greenlighted for a new jointer... Conclusion

[Brent Grooms]

Well, after a bit of deliberation, price checking and what-not, I wound up ordering a grizz G0490 and a byrd head for it. I have a call into the shipper to arrange for a delivery time. I ordered it monday morning and arrived in Detroit yesterday morning. It will be delivered on the 26th.

Why did I go with the 8in? probably the biggest reason was the weight, most 12in (new) weigh close to if not more than 1k lbs. While I could fabricate a mobile base, the floor in my shop might not be able to take the load in such a "compact" footprint and the floor isnt the smoothest or flattest either which makes things interesting from time to time as it is. If I get the chance to rebuild my shop, a 12in(or larger) would definately be under consideration.

I considered the combi J/P, but I could not get a good feel for the amount of space they would require.

In addition, I picked up one of the SteelCity drill presses after the local WW show. Once I get some of the dust collection piping in place and get the cosmoline off of everything I will post some picts.

[Doug Shepard]

Cool. I just looked at that on Griz site and it looks sweet. What was the old jointer?

[Brent Grooms]

6in craftsman that is still a pretty servicable jointer. my original plan was to completely disassemble and retune it. Still may do that and set it up for strictly edge jointing or may give it to my FIL, depending on if they drive out or if we drive out west to see them.

[Don Bullock]

Congratulations on your new G0490 jointer. It's a very good machine. The only thing I don't like is the belt slap at start up and shut down. I've read that some have solved the problem in various ways. I just haven't had the time to fiddle with it. Be ready with at least three (better with four) people to help place the jointer on the stand. Getting the motor in place is also a back breaker because it's so heavy and has to be moved from the shipping position to the vertical motor mounts. Actually I think that this is part of my belt noise. Because the motor is so heavy, I haven't been able to perfectly align it with the jointer. It sure does a great job on the wood. The Byrd head will make it even better.

[Dan Lee]

Brent
That should be a sweet machine. Curious what is the floor type you where concerned about the load of 1000+lbs.

Not to hijack the thread but I'm looking at a 1000lb jointer and a HTC mobile base. Floor is ~3" concrete slab.

[Mike Marcade]

Congrats on your new jointer. I just got my G0490 a week or so ago. Mine came with the motor in the right place, just needed to adjust it to tension the belt.

I used an engine crane to lift the head onto the stand, so I was able to do this by myself.

On my unit, adjustments were not very good, so I had to spend alot of time getting the tables parallel by adjusting the eccentric bushings. Hopefully your machine is adjusted better than mine was.

[Brent Grooms]

Brent
Not to hijack the thread but I'm looking at a 1000lb jointer and a HTC mobile base. Floor is ~3" concrete slab.


Dan, the reason for my concern is that the floor of my garage/shop is a poured slab that is cracked in 4 directions and part of it has sunk about an inch. It was that way when I bought the place and hasnt changed since. Might be worrying for nothing but I am not in a position where I can afford to replace the floor or the garage.

Don, I was planning on borrowing a friends cherry picker and some straps to put the jointer on the stand. Although I could use the neighbors gantry crane setup but getting it across the street with the snow could be a challenge.

[Mike Cutler]

Nice jointer and D/P. I'm sure you'll really like that Byrd head.

I hear you on garage floors. They can be limiting. Weight becomes an issue in keeping a machine in tune when it is rolled over uneven, rough floors.
On a rolling base that would have been 1000+ lbs on a very small contact area.

Nice jointer. Post some pics when you get it up and runnin'