Grizzly g5959z 12" table saw

[Ronald Cockerham]

Hello. I've been lurking and learning for a while, but this is my first post. I'm not really new to woodworking, but I've never had my own shop and tools. Both are slowly changing. I've been building my shop for about 7 years(yes, 7 years:eek: ). I should have the garage doors on in January.I will share pictures of the shop in another post later.
I have decided that Grizzly products will do what I want and plan to buy most all my tools from them. I already have the 20" planer. I am now ready to buy a cabinet saw. I would like to have a 5 hp with 7' rails. Grizzly dosen't make it that way except the one with the router table in the right wing. A friend reccomends a 12" saw over a 10" saw anyway. Any g5959z owners have comments about their saw?

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Hi Ron,
Welcome to the forum!

I have no direct experience with 12" saws but offer this: Grizzly makes two 12" models now. The older model has an interchangable spindle that will accept 5/8" and 1" arbor. Grizzly also recently offered a very handsome looking 12" model, but this model only accepts 1" bore blades.

For hobby work, it sure is nice to be able to accept 5/8" bore blades. There is a large selection of blades at reasonable prices, as well as dado sets. One fellow on this forum sent his 5/8" bore 10" blades out to be re-bored to 1" as to accomodate his 12" saw. Perhaps somebody makes a bushing that would work.

Just something to consider.

Again, welcome aboard!

cheers, Jeff :)

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Ron,

I had my morning cup of coffee, and gave this more thought.

A 10" saw for hobby use also offers the following add-ons which I'm not sure are available to a 12" saw:
1) Abundance of aftermarket overarm blasde guards with dust collection;
2) Aftermarket removable splitter (although I'd like a riving knife better);
3) Aftermarket sliding table that bolts in place of the left table wing extension;
4) Molding head cutters with 5/8" bore.

As far as power, I have a 10" 3hp Unisaw. I've cut 12/4 oak without even a hint of the motor slowing. I'm not sure if a 5hp motor would be necessary in a non-production environment like mine.

cheers, Jeff :)

[Matt Moore]

Rather than just buying all Grizzly stuff (nothing wrong with them though) I would suggest you research each purchase individually. No single manufacturer makes the best product, the best value, the best quality, etc for all of their tools.

[CPeter James]

Doesn't Grizzly make a new 12" saw with a riving knife?

CPeter

[glenn bradley]

Well said Matt. Beware generalized brand loyalty. As long as the vendors will stick their badge on gems and on junk the buyer MUST do the research. All the usual names make great stuff but, I can't think of one of them that doesn't have a "what were they thinking?" product in their stable.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Hello. I've been lurking and learning for a while, but this is my first post. I'm not really new to woodworking, but I've never had my own shop and tools. Both are slowly changing. I've been building my shop for about 7 years(yes, 7 years:eek: ). I should have the garage doors on in January.I will share pictures of the shop in another post later.
I have decided that Grizzly products will do what I want and plan to buy most all my tools from them. I already have the 20" planer. I am now ready to buy a cabinet saw. I would like to have a 5 hp with 7' rails. Grizzly dosen't make it that way except the one with the router table in the right wing. A friend reccomends a 12" saw over a 10" saw anyway. Any g5959z owners have comments about their saw?

Ron - we have a new 12" tablesaw with a riving knife and a dust shroud around the blade for improved dust collection. It has all the bells and whistles including large side table, rear table, digital tilting scale, built in shelves and optional tool chests made specially to fit underneath the two tables. This is a really nice machine and I will be switching out the G5959 that I have in my shop for this when it comes in.
Here's a link on our website to this new model that attracted a lot of attention at the IWF show in August:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0605X/images/3
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0605X

It comes standard with a zero clearance insert and two arbors, one for the 12" blades (1") and one for the 10" blades (5/8"). This is something we just completed and the information on the arbors is not in our 2007 catalog nor on our website.
Another advantage to using 12" blades is that when using blade stabilizers, like I do on my saw, you are unabale to get the full cutting height of the blade as the diameter of the stablizers "eats" away the usable cutting height. That is where the added blade height comes in handy. Have fun making your decision.

[John Grossi]

Ronald, Got the Grizzley 1023 left-tilt table saw a couple months ago. 3 hp motor has never bogged down and is quiet. My brother-in-law came over to see it and ordered one the next day. The first place I would look for another machine will be Grizzley. Paul

[Ronald Cockerham]

Thanks for the replies.
Jeffery: The 5959 has interchangeable 5/8 and 1" arbors, so I don't think that will be a problem.
Matt: I may have generalized a little too much. I will look at other brands, but the price and reviews of Grizzly products impresses me. I do already own an old model Dewalt 12" RAS(can't remember the model # right now) that will get restored when the shop is ready.

One reason I'm considering the 12" saw is the depth capacity. I also like the larger table size. I am a little concerned about the fence. In the catalog, it says the 5959 has a long reach fence. It seems like the longer the fence, the harder it would be to keep it aligned with the blade. Shiraz, can you give any input on that?
Thanks All

[Shiraz Balolia]

Thanks for the replies.

One reason I'm considering the 12" saw is the depth capacity. I also like the larger table size. I am a little concerned about the fence. In the catalog, it says the 5959 has a long reach fence. It seems like the longer the fence, the harder it would be to keep it aligned with the blade. Shiraz, can you give any input on that?
Thanks All

Everyone's workhabits are different. I have a quick release clamp sitting on the top of the fence (on the back) and depending on what I am cutting, I will simply reach over, after locking the fence, and tighten the rear clamp on the rear rail. This gives the fence a "grip of death". Never had anything move on me, no matter how heavy or big the job was. Takes no more than 5 secs.

[Ronald Cockerham]

Everyone's workhabits are different. I have a quick release clamp sitting on the top of the fence (on the back) and depending on what I am cutting, I will simply reach over, after locking the fence, and tighten the rear clamp on the rear rail. This gives the fence a "grip of death". Never had anything move on me, no matter how heavy or big the job was. Takes no more than 5 secs.

How would you do this with an outfeed table?

[Shiraz Balolia]

How would you do this with an outfeed table?

With a 2" gap between the table and the saw. I have a long butcher block table with a slot for the miter gauge as my outfeed table. Just left a 2" gap so that the clamp can ride on the fence and pass between the saw table and the outfeed table.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Having a rear fence rail that can lock the fence onto is certainly nice. It was one of the reasons why I bought the Excalibur Fence in lieu of the Biesemeyer Fence. My fence is very resistant to moving even when bumped with heavy sheet stock. The only downside is that the outfeed table cannot butt against the table saw thus leaving about a 2" or 3" gap. However, the gap has not been a problem as far as using the saw. It's more a problem with dust cleanup. -Jeff

[Stan Mijal]

Shiraz,

I know you mentioned impending price increases at grizzly after the first of the year due to material costs increasing. Can you give a ballpark idea of how much of an increase to expect? I am planing on a 12" jointer purchase, but do not plan to be ready for it until April. If the new cost is significantly higher, I might just have to find some way of making the purchase earlier.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Stan - I do not believe that we will be increasing the price of the 12" Jointer as we just introduced it. However, there are major price increases on most machines.
I cannot reveal individual machine price increases, but the 2007 catalog will be out in a couple of weeks and the new prices become effective Jan 1, 2007.


Shiraz,

I know you mentioned impending price increases at grizzly after the first of the year due to material costs increasing. Can you give a ballpark idea of how much of an increase to expect? I am planing on a 12" jointer purchase, but do not plan to be ready for it until April. If the new cost is significantly higher, I might just have to find some way of making the purchase earlier.

[lou sansone]

from the photos and the manual the new 12 inch machine has some nice design features. it looks like it has a poly v belt, and what seems like twin rods for raise and lower. these are nice design features in a saw.
lou

[David Mueller]

Ron,
Well, I have been using my 5959z for about 9 mo's now and love it. I have the 5 hp and have added several aftermarket to make it an excellent saw. I would have bought the extreme model if it had been out. I currently am running an Incra fence and can't believe the accuracy and repeatability of my cuts. I also use the Incra 3000 miter gage. Guess I like incra stuff :cool: I worked with Lee Styron to develop the Megamouth shark guard for the 5959 and it leave's almost no dust on the table for any cut I've made. I also enlarged the cabinet port to 6" for dust control. I had my infinity dadonator stack drilled to 1" by forrest so I wouldn't need to change arbor. I worked hard to get runout on the arbor to 0.000, so why mess with it and introduce something.

The only thing I'm still working on is moving the switch placement. It's a little too far under. I'm thinking of either a knee paddle or mounting under the rails and glueing a BIG button on the off switch.

The only thing I had to get used to is the big thump when I first turn it on.
The 5hp motor is powerful and I think the belts slap a little. When I first set it up, it was quiet on startup but the whole saw would shutter halfway through spindown. I cranked on the belt tension and no shutter now but now it thumps on startup. I guess I'd rather have the thump then shutter and have waste vibrate into the blade.

Let me know if I can help futher.

[Shiraz Balolia]

[quote=David Mueller]Ron,
The only thing I had to get used to is the big thump when I first turn it on.
quote]

Check the motor pulley set screw/s. Might be loose.

[David Mueller]

Check the motor pulley set screw/s. Might be loose.
Thanks for the idea, checked the set screw and it was tight. The belts look a little weird. One sits in the pully and the top is flush with the pully. The other two are about 1/16 proud of the pully. Not sure this is a problem but I just noticed it. The thump is almost gone without the blade on (WW II) so maybe a blade stiffener may help. Wasn't sure a full kerf needed it as much as a TK blade.

**As a side note, why do you have a ZCI for the 5959 but not for the 5959Z. Catalog says "for 5959, 5959Z and G9957" but when I bought it the precut blade slot is in the wrong place. I called CS and they told me that you don't make one for the 5959Z. :mad::mad:

[Shiraz Balolia]

Thanks for the idea, checked the set screw and it was tight. The belts look a little weird. One sits in the pully and the top is flush with the pully. The other two are about 1/16 proud of the pully. Not sure this is a problem but I just noticed it. The thump is almost gone without the blade on (WW II) so maybe a blade stiffener may help. Wasn't sure a full kerf needed it as much as a TK blade.

**As a side note, why do you have a ZCI for the 5959 but not for the 5959Z. Catalog says "for 5959, 5959Z and G9957" but when I bought it the precut blade slot is in the wrong place. I called CS and they told me that you don't make one for the 5959Z. :mad::mad:

Sometimes there are two set screws, one on top of each other to prevent the locking one from backing out. I don't know if this saw has that or not.

The zero clearance insert did not fit because one of the saws is a left tilt and the blade position is different. Will have to get on that in the new year.

[David Mueller]

Sometimes there are two set screws, one on top of each other to prevent the locking one from backing out.
That's a new one. I assume the setscrew just keeps the pulley from sliding off the shaft. The keyway is the key :rolleyes: but I'll check again and thanks for checking on the ZCI.

[John Hedges]

Quick question Shiraz, when changing to a 10" blade does the gap between the blade and the riving knife increase by an inch, or is there an adjustment on the riving knife to compensate for this?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Rather than just buying all Grizzly stuff (nothing wrong with them though) I would suggest you research each purchase individually. No single manufacturer makes the best product, the best value, the best quality, etc for all of their tools.
Bingo!!

I won't impugn Grizzly but I'll submit that they are not the end-all-be-all and there are a whole lot of saws on the market that I'd consider before a Griz. Take a long hard look at Felder and MM. Do it before you make a committment. There are really nice used machines on the market too.