Scott Vigder
02-28-2006, 6:22 PM
The threads in this and other forums are quite entertaining and informative when it comes to tool reviews. My fledgling shop is in dire need of a jointer, and I was ready to plunk down $1100 to buy either the Delta 37-380 or the Shop Fox 1684 when I thought I'd give Grizzly a look. Last November I went through a similar process and bought a Delta X5 Unisaw over the General, Grizzly and Powermatic offerings (a fabulous decision as I love the Unisaw). I can be slightly anal when it comes to large purchases (anything over $99 qualifies). I read everything I can get my hands on. I go to retailers and others shops and try to actually place my hands-on the prospective equipment.
To my surprise, the Griz 0490 on paper compares more to Delta's gold standard DJ-20 than the 37-380 at virtually half the price of the DJ-20. Whoa. Brain overloaded, my immediate reaction was to discard the Griz as a serious contender.
I look for these key features in a jointer:
Any tool with 2hp or more must run on 220. The motor must be TEFC.
The bed must be at least 8" as our previous 6" jointer came up an inch short too many times.
Parallelagram beds are best.
The table height has to be a minimum of 32" (I'm 6'1").If you Google the G0490, you'll only get two pages of findings. How refreshing to not have to read through 1.2 million pages of information (most of which revert to Amazon.com anyway).
The consensus is Griz has addressed quality control issues, has hopefully fixed transit issues, and seems committed to bringing a quality product to the masses. I'm sure they are not perfect yet, but we all know friends who have horror stories with their top-of-the-line Powermatics yet still swear by them.
So for the mere pittance of $750 + $89.29 for shipping I have, on February 28, 2006 ordered the Grizzly. If it performs as well as the 37-380, I'll still be $225 ahead of the game. If it comes close to the DJ-20, I'll embed my smile on every furniture leg, post, board and stile I joint. Now the only issue left is When Will It Arrive, And in What Condition?
BTW, I'll be glad to offer any info one would like regarding the Delta X5 36-L31X BC50.
The saga begins.
To my surprise, the Griz 0490 on paper compares more to Delta's gold standard DJ-20 than the 37-380 at virtually half the price of the DJ-20. Whoa. Brain overloaded, my immediate reaction was to discard the Griz as a serious contender.
I look for these key features in a jointer:
Any tool with 2hp or more must run on 220. The motor must be TEFC.
The bed must be at least 8" as our previous 6" jointer came up an inch short too many times.
Parallelagram beds are best.
The table height has to be a minimum of 32" (I'm 6'1").If you Google the G0490, you'll only get two pages of findings. How refreshing to not have to read through 1.2 million pages of information (most of which revert to Amazon.com anyway).
The consensus is Griz has addressed quality control issues, has hopefully fixed transit issues, and seems committed to bringing a quality product to the masses. I'm sure they are not perfect yet, but we all know friends who have horror stories with their top-of-the-line Powermatics yet still swear by them.
So for the mere pittance of $750 + $89.29 for shipping I have, on February 28, 2006 ordered the Grizzly. If it performs as well as the 37-380, I'll still be $225 ahead of the game. If it comes close to the DJ-20, I'll embed my smile on every furniture leg, post, board and stile I joint. Now the only issue left is When Will It Arrive, And in What Condition?
BTW, I'll be glad to offer any info one would like regarding the Delta X5 36-L31X BC50.
The saga begins.