So, my new machines are being delivered today and tomorrow....Now with a pic.........

[Mark Rios]

My new Grizzly G0593, 8" jointer with the spiral cutterhead is coming this afternoon and my new MM16 is being delivered tomorrow morning.

Anyone have any advice, suggestions, tricks, secret pointers, etc. for set-up for either of these machines?

It turns out tha the height of the MM16 will infact fit in my trailer, a point that has kept me from making the purchase before now. I've been following the mobile base/mobility kit thread and it has been interesting reading. I'm going to have to figure out and build or have built some sort of dolly for my MM16 to be able to get it up and down the ramp of my trailer/shop. I've had to move my Uni in and out a couple of times and, although quite a challenge, it seems that with more practice it won't be too much of a deal anymore. I'ts not very often that I need to anyway. But the MM16 seems that it may be a little more unwieldy to move up and down the ramp and I figure that I will need to use it outside more than inside.

Anyway, your tricks, tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.

[glenn bradley]

I have no experience with either machine but I am gifted with a keen intuition. Have both machines sent to me immediately and I will do a long term assesment and send you a colorful report with all kinds of graphs and lines and arrows all over it.

[Doug Shepard]

Ahhh - MM16. MmmmMmmmm Good.

[Tyler Howell]

I can't possibly offer tips without pictures:mad:
Here's a suggestion, Post some!!!:mad: :rolleyes: :D

[Dan Forman]

Not sure what your layout looks like, but I had good luck moving my MM16 on an appliance dolly. As I was going down into the basement, I had gravity assist, sounds like you need to go uphill rather than down. Still, the dolly was one of my better investments, as more than once I have found it useful for other things. Sounds like you will need a few extra bodies to push, and/or a come along to help fight gravity. Good luck with the moving.

Dan

[Jim Becker]

The Dolly that Dan mentions is a good idea...but make sure you have two friends to help you with the process. Heavy. Tall. You do NOT want it to crash to the ground...or worse, on any part of your body.

(Congrats on your, umm...unproven...gloats!)

[lou sansone]

best wishes with your new saw and bandsaw. make sure to post photos for all of us to look at
lou

[Tyler Howell]

You may consider renting or buy a powered appliance dolly (they go up and down stairs:eek: ) Its been great for getting my old stuff out of the basement.

[Ken Garlock]

I took delivery of my MM16 at the annual WW show in Arlington TX. It was uncrated and cleaned up already. The salesman and I leaned it up against the tailgate of my F150, picked up the bottom and slid it back into the bed of the truck.

You can do the same thing with unloading from the trailer. Uncrate the MM16, walk it up the rear of the trailer, lay it down on its spine, two of you slide bottom off on the pavement, and stand it up. Its so easy even a caveman can do it.:eek: :D

Use a couple carpet scraps under the saw to keep it from being scratched when sliding off the trailer.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

LUCKY STIFF!

(I'M NOT THE LEAST BIT ENVIOUS!):eek: :rolleyes: :D

[Bart Leetch]

Mark

Install a 12 volt winch with an extended remote. Now with a easy rolling bass on your band-saw & the winch hooked to the bottom & you controlling it & assisting in keeping things balanced just winch it up into the trailer.

My cousin used to load his Goldwing into his 39' 5th wheel this way. Just balance it & winch it backwards up the ramp into the 5th wheel.

You could put an 1 1/2" pocket in the floor to drop a piece square tube into with plate welded on top & the winch bolted to.

[Rennie Heuer]

Mark,

Where I work we have a loading dock. You could have it delivered here and then I could hold it at my shop for you till you figure this all out.

I'm here for you buddy!:D

[Norman Hitt]

Mark, you have been given good suggestions to lay the saw down on it's back/spine while moving it in and out of the trailer, and probably leave it "Strapped Down" in that position when driving down the road. I would however suggest that to eliminate the possibility of it tipping over on it's side while laying it down or lifting it up and loading/unloading, that you do the following, because it can easily tip over on it's side during these operations.

Fabricate a "longer auxillary Mobility bar" from Square tubing with attachment brackets that would fit onto the "Axels" of the current mobility kit bar for use during the moving operations and put axels on the ends of that bar so that when you need to load or unload it, just take the wheels off the mobility kit and slide them onto the new bar and connect the bar to the mobility kit bar and it will give the added stability to keep it from flopping over when you lay it down to load and unload it or when it's strapped down for transportation. When you set it up for use, you could quickly remove it if it got in the way while working around the saw.

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey mark,
Congrats on the cool tools. Here are a few ideas for an early shakedown.

Jointer: Whatever you do, do not lift the joint by a table. buy or borrow a long straightedge. check for flatness. if you an see any light between the straightedge and either table, use a feeler gauge to measure. I wouldn't want any more than 0.0015 over the table. Raise the infeed table up as high as it will go and check to see that the two tables are co-planer. If not, check to manual to see if you can adjust it. If not, send it back.

Not sure if you can adjust the spiral head like you do knives, but I would want to use a digital gauge to check for evenness with the outfeed table.
After you have done whatever assembly is required, run a couple of boards through on their edges and see if you get a clean fit. If so, you re pretty much done.

Bandsaw: Adjust the guides and blade tension, turn the wheel by hand a bit to ensure nothings binding and that the blade is tracking correctly. Try a few cuts. My experience (not with MM) is that manufacturers usually put really crappy blades on new machines, be mentally prepared to toss this one.

Both: put a nice coat of paste wax or boeshield on the cast iron surfaces. After a couple of weeks, recheck belt tension - it has probably loosened a little.

Most of all - Enjoy!!!

[Jim O'Dell]

If I'm not mistaken, and I frequently am, I think his shop is in the trailer. Mark, can you clarify for us? And has it been delivered yet?? Pictures, man, pictures!!!!:D Jim.

[Mark Rios]

If I'm not mistaken, and I frequently am, I think his shop is in the trailer. Mark, can you clarify for us? And has it been delivered yet?? Pictures, man, pictures!!!!:D Jim.


Yes, you're right Jim. But, after unloading and unpacking the jointer into my single car garage, I find that I just may be able to keep both inside the garage. It depends on the width of the MM16. I may just be able to shoehorn it off to the side. I won't use the jointer and the MM16 on the job anyway, for the most part, just for milling stock here at the property. It would be great not to have to worry about the bandsaw when taking my trailer out.

52863

The jointer with my helpers helping.:D

The jointer will go straight back into the space where that big Igloo cooler is behind the base. I made the shelves with the spacing for a jointer should I get one.

------------

Thanks for the tips Jesse. On my last jointer, a Griz 1182Z that I sold two years ago, I was able to lift the table assembly onto the base by myself. This one is going to take some more thought. ;)

I agree about the factory supplied BS blades. My old G0555, also sold two years ago, came with a 1/2" blade that didn't cut worth a darn, compared to the TW's that I put on it. The MM16 come with 3 blades but I have already called Suffolk last Thursday and 10 Timberwolf blades are on their way.

MM16 tomorrow. :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Doug Shepard]

Be careful with those friends of yours. If I'm not mistaken, that look in their eyes as they lovingly eye your new tool says "Funny looking Fire Hydrant, but what the heck...":D

[Ed Kowaski]

Doug I'm pretty sure they are saying you can look but don't touch! I'm pretty sure we should use your arm to test them.

Congrats Mark, nice machines, nicer helpers. :)

[Travis Porter]

I rolled my saw off the back of my trucks with 2" iron pipe and 3 friends helping me as it was laying down on its spine, not sure if the 16 is upright or not.

BTW, if you want a mobility kit, let me know. I have a spare one for a MM bandsaw.

[Mark Carlson]

Mark,

I'm pretty sure those dogs are saying "lets get this thing out of the box and onto the stand". Congrats on the new tools.

~mark

[Jim O'Dell]

Mark, first wave of congrats!! Be careful getting the beds up on the stand. Looks like that could be a 3 week hurt! I think you are making a good decision leaving them in the garage. Do you have 220 available there? Jim.

[Dennis Peacock]

Congrats Mark!!!!!! :cool: :cool: :D

Now...I can't wait to see the pics of the MM16. And as usual....Need more pics. ;)

[Christopher Pine]

The jointer with spiral head cutter is awesome! I have used it and I loved it. It is one of the greatest things since sliced bread.. Also the thickness planner they make with the spiral cutterhead is amazinbg how much quiter it is and works great!
Also you just rotate or change the little blade every so oftenand you are done... sharpen them with a credit card when it comes time.


Chris

[Jim O'Dell]

Chris, what do you mean "sharpen them with a credit card"? There's something that is escaping me here. Jim.

[Mark Rios]

Chris, what do you mean "sharpen them with a credit card"? There's something that is escaping me here. Jim.


I'm curious about that phrase too Jim. Maybe it just means buy more.:D :D :D

[Mark Rios]

Well, my MM16 came yesterday, a day late. And I had to prod them to not hold off for another day.

After I got it uncrated and laboriously got it to stand upright in my garage, I looked it over, stood back and said" What the heck did I buy????" I think I over bought a little on this tool. It's DEFINATELY 5 or 9 or 12 times what my Griz G0555 was.

I had to put the mobility wheels on it, roll it to the garage door, lean it backward and lay it back on my shoulder, pull it backward into the garage (my garage door is only 72" high), lay it down on a milk crate, put my floor jack under it (with a maple block so I don't scratch it), get the wheels up off the floor and take them off, let it back down off of the floor jack, get it back onto my shoulder (It's now resting on my shoulder and the back of the base), turn it onto the side of the base, and then stand it up. My garage is 78" high and my saw is 75". It will stand up by tilting it from the side but not by tilting it front to back. However, I can use the mobility kit to move it around just fine with about 3/4" of clearance. When you crank the guides all the way up, the guide rod pokes up through the top of the upper housing. When it's extended all the way up, I have about 3/4" to spare; It fits perfect!!!


I do have a concern though already, When I try to crank the guides up and down, the telescoping blade guard binds up and it gets stuck and I have to try to tweak the guard sections to get it to go up or down. I called Mike (my salesperson) at MiniMax and told him about the problem. Personally, I wasn't filled with confidence with his nonchalant demeanor and explanation, which wasn't very clear to me anyway. I was disappointed that I would have to fix something on this piece of machinery before I could even set it up but he didn't seem too concerned about that either. I won't be able to spend time setting it up and trying to work out the blade guard problem (why do I have to work out a blade guard problem on a $2300 piece of equipment again?) until Monday or so. I'll let you know what I find.

Anyone have any similar experience or idea about a fix?


Thanks,
Mark

[Tyler Howell]

Looks like good help there Mark.
Nice haul.

[Jim O'Dell]

Mark, I had to do a lot of adjusting on my MM E16, the little brother to yours. I ended up taking the whole guide out a couple of times to figure where the problem was, and rig a fix. My geared post was rubbing the back wall. Inserted a washer behind the mounting mechanism, then realigned everything, and it moves smoothly now. I see it as normal set up on a machine. I had to adjust my TS for proper alignment when I got it, same on the RAS years ago. View this as time to get to know your new machine. It will help you in the years to come. And there are a lot of people with the MM16 that can guide you on your travels. Not many people with my E16 yet. Have fun with it. I wanted one, but figured it would be more that I would need too, plus it would have taken me another few years to save for it.
Oh, and if you have other technical questions, contact Sam Blasco at MM. I got that advice from Jim Becker here, and Sam knows the machines. Some of the salespeople may not. Just like your car salesman doesn't have a clue on how to fix a car. Jim.

[Jim Becker]

Mark, congrats on your new saw. The guide arrangement takes a little patience to get working smoothly, largely because it's a devil to totally clean off the shipping gunk that kept it from rusting on the ship from Italy. Mine works smoothly now, but it didn't right at the beginning. It's just the nature of the telescoping guard system. Michael's a very good guy...don't be concerned about his light-hearted nature on the phone. He's always got the job done for me...which is why he just got another order. ;) Sam is also a very good resource as he's not only a MM employee, but also a pro cabinet and furniture maker with a ton on experience using the equipment. He's also an SMC member, although he's been quite busy with being a daddy, working the day job and making beautiful things out of wood.

[Mark Rios]

Thanks for the info everyone.

I'd seen Sam's name on a couple of forums but, apparently, hadn't seen his bio or sig line. So it was a nice and pleasant surprise when, while giving my order to Michael, Sam came on the phone to introduce himself, thank me and congratulate me on my purchase. I thought that was a nice touch.

I've got to install my cabs this weekend but I should be able to ge back to my new machines over the first couple days of next week.

OH!........I'm so excited. :D :D :D

[Roy Wall]

Mark -
You will probably need to use a rag n kerosene to wipe down those sectional blade guards...then go back over with rag n mineral spirits....to get them operating smoothly.

I know what you mean about fussing over a $$$$$ machine....it is something that just needs to be done.

[Brian Gumpper]

I took delivery on some MM stuff too this week and the WD40 with the straw is my friend. Try that for getting into the hard spots where you can't get a rag.

My guides didn't seem that bad but I haven't done anything yet being it was late last night when I got it cleaned up.

[Christopher Pine]

Chris, what do you mean "sharpen them with a credit card"? There's something that is escaping me here. Jim.

That is just somthing we used to say meaning throw away the old and buy new. The blades on the spiral cutter head are like maybe 1/2 inch square.. you can rotate them obviously 4 times then just buy new set they are not that expensive either. Like I said I am sold on this cutter head! Is very nice!
I know there have been threads about retrofit heads for other jointers as well on here.

Here is picture of what I am talking about.

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2006/Main/34

[Jim Becker]

Yes, folks don't typically try to sharpen the carbide cutters on those cutter heads...not only because it would be a pain, but because it would alter the setup and alignment...it would be nearly impossible to have every edge line up exactly the same way after a sharpening, unlike using cutters precision manufactuered to a specific size.