and service. :(:(:(

Go with Steelex or Shop Fox. Same machine, twice the warranty and still serviced by Grizzly CS. I got a Steelex ST1101 a couple of months ago. It arrived in three days with pristine packaging.

[Carroll Courtney]

Guys one area I do have to brag about Griz is over the years I have purchase from their catalog some tooling for my lathes,parts that works on other machines,etc.So the small stuff is ship and arrives in a timely manner.And like their machines at a good price,so there is other side to that coin

[julian abram]

Go with Steelex or Shop Fox. Same machine, twice the warranty and still serviced by Grizzly CS. I got a Steelex ST1101 a couple of months ago. It arrived in three days with pristine packaging.

If you know of a vendor that has an 8" spiral head Steelex or Shop Fox in stock ready to ship I would be interested in a link. These jointers are all in backorder with all the vendors I can find, just like Grizzly. I assume regardless of brand all the jointers are being made in the same factories, and they are all behind schedule.

[Jim Hager]

Check out Marks Machinery in Ft. Smith. 479-461-5079 He'll have Jet and Powermatic and I'm sure others as well. Fine man to deal with. Plus you'll get a lot better service from him.

[julian abram]

Jim thanks for the tip, I will check out Mark's. I've lived in NWA all my adult life and don't recall ever hearing of Mark's Machinery down at Ft. Smith.

[Simon MacGowen]

I've seen plenty of times where, despite the fact that they provide an email address for customer service, nobody monitors it. Don't know why. But it's been very common for me. Perhaps that's happening in your case.

Hope you get what you need!
Fred

Fred

Festool is another vendor notorious for its tardiness in responding to emails. You can find many examples of dissatisfaction about its lack of responses in its forum, hence forcing people to voice their displeasure there.

At the risk of being labelled a Lee Valley fanboy, I must single out this vendor as being the most responsive business when it comes to email inquiries. On regular business days and hours (9 to 5) other than weekends, I can usually expect a reply within two or three hours. With other vendors, 48 hours, if not more, is something I will accept.

There are two reasons why vendors don't respond to emails in a timely manner. A) They don't accord priority to that means of communication or B) They don't have enough staff to handle customer service communication.

Where available, I now tend to use Live Chat which is better than phone ("You call is important to us, but we are too busy to give a damn.").

Simon

[Randy Heinemann]

Check out Marks Machinery in Ft. Smith. 479-461-5079 He'll have Jet and Powermatic and I'm sure others as well. Fine man to deal with. Plus you'll get a lot better service from him.

My understanding is that you will get much better service from Jet/Powermatic than from Grizzly period, regardless of where you buy the machine. Also my understanding that Grizzly won't provide onset service at all and, if the machine requires hands-on company service under warranty, it will be the responsibility of the owner to pay the shipping to send it back. With Jet, I have had 2 onsite visits for my 8" Jointer. You could make the case I shouldn't have required warranty service at all, but I was extremely glad that Jet provided the service at my shop when needed.

[Jim Becker]

If you know of a vendor that has an 8" spiral head Steelex or Shop Fox in stock ready to ship I would be interested in a link. These jointers are all in backorder with all the vendors I can find, just like Grizzly. I assume regardless of brand all the jointers are being made in the same factories, and they are all behind schedule.

These are Grizzly brand names and those suppliers have to obtain them from Grizzly. Hence, the same backorder. ;) Shop Fox and Steelex are their brands that primarily are offered via independent retailers where "Griz Green" only comes direct from Grizzly. Like Shiraz said...they're working on it.

[Ted Baxter]

You can call grizzly and ask them if they have a Steelex Jointer in stock I did when I got tired of being on back order for a G0490X and they had a stellex version in stock at the time I order it and had it in 3 days

[Merrill Herring]

I have purchased 4 grizzly products and they all arrived undamaged and where packed really well. Just recently purchased the 15 inch planer which I love and the 17 inch bandsaw. The planer was out of stock for about 3 weeks but put it on my wish list and they notified me when it was back in stock. The only issue I have had is getting the unit to my house which cannot be accessed by a semi, so the planer was shipped by a trucking company is a small truck with a lift gate and had to meet the semi down the road and load the bandsaw in my truck. Sorry to hear about your issues, hopefully they will get resolved.

[julian abram]

Thought I would give an update on the Grizzly planer saga. Based on crate damage and what I could see of the machine inside, I refused delivery on a Friday afternoon. After thinking about it all weekend and knowing that all the 15" planers were backordered, I called UPS on Monday morning to see if the planer was still local so I could have a second look at it. It was still in the trailer at the local UPS terminal so I made an appointment to examine it. A helpful UPS worker and I removed the front of the shipping crate and examined the planer closely with a flashlight inside the trailer. It appears that after piercing the crate the forklift had struck the front right side of the table chipping off a small piece of the cast and bending the depth indicator. My original fear back on Friday was the cast table or the supporting steel column was fractured or broken. After careful examination I could find no serious damage. With the backorder situation in mind, I told the UPS fellow I was going to roll the dice and take it home.
Long story, but I was able to get it set up and run some stock over the weekend. I have found no serious damage and runs great, much quieter than the Dewalt 735 screamer. Also installed a Wixey DRO, think I'm going to like that readout. Looking back I've learned some lessons here but certainly glad I went back to give it a second look at UPS.
I read and appreciate Shiraz's post on the Grizzly back order situation. Not sure what I will do about the backordered jointer. Shipping date has already been moved from Feb 15 to March 30th. I'm wondering how many more times the shipping date will be moved in the coming months. Considering a 8" Helical Jet I can get locally in one week but of course at a higher cost. Decisions, decisions.

[Carroll Courtney]

Good a happy ending to part of the story,us ww'ers take our equipment very serious.Congrats on what looks to be a fantastic machine after all

[Frederick Skelly]

Good move Julian! Glad to hear you came up with an answer that works for you.
Enjoy your new machine!
Fred

[Randy Heinemann]

Hey Julian,

Glad you are satisfied with the tool even though it isn't perfect. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle owning the tool with the chip in regardless of function. If I were you, I'd try to get Grizzly to provide you a discount of some sort because the tool isn't as intended.

I own the Jet 8" helical head jointer and love it! I had a problem with the cooling fan blade on the TEFC motor coming loose and an electrical problem which the JPW support tech and I both believed was due a failed motor. Both times, JPW sent a technician from the local company they use for Jet warranty service to my house. Both times the problem was fixed without problem and without any argument. The electrical problem turned out to be a short between the motor and the wall plug. Both the service company and ultimately JPW agreed neither problem would have been discoverable and fixed by me so no charge. Because the problem wasn't the motor, I believe I will have a jointer that has a long life.

Because of the results from the HH jointer and the warranty service, I would always recommend Jet and will consider Jet tools if I buy any other. The service I got, of course, could be due to the availability of a high quality service company in the northern Illinois area. I also did cooperate with the JPW tech to test all the things that he suggested my problems might be but, in the end, they still did send out a tech and resolved my problems.

Just one other note . . . Until I bought the 8" jointer I never realized what I was missing with a small 6" jointer. Since I rarely work with boards wider than 8", the 8" jointer means that I can almost always flatten one side before planing; a great help to getting completely flat boards. The helical heads are amazing; not I'm sure like a Byrd head (because the head isn't) but still yield a very good result.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[julian abram]

Randy, I'm kind in the same boat as you with flattening wider boards. When making this equipment upgrade I seriously thought about a nice 12" combo unit, the cost was about the same or maybe a little more for a nicer combo. But I've used a 6" knife Jet for the past 8 years and its served 95% of my needs, how often would I flatten 9-12" stock? Although the space saving of a combo is attractive, I still lean towards the convenience of two stand alone units. I can always use a planer sled on rare occasions for wider stock. Anyhow, woodworkers are quite a varied lot in the items they produce and certainly vary greatly in the tools and methods they use to accomplish the end result. Like you, I think I will be quite pleased with the move to an 8" helical.

[Mike Chalmers]

Also installed a Wixey DRO, think I'm going to like that readout. Just an observation that may prove useful to you. I bought the I-Gaging version of DRO. I installed it on my planer in a similar position, though closer to the actual column. I had a real issue of the reading jumping out of whack. I moved the set up away from the magnetic switch to the rear. All problems disappeared.

[Rick Alexander]

Just an observation that may prove useful to you. I bought the I-Gaging version of DRO. I installed it on my planer in a similar position, though closer to the actual column. I had a real issue of the reading jumping out of whack. I moved the set up away from the magnetic switch to the rear. All problems disappeared.

I would second that I-Gaging DRO. Mine reads clear across the planer (on the left front) from the read out box (Right center at the top) - works amazingly well. Handy when you don't mill enough drawer sides and are making dovetails - get perfect thickness to match. 2 AA batteries last a LONG time as well.

[Tim M Tuttle]

If you know of a vendor that has an 8" spiral head Steelex or Shop Fox in stock ready to ship I would be interested in a link. These jointers are all in backorder with all the vendors I can find, just like Grizzly. I assume regardless of brand all the jointers are being made in the same factories, and they are all behind schedule.
I just stumbled upon this reply. Sorry about that. I got my Steelex off of eBay from an authorized dealer but it looks like there arent any listed on there right now. I had been planning on getting the G0490 but they were having the much discussed stock issues and started looking at Steelex because they were listed on the Grizzly site even while the G0490 was on backorder. Check eBay every now and then or look up some of their dealers and you might get lucky.

[Rollie Meyers]

My next door neighbor just built a new shop, and decided he wanted a new planer, bought a Grizzly with a spiral cutterhead, had to wait a while on backorder, I suggested a vintage machine but he wanted a machine ready to operate, & was very happy with the customer support that Griz provided when troubleshooting another machine so that is who he went with, I refuse to buy any machine that is sold with motors that are non-standard, obsolete voltage(s),110, & 220 volts are pre world war 2 voltages & if a manufacturer cannot supply electrical components made for the market they are selling in, that is not very good IMO.

Have not talked to the neighbor recently as have been busy getting a house ready to rent, but as far as I know he is happy with the machine. :)

[scott ward]

Erik, I'm with you
killer lathe at an aggressive price point - no wonder they sell out. I look at it as a confirmation that I picked out the right thing if everybody else wants one

I just ordered one this week and was told the same thing. February is going to be a long month!!. Hopefully the boat sails a little faster!

[Ed Wedin]

The service may well be "pretty darn good" but you should not have this issue with new machines! I have heard too many horror stories here and on Lumberjocks about damaged and late deliveries. I need a new jointer and although I can save 150 bucks and get an 8" from Grizz, I will buy the 6" PM54A, knowing I will get a quality machine shipped within 3 days.
If I have missed something, please let me know.
Ed

[scott vroom]

The service may well be "pretty darn good" but you should not have this issue with new machines! I have heard too many horror stories here and on Lumberjocks about damaged and late deliveries. I need a new jointer and although I can save 150 bucks and get an 8" from Grizz, I will buy the 6" PM54A, knowing I will get a quality machine shipped within 3 days.
If I have missed something, please let me know.
Ed

Sounds to me like like you're missing 2" ;)

[Peter Kelly]

Randy, I'm kind in the same boat as you with flattening wider boards. When making this equipment upgrade I seriously thought about a nice 12" combo unit, the cost was about the same or maybe a little more for a nicer combo. But I've used a 6" knife Jet for the past 8 years and its served 95% of my needs, how often would I flatten 9-12" stock? Although the space saving of a combo is attractive, I still lean towards the convenience of two stand alone units. I can always use a planer sled on rare occasions for wider stock. Anyhow, woodworkers are quite a varied lot in the items they produce and certainly vary greatly in the tools and methods they use to accomplish the end result. Like you, I think I will be quite pleased with the move to an 8" helical.Julian, it's been some months, how did the work out? Did you finally receive the jointer?

Since you're in Arkansas, I was going to suggest checking out Rojek combination machines at Techmark in Fayetteville: http://www.rojekusa.com

[Jim Andrew]

I have several pieces of Grizzly equipment including the polar bear version of the 15" planer, and a 12" jointer, and all have been delivered with no issues.

[julian abram]

Well, still on the waiting list for the Grizzly jointer. Customer service says shipment should be at the end of April, so I'm trying to be patient a few more weeks. Back in Jan. I contacted an area Jet/Powermatic dealer (thanks for the tip Jim Hagar) who said he could have a Jet 8" helical in one week, I told him to order it for me. He called back in a couple days and said sorry, it would be several weeks before one could be shipped. So I canceled the Jet and have just decided to wait a few more weeks on the Grizzly. Back in Feb. I went to Lowe's and bought the little 6" benchtop Porter Cable unit to get me through some edge joining for projects. When I finally get the 8" the Porter Cable will be on the Craigslist. The Saga continues!:)

[julian abram]

Peter, also thanks for the tip on Techmark. I have never heard of this company but looks interesting, will check them out.

[Peter Kelly]

Sorry–I meant to write that Techmark is in Little Rock AK.

[Brad Cambell]

I've been waiting for the 20" planer to be back in stock and have called twice, only to be told that they would be arriving in April. Well, I called yesterday and not there is a "non-committal" date of June 1st.

I ordered a 20" powermatic yesterday.

[julian abram]

No problem, as matter of fact I was in Little Rock today for a Doc appointment.

[julian abram]

Same deal with my jointer order. Was told in January it would ship mid Feb. Told in Feb. it would ship end of March. Told last week ship at the end of April. I'm trying to be patient because it is the unit I would prefer and a great price but I think about June will be my red line. Time to move on, Probably with a Jet.

[Ben Grefe]

I’ll give a ray of hope to everybody waiting. I chimed in on this thread a month or two ago about my Grizzly 454Z 20 inch planer order. It ended up taking 4-5 months, but the machine came in and It’s great. As a hobbyist, it was worth the wait. Grizzly sent a letter after a couple months outlining the reasons for the delay. I thought their communication was pretty good through out the whole process. I was told at the time or order that it would be multiple months.

All these things are made in similar factories. All the manufacturers are facing similar rules and roadblocks. PM might have more stock, but it’s only because they charge more.

I probably could have have gotten a 15 inch PM for similar money, but after using the 20, I can’t fathom them being comparable. It’s similar to when I upgraded my 6 inch jointer to 8. It might not sound like much, but it’s night and day different.

[Steve Spencer]

I am one of the many who ordered a competitor product. I wanted a G0490X and after months of non excuse excuse I bought a PM. I had to pay almost double but had it in 2 days. I am curious how all of these issues have only seemed to affect one company? I am in the market a 20" helical head planer now and have found several available for immediate delivery. The notable exception is Grizzly.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve,

I would suggest that the price point difference between Grizzly and PM is such that Grizzly sells many times more than PM just because a lot of hobbyist woodworkers like myself are on a budget. Ships are scheduled months in advance and so is manufacturing runs within a factory that produces products for more than one company. Sheer volume of sales could be difference.

BTW...I own both Grizzly and PM.