"mini G0490" Review

[Russ Massery]

First off I felt John Hedges did a great review of his. So I'm not going to repeat all the things he did. Mine came to work in great shape no damage to the crate or the box. Since I had it delivered there the guy's in are shipping dept. unloaded it and loaded it on my truck for me. Getting the crate off the back on my truck was a adventure in itself. But with help of a nieghbor we got it in to the shop. I like the way the bed was packed for shippment.(I have a pic of that). The cosmoline was covered on the bed and fence faces with wax paper. So it came off real easy because it was still moist. Assembly went fine no missing hardware or part. Everything line up just fine. After getting the bed bolted on and cleaned. I check the knives to the outfeed table the were all within .001 of each other. (pic of the too)! After all that I fired it up. I really like having the switch up on the pedestal. Cuts were smooth and the unit seems to have plenty of power. I did check with a 2'straight edge. The tables for flatness well within .002 over all. But I'm going to bring a 4' straight edge home from work to check the whole lenth. I'm very happy so far............;)

[Michael Disorbo]

Russ,

Thanks for the review and good luck with your new toy. How does the table move, smooth? Also how is the fence? Is it straight and does it move smoothly? Also, does yours turn on like John's, with an abrupt start?

Thanks again,

Michael

p.s. I noticed your model number seems to be straighter. Must be the guy who put John's on had a rough night :rolleyes:

[Russ Massery]

The beds are Real smooth (nice grind job) and the tables move real smoothly also. As for the start up not really. It turns over then kicks up to speed. Not as abruptly as my old 6" jointer did.

[Jeff Watson]

Russ,
Thanks for the short review and pictures. I take delivery of mine Monday afternoon. Can't wait. Wooo Hooo. Hopefully no problems with shipping. Enjoy making saw dust.

[Russ Massery]

Jeff, did they tell who the shipper was? I had a company call SATA. I never heard of the till the day I got mine. Funny part I followed one of there trucks in on the toll road on the way to work the morning it came in..... They were very courteous. Good luck, be sure and let us know how things work out for you.

[Jeff Watson]

Russ, The shipping company is overnight. I got an e-mail from Grizzley with the tracking info. Was able to track the shipment from MO. Got to Indy Thursday and I got a call from overnight Thursday afternoon. I was hoping to get it delivered Friday, but didn't call back in time. So the G0490 gets to spend the weekend in Indy. I will snap a couple of pictures and share may experience when I get it.

[Rob Blaustein]

Thanks Russ. I assume "mini" in your title refers to the review and not the G0490--in fact after knocking into all kinds of things in my small shop today, I'm starting to get a little nervous about where I'll fit this beast when it arrives.

[Allen Bookout]

Rob,

I would be willing to bet that a man of your caliber will be able to find a spot. Any takers? Allen

[Russ Massery]

Rob, Front to back it doesn't take up much more room than My old jointer. Lenthwise totally different story. I use to"park" all my machines side by side so I could pull them out as need. The jointer will be parked in front longways. One only shop rule in the SWMBO's jeep must still be able to fit in. I'm pretty much pushing that to the limit now.:rolleyes:

[Mark Singer]

It looks like Grizzly is really is really getting the fit and finish refined! Looks excellent!

[Russ Massery]

Mark, don't you own a DJ-20? Does it look the same. Do you see any differences?

[Jim Becker]

Looks like a very nice machine, Russ. Congrats!

[Allen Bookout]

I got my GO490 this morning and just unpacked it. There was just the usual minor damage to the shipping containers and found almost no damage inside. There were no scraches anywhere to be found. The removable front and back panels are both bent in somewhat but I can straighten them and they will be fine. The bed and it's components were in the wooden crate and there was no damage there. Even the packing was all intact with no damage.

Some of you are reporting bent or curved motor mounts but both the horizontal and vertical bars are perfectly straight. So those of you wondering if they are supposed to be straight or not I would say that they definitely should be straight. I have enclosed an image of the subject part.

I have seen a report that the dust collection is not very good the way that the machine comes but one guy covered the top of the chute with a piece of cardboard and said that the dust collection is now perfect. I am going to try to come up with a more permanent solution to cover the top before I turn it over to finish puting it togeather so it may be a while before my next report.

I am also going to install twenty five feet of #12 wire cord so that I can move it around and still get to my plug ins.

I am anxious to see what the rest of you have to say that are receiving yours this week.

Good luck to everyone! Allen

[Jay Knoll]

Allen

Thanks for the update, I'm on the 2-5 Tuesday schedule!

How about a piece of 1/4 ply secured to the chute with that aluminum tape they use for air conditioner ducts -- I"m not thinking about duct tape but the stronger tape,

Jay

[Allen Bookout]

Good Idea Jay! I will give it a shot.

Allen

[Allen Bookout]

Here is the way that I decided to close off the dust chute so that it would work better. I could not get to the top of the chute with anything solid so I decided to close it off from inside. I cut a 1/4 inch thick plywood piece that fit real snuggly inside (8 1/4" by 13") and gently forced it into place. Then I mixed some five minute epoxy and ran a bead down both sides to make sure that it stayed in place. Very solid and should last a long time, I hope.

Allen

[Howard Norman]

Glad your G0490 arrived in good shape Allen. My problem and John's of bent motor support struts is really not too surprising on a new model from Grizzly. They just need to be fixed and I think that Grizzly is being responsive.

Howard

[Allen Bookout]

Thanks Howard! I am sorry that you and John and a few others are having a delay in getting your machines in one hundred percent condition. At least it sounds like that Grizzly is responsive to your problem.

I just got the bed bolted to the base and the grease cleaned of of the beds and cutter head. I decided that before I coated them with T9 and wax that I would check the beds for flatness and adjustment. Those two pieces of metal were absolutely flat and the adjustment was perfect. I was using a 50" Veritas straight edge from Lee Valley and I could not find a spot (straight, crosswise or table to table) that I could get a .001 feeler gauge to slide under. I was very impressed. The finish was very nice, much better than my Industrial Unisaw and needless to say, much flatter also.

I rewired with 12 ga from machine to plug and ran the motor and it seemed to start and run smooth to me. I had seen some comments about hard starting.

Don't forget that the bed is bolted to the wooden crate. There is one bolt in each end and the nut is on the underside of the crate. Could be quite a job getting it out if you do not remember to unbolt it.

I am going to clean the fence and coat both the fence and beds with some T9 to dry overnight, try to get some of the packageing stuff in the trash for tomorrows pick up and take the rest of the night off except for checking in here at the Creek from time to time.

To be continued......

Allen

[Tom Donalek]

As a 'contributor' to Russ' 'new toy', I'm glad to hear that it's working out well! (I bought Russ' old Delta 6" jointer - it's running happily in my shop making wood flat!) Now that I've wedged the little 6" model into the limited space that I've got, I'm really glad that I didn't hold out for a 8" unit. Someday....

[Russ Massery]

Tom, Glad to hear the ol'jointer's working out for you. Believe me getting the 6" down those stairs wasn't bad. Couldn't imagine trying to get this beast down there.

Howard, Good to see Grizzly is coming through for you.

Allan, I missed the post on the dust collection. I'll have to take a look a that. The dust collection isn't bad. I do get some chip on the back side the fence. But nothing like the old 6" did. And I ran some 8/4 maple that was 7"+ thru it.

[Allen Bookout]

Russ,

Thanks for the report on the dust collection. I just was not going to take any chances if the pre fix was not going to be much of a problem since I had the base upside down anyway where it was easy to get to.

Jay,

Not much more time to wait. You have to be getting anxious. Hope that you can get some sleep tonight. Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

Allen