Grizzly Go531 & Go566 Opinion.

[Ron Bible]

Thinking seriously about ordering one of these. (near the end of comparison process...phew!!!)Any Owner experience would be appreciated.
Thanx R.B.

[Brad Knabel]

Ron,
I've got the G0566. I bought it last year (prior to the release of the G0531). I'm very happy with it at this point. I'll try to hit the main points:

It's beefy enough for my use. I don't have any worries about being able to tension blades or table flex under load. The trunions and table are quite beefy.

The power is very adequate. I've had no problems resawing thick stock or processing logs into bowl blanks. I don't think I've so much as slowed the motor with the work I've done. For the extra $50.00 or so I would not turn down the new 5 HP motor, but I haven't had a need for it.

I'm happy with the bearing guides. They're easy to adjust and have worked well with the 1/4" - 1" blades that I've used. I generally keep a 3/4" Woodslicer blade in the saw which works very well for me.

The two dust collection ports work fine. I do have to do some occasional dusting inside the cabinet. But I'm using running hoses from a Delta canister collector that isn't nearly as powerful as the DCs many people run. I don't end up with a huge build-up of dust or much of anything in the cutting area.

I haven't had a need to use customer service, but I've heard good things from other users.

The things I'm not completely happy with are:
1. The fence - it's a nice heavy cast-iron affair. But adjustments for blade drift would have to be done by loosening bolts and moving the guide rail rather than the fence. I would have expected a better fence for resawing in a saw at this price. I've just made my own L-shaped resaw fence which works fine.

2. The saw had a pretty bad vibration when I first set it up. I traced it down to the belts having been installed way too tight at the factory. It was easy to adjust them and was covered in the manual.

Let me know if you've got any specific questions.