G0490 Owners / How you liking them????

[Michael Disorbo]

Hello fellow G0490 Owners,


It's been awhile since the list was buzzing with threads of the Grizzly G0490 8" Jointer. I was wondering if all of you had the chance to use it much and what your thoughts were. I have run about 300 bd ft of cherry and 200 bd ft of rock maple through it with no problems what so ever. Still not a nick in any of the blades and that surprises me. I thought for sure I would be seeing a few ridges when face jointing, but nothing yet. I did order a new set of knives from Dynamic Saw, they cost a bit, but they are Amana and are 18% tung. which is supposed to give you a sharper knife for a longer time. Will be doing some white pine this week and that should put them knives to the test. It seems those pine knots get very hard!!

I have the same problem with the front caster as does everyone else. No big deal and it is still easy to move that beast around considering the weight. If Grizzly fixes the problem I am sure we will get an update. DC works well with no modifications. I have not had a chip come over the cutterhead yet with the DC running. Even when I run it without the DC, I do not notice any chips until the chute fills a bit.

I have a Delta DJ 15 and my brother-in-law has the DJ 20. The only difference between the Grizz and the Delta is the built in mobile base, larger motor, 4 knife cutter head and the pedestal switch. He says my infeed table is a bit stiffer than his, but his machine is a few years old.

I am extremely happy with the 490. Grizzly did a very good job and I think it will hold up to my abuse :o

Saving my bucks for the 15" planer and should have it by the summer.

So let's hear from the rest of the brotherhood. How is it working so far? Have you got it dirty yet??

Thanks,

Michael

[Howard Norman]

I am happy with my 490 also. I haven't a lot of material thru it but everything that I have run has been fine. So far I have only had walnut on the machine.

I think it was a good buy. Grizzly did a good job in getting me a replacement stand for mine.

Howard

[Rob Blaustein]

Replacement stand comes Monday--then I have to put the motor in and arrange for a few friends to come over and help me assemble. That may take a while given the sorts of schedules of my friends and me.

[Allen Bookout]

I am not much help here as I have hardly used mine. I knew that would be the case when I ordered it but wanted to have it on hand when I am ready and also wanted to make sure that I got the introductory price. I did run some test pieces when I got it set up just to make sure that eveything was OK and was impressed.

If they hold up in the long run, and I do not see why not, it is a treffic bargin.

I am looking at a new aircompressor and HVLP gun. For a homeowner grade aircompressor (at least 11 CFP) and the cheapest pressure feed gun that I can find that has both 1.2 and 0.8 tips I am looking at about the same price as the GO490. Doesn't seem fair does it.

Like you and everyone else the caster setup is the same. I probably would not have even thought anything about it if some of the owners had not brought up the "problem". Works fine for me but I suppose it would be a better set up if the caster did not self center when the side pressure is relaxed.

Will look forward to hearing what you guys that have used it a good bit have to say.

Allen

[Craig Zettle]

I too am not much help with this question as I am still waiting for a re placement cabinet going on 2 weeks now. A friend of mine asked me why I didn't just keep it the way it is since it seems to be ok. I told him that those motor mounts are welded on, and to bend them like that stresses the weld. I have no idea of the extent of the damage, hence the reqest for a undamaged cabinet. I sure hope it gets here soon. I am running a few boards through, and it seems fine, no vibration with the stock belt. So far I see no need for a link belt.

[Jay Knoll]

Hi everyone

I haven't run a lot of stuff through it, but have been happy with the quality of the cuts,

Making a wall hung jewelry cabinet for LOML -- the doors are purple heart, about 10" wide. So, one of the first uses was with the guard off to get a flat surface on one side -- that was done VERY carefully

Then I taped the doors to a piece of MDF, "big rabbet side down, ran the other side through the planer until I got it flat, and then flipped it over and knocked off the wood that I wasn't able to flatten with the jointer

I felt better when that was done!

I was told that purple heart was tough to mill but I didn't have any problems, no tear out and a nice smooth surface.

Jay

[Russ Massery]

I ran about 50bf of 8/4 hard maple through mine. Same here no tare out. Some boards were a full 8" wide no problem.The unit had plenty of power. I agree with some of the other posts that the crown on the swivel end makes the it's hard to steer some times.I think it would better flat. Other wises I'm very happy with mine.:D

[Rob Blaustein]

Finally just got my replacement base (bent struts) BUT, it came completely crated up and I don't have a crowbar:(. I tried my thickest screwdriver, but no go. So I'll need to pick up a crowbar either from HD or maybe my neighbor has one. Where I'll dispose of all that wood, I don't know. I guess I could saw through the crate with a handsaw, as long I make sure I don't hit a nail or the base itself. Then I'll need to put the motor back in but my wife has to watch our baby, so I'll have to recruit someone else. And I need to get some 12g line and a NEMA 20A plug to wire up. I'm thinking it will take a while before this baby is fired up.

An aside: it came via Overnite (original order was New Penn) and the driver knew nothing about taking back my old base, in spite of Grizzly sending them all the info. He didn't want to take it and I insisted he call is dispatcher and tell them what's up. Just as I got the CS person from Grizz on the line, while he was talking to HQ, he said he'd take it.

[Craig Zettle]

Finally got the replacement cabinet and let me tell you Rob, you will need a wonder bar and a hammer to crack that vault they crated it in. I thought I would be able to stick the old one in the crate, but I had to bust the crate up pretty good to get the cabinet out. Don't even think of lifting it out of the top of the crate, as there are staples protruding through the wood on the inside of the crate. No return instructions whatsoever in mine, a call to Grizz and they are mailing them.
This whole ordeal is really, really labor intensive. I have no idea how a person who may not be in the best of shape physically could do all the labor I have done with this machine. Just swapping the motor and electricals was a feat for a contortionist. And I am still upset that I am not being compensated in any way for all the crap I have been put through. I also did not get a replacement rear panel, no big deal as I just bent the old one back in to shape. I would not be so bugged by all this but I did not buy this at the "tent sale".
By the way, I think the jointer is the deal of the year. It cuts hardwood silky smooth, with plenty of power, and the fit and finish are great. Grizzly is going to rule the parellelogram market with this one. As well they should.

[Dev Emch]

Wow! Since I last talked about this jointer, I have been sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for feedback from the field. As I mentioned back then, I was looking for a new stick jointer. That is, a jointer that can be used to edge joint and deal with smaller items. Having to turn on and use a 20 inch three phase machine each time you run a board edge is a bit of a drag. I was going to go with a DJ-20 but after studying the details of this new unit, I have been waiting to see how this jointer is being accepted. So far my gut instints are panning out about this machine.... that Grizzly may have hit one long and hard and outta-da-park. A true home run. And as supply and demand balance out, availability should improve as well. Looks like another green machine will joining my stable shortly! O.K. Green and Cream!:D

As to shipping damage. Shipping machines is hard on machines and even my fancy german shaper arrived with some shipping damage. As it stands, I have not yet been able to finally fix my shaper damage but the damaged grizzly machines seem well on course to being field repaired. That is something that has not gone unnoticed. I was also a bit concerned about the light duty wire used on this machine. But at less than Thirty Cents per foot for replacement SO cord, I think I will just wire it up like an older oliver. Use a drop cord of SO wire directly into a strain relief and then wire to the contactor terminals. No biggie. I was going to use an older wallace jointer for this but as I have been on this restoration for going on three years now, I wonder if I will ever get it done. Maybe its time for me to just buy the grizzly and forget about the wallace. And the grizzly is a parallogram design to boot!

[Reg Mitchell]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: really:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: .....lolol

[Bill Simmeth]

Dev...

33917

Or maybe...

33918

[Reg Mitchell]

now bill say it ant so lolol :D

[Rob Blaustein]

...This whole ordeal is really, really labor intensive. I have no idea how a person who may not be in the best of shape physically could do all the labor I have done with this machine. Just swapping the motor and electricals was a feat for a contortionist. And I am still upset that I am not being compensated in any way for all the crap I have been put through.

I'm with you on this one Craig. Although the Grizzly folks I have dealt with have been very attentive, courteous, and helpful in straightening things out, this sort of thing eats up a lot of my time. I know that to some people swapping motors, re-wiring things and packing and unpacking is no big deal, but for me they are labor intensive. Not to mention losing half a day of work each time something needs to be delivered. And in order to do almost anything with these big machines I have to get a friend (or two or three) to help and that isn't always convenient. I'm not one to ask, but I am surprised that Grizz hasn't offered anything to those of us who have had to deal with this issue. I could understand if this was a random shipping problem, but it's not. I chalk this up to our being the first in line for the jointer--we're essentially beta testers. It's the gamble we take. I'm curious to see what awaits me when I open the crate that contains the jointer bed, still haven't done that. Well, at least I stopped off on my way home and picked up a crowbar.

Dev--my hat's off to ya. It takes a big man to admit that he will reconsider his position, particularly one argued so forcefully. If I recall you were pretty critical of Grizz in the past and you made it sound like you would never buy something from them. At least that's the impression I walked away with, forgive me if I am misrepresenting you.

--Rob

[John Hedges]

WOW, My replacement base showed up in a box exactly like the original shipped in. I am incredibly impressed with the machine though. What a difference from my old jointer

[Dev Emch]

I'm with you on this one Craig. Although the Grizzly folks I have dealt with have been very attentive, courteous, and helpful in straightening things out, this sort of thing eats up a lot of my time. I know that to some people swapping motors, re-wiring things and packing and unpacking is no big deal, but for me they are labor intensive. Not to mention losing half a day of work each time something needs to be delivered. And in order to do almost anything with these big machines I have to get a friend (or two or three) to help and that isn't always convenient. I'm not one to ask, but I am surprised that Grizz hasn't offered anything to those of us who have had to deal with this issue. I could understand if this was a random shipping problem, but it's not. I chalk this up to our being the first in line for the jointer--we're essentially beta testers. It's the gamble we take. I'm curious to see what awaits me when I open the crate that contains the jointer bed, still haven't done that. Well, at least I stopped off on my way home and picked up a crowbar.

Dev--my hat's off to ya. It takes a big man to admit that he will reconsider his position, particularly one argued so forcefully. If I recall you were pretty critical of Grizz in the past and you made it sound like you would never buy something from them. At least that's the impression I walked away with, forgive me if I am misrepresenting you.

--Rob

Rob...
Lets get a few things straight here. I demand that companies go the extra nine yards to produce an above average machine. Engineering, fit and finiish, sales, support and in field reliability, etc. Complaining that your daughter did not make a part in the school play because she did not practice enough is being critical. Outlining technical issues or the absence thereof is just being a demanding customer. Yes Grizzly has had its fair share of issues but then again so has our space program. We had many rockets blow up on the pad before Ham Da Monkey flew and in what, 1968 we managed to put a man on the moon. So too have there been improvements in the Grizzly line up and I have been quietly watching. Probing. Observing. And I did have issues with the FWW comparision mainly because the jointer was a wedge bed being compared to a parallogram bed. But this new jointer is just that... a clone of the DJ-20. I also noted that Grizzly has been listening and not just in general but to me in particular. In my previous posts I complained about their lack of exposure. Other older companies published photos of the presidents office, the engineers dressing room, the accounting office, etc. in their fancy catalogs. All lithoed and what not. Check out the grizz website. There is a new icon of who they are right at the top left area. In checking it out, grizz has published all sorts of photos showing these very photos albeit updated to our digital age. They even show the grizz mascot inlayed into the conference tables all done by papa grizz himself. So you say it takes quite a man to admit when one is wrong... naaaaa. It just takes a bit more of show me da goods to part with my bobbles. That and the beta testers as you have called them. I am really excited with this new parallogram jointer. I think its going to rewrite some history.