Griz G5959 12" Tablesaw Opinions?

[Art Mann]

I may have the chance to buy a Grizzley model G5959 12" tablesaw from a lady who recently lost her husband. I haven't seen it, but a friend who did says it is in nearly new condition. The owner was apparently more of a tool collector type than a woodworker. It comes with the mobile base pictured in the catalog. The owner also installed an auxilliary table between the rails and put a router and lift of some kind in it. That is part of the deal. The lady is asking $1100, but my friend who talked to her thought she might take $900, based on his experience buying an 8" jointer from her.

Is this a good saw?
Is this a good price?
How effective is the dust collection port?
Do 10" blades work well with a 12" capacity saw? (I have several good ones I would hate to abandon)

[Matt Benton]

The website says it includes both 1" and 5/8" arbors, so your 10" blades should work fine.

Assuming everything works as expected, I would buy that saw yesterday.

[Todd Solomon]

Hi Art,

It's a shame that it's not the G0605, which has a riving knife. A riving knife will virtually eliminate the possibility of kick-back. If you can afford it, I would get one of the saws with this feature (the G0605, the new Powermatic, the Sawstop, most any of the euro saws). But these saws do cost a lot more. Someone posted a rumor a while back that Delta and perhaps others will also be introducing saws with riving knives, at some point.

Todd

[Art Mann]

Bump for one more chance.

[Jim Becker]

Art, I could swear that someone at SMC recently bought one of these machines after some comparison comments from Shiraz. It was maybe a month or three ago...let's see now...

Yup...Eric did:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=52454&page=2&highlight=G5959