15" Wide Belts---Grizzly vs. Shop Fox

[Jameel Abraham]

I've perused both owners manual online, but I can't for the life of me see a difference. They are made in the same factory, so why is the Shop Fox over $1000 more?

[Jack Briggs]

I don't see a difference. And I've got to say that Grizzly's customer service is really good. You can buy almost any part for any of their current pieces of equipment online with a few mouse clicks. My money goes to Grizzly.

[Richard Wolf]

If you find a Shop Fox dealer, you should not be paying shipping and the $1,000 gives you some room to deal with. I have a Shop Fox dealer that treats me very well.

Richard

[Jameel Abraham]

If you find a Shop Fox dealer, you should not be paying shipping and the $1,000 gives you some room to deal with. I have a Shop Fox dealer that treats me very well.

Richard

I'd like to support my local shop, but with sales tax the Shop Fox still comes in $1400 more than the Grizzly. Shop Fox has a 2-year warranty, but I can't see paying an extra $1400 for an extra year of insurance.

[Kim Spence]

Shop Fox and Grizzly are the same company, just different brands within same company. Shop Fox is Grizzly's "retail" brand, and they also market it as a bit of a premium product over Griz, but in most cases their products are nearly identical other than paint color.

Shop Fox will tend to be more expensive than the comparable Grizzly product because you're paying for both Shop Fox and the dealer to make a profit. With Shop Fox you're also paying for the convenience of someone else taking delivery of your machine, the ability to touch and feel before you buy, and having a dealer to stop and talk to should you have questions or problems.

Both brands are fine products in my opinion, I own some Griz and my father owns some of each. In fact my father owns the 15" wide belt open end Griz sander.

[Charles Grosjean]

Shop Fox and Grizzly are the same company, just different brands within same company.

This exact topic just came up on Woodnet and since I don't think I'm allowed to link to that thread directly, I've quoted Shiraz Balolia's (Papa Grizzly) answers.

When asked about Grizzly and Shop Fox being one and the same:



Well, for one thing, not all Shop Fox and Grizzly like machines are the same, or even made in the same factory, although some are.
Secondly, Shop Fox (Woodstock International, Inc.) is a separate corporation, has separate managers, has separate service facilities, has separate parts facilities, has separate warehouses and personel that are paid separately. Grizzly people do NOT service Shop Fox machines!


and when asked about ownership of the two companies:



Yes, I started Grizzly in 1983 and Woodstock in 1989. Woodstock made it twice on the Inc 500 in it's earlier days.

[Kim Spence]

Thanks for the clarification Charles...not exactly the same company but closely related nontheless.

[James Boster]

Don't want to rain on your parade but amazon had a great deal recently (last month) on the Powermatic 15" open sided sander. The Powermatic and Northstate brands use a 17"x 54" belt instead of a 16"x48" and have a wider platen on them. I hope the 54" will run a little cooler and last longer. I got mine (Gloat) with a digital readout on the table for $2800. That was 58% off. I noticed a couple of days after I ordered mine they went back up but you may want to watch Amazon close. This was the first time I have ever bought anything from them and had no problems whatsoever. good luck.

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks for the info James. Yeah, I was aware of that deal. It's a 3-phase machine though, right?

[James Boster]

Yes, I got the 7 1/2 hp three phase. I already have a convertor and several three phase machines so that wasn't an issue. True it wasn't offered at that price in single phase. Ramco, Northstate, and Powermatic are all built the same if you want the longer belt. Not sure about the General since I never looked at it.