Shiraz... Help Me Choose a Planer

[Lance Norris]

Shiraz... in the next 30 days or so... I plan on purchasing a Grizzly 15" planer. Aside from the spiral cutterhead in the 1021x, what else makes the 1021x superior to the 0453? If I purchase the 0453, I will upgrade to the spiral cutterhead. I like the position of the powerswitch in the 0453 and the mobile base. I have read the reviews of both planers here on Sawmill Creek and at Woodnet. They both receive great comments. Either planer fits my budget...but the old saying goes "you get what you pay for". Help.

[Larry Rasmussen]

I have the 0453 but it is not up and running yet. Delivery about 2 weeks ago to ended up causing some major garage/shop changes. I also received the shelix cutter I ordered with it but was backordered.

I made an earlier comment in a post describing my selection process that the table on the 1021x was fixed while the head moves up and down. From looking at the manual I see that I was exactly wrong, the 1021X, like the 0453 has a design where the tables crank up and down to change the thickness.

Since a fixed height extended outfeed table is out with either piece it may make a difference that the overall infeed/outfeed length on the 1021x is a total of 47" rather than 42 on the 0453. With the 1021X you have to buy a separate mobile base while one is built in the the less expensive model.
Other than that I can only observe the fit and finish first impression on the 1043 is quite good but not quite up to what I would expect from a "special edition" piece if you take the step up. This is mostly in the clean up on the massive cast iron areas before a very good paint job. Definitely above expectations for the money spend, and on par with what I observed on a field trip to Sunhill.

I did pick up the 0453 from the griz ebay site at a $75 discount, same shipping. It was crated in factory crate, new. The grizzly ebay store periodically has new items on sale for $50 or $75 less than the gizzly site but you get your items from Grizzly proper, not a third party.

Hope a few random comments helped. I will post experience with that change out too the Shelix from stock. I too will be very intested in what makes the 1021X Special.

Regards,
Larry Rasmussn

[Lance Norris]

Thanks Larry... I pretty much have made the same observations as you, although I do not have the planer to look at in house(cant wait). The catalog shows the 453 as having 2 drive belts but I have read somewhere that it has 3. Can you confirm this? Also... I am going to replace the cutter with the Grizzly spiral cutterhead. Please post back what is involved in this process. I like the position of the power switch on the 453 because the planer will be sitting against the wall on the right side. I also am working in a small shop, so a mobile base is a must. As far as the quality of the casting finishes, I dont really care so much about that, I just want the planer to do a very good job for a very long time. I am 43 years old and hope this will be the last planer I need to buy. ;) PS... I did notice the Ebay sales and if I decide to buy the 453 it will be there. The 1021x isnt offered on Ebay.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Shiraz... in the next 30 days or so... I plan on purchasing a Grizzly 15" planer. Aside from the spiral cutterhead in the 1021x, what else makes the 1021x superior to the 0453? If I purchase the 0453, I will upgrade to the spiral cutterhead. I like the position of the powerswitch in the 0453 and the mobile base. I have read the reviews of both planers here on Sawmill Creek and at Woodnet. They both receive great comments. Either planer fits my budget...but the old saying goes "you get what you pay for". Help.

Hi Lance,
The G1021X is made in Taiwan by the company that we have been dealing with since before I started Grizzly in 1983. Very good and sophisticated company.
The G0453 is made in China also by a very good company that pays attention to our orders. We have our engineers checking shipments at both factories all the time because we do a tremendous volume with both.
As far as choosing between the two, if money was a consideration, I would go with the G0453. Many, many very happy users and it has proven to be a good machine. If money was no object, then the G1021X is a very good choice. The placement on the switch on the G1021X is because you can hit the stop switch on the machine with your knee if both your hands are "full" with a heavy board.
Now for the good news: Our summer sale starts this Saturday, 5/19/07. G0453 for $775.00 and G1021X for $1595.00 ($75.00 and $100.00 off respectively).
Thank you for your interest.

[Lance Norris]

Thank you.