Grizzly sander and the Grizzly sale

[Tom Godley]

Depending on my weekend I may go out to the Grizzly tent sale - Then I was going to look inside at the G1071 Spindle Sander. I am not sure it would fit in my SUV even if I do like it -- so I may drive my car.

Does anyone know how this differs from the Shop-Fox -- other than a slightly smaller table?

Looks like a nice tool - Maybe I should call and ask how big the box is :)

I wonder if it is in one box.

[Dick Rowe]

I bought one in July and it came in one box weighing about 300 pounds.

The box would not fit through the hatch into my pickup with a cab-top level topper (just about 1" too short to go through the hatch). I reluctantly laid it on it's side for the 15 minute ride from the trucking terminal to my home .. I was worried about oil leakage, but got it home with no problems.

It was too heavy for me to pull out of my pickup alone so I opened the box in the truck and found that the top and base/motor were packaged seperately inside the carton.

I was able to get the two components, each weighing about 150 pounds, out of the truck myself with some significant effort. You will need a helper if you have to move either piece up or down any steps.

[Tom Godley]

Thanks for the info -- sounds like it is a no go with a SUV.

I did see people at last years sale opening up crates to load things but it sounds like that may be a problem??


How to you like the sander

[Jim Becker]

Tom, if you can break down the crate for transport, it should make things easier in smaller vehicles. You should consider adding a small utility trailer to your arsenal, however...it's made my life incredibly easier since switching from a pickup to my mid-size SUV which is about the same physical size as yours. I'm really happy with the locally manufactured Loadrite (http://www.loadrite.com/Utility_Trailers/Standard_Series/95/) one I have; available from Dave's on Rt 611 just above Doylestown. 5'x8' tilt bed for about a grand and a one ton capacity. (UL58-2600)

BTW, does anyone know if the Grizzly store in PA is open on Sundays? We have a wedding up that way in the near future and I might try and cajole my family into a quick stop (yea...right... :D ) there to fondle the machinery.

[Tom Godley]

Jim -- I wanted to get a trailer hitch for the SUV but could not get one so equipped at the time. The problem is the factory hitch uses a different bumper and requires a special interface light module that is almost $500.00 -- Crazy!


I bought a Jeep in the early 90s with the towing package -- I owned the thing for four years and never used it :)

I can see now how a trailer would be a great help.

[Jim Becker]

Hidden Hitch likely has an after market hitch receiver that will work with your SUV without modifications...I used them for my Highlander Hybrid, too, as it was also $500 for the "Toyota" factory hitch setup. Mine was about $250...and bolted on in my driveway.

[Dick Rowe]

How to you like the sander

The sander is very solid (heavy) with good fit and finish. The motor is quiet and very smooth running and the oscillating action is also very smooth. However, I currently have part of it in a box waiting for UPS to pick it up for shipment back to Grizzly for repairs :(.

This is not a Grizzly bash, I have quite a few Grizzly machines in my shop and am happy with all of them. When I have required support or warranty service over the years Grizzly supports has always been excellent. This incident is no exception.

Based on my recent experience I can suggest that you coat the spindle receptor and each spindle with some kind of anti-sieze grease on a regular basis. Using grease is mentioned in the manual, but not really emphasized. I had lubed the parts, but not with anti-sieze grease.

In my case, I had been using the machine and going through a variety of increasingly smaller diameter spindles with no issue. You simple turn the spindle in by hand until it hits the jamb nuts, no wrench needed as the spinning action tightens the spindle down. To remove, you use a wrench to hold the jamb nut and simply unspin the spindle out by hand.

This worked flawlessly for me until I got to the 5/8" spindle. When I went to remove it, it would not budge. To make a long story short, I needed 2 days and a pipe wrench with an 8 foot pipe extension for leverage to get the spindle out. It was almost like this spindle got welded into the receptor. I have no idea why this happened, especially since i had been using the machine for an hour with no problems with any spindle, including the 5/8" spindle which eventually siezed.

In my case, once I did get the bad spindle removed I found that the spindle receptor threads were damaged and that part had to be replaced. Grizzly support was great through the process and sent me out all the parts required to repair the machine, but when I tried to get the spindle receptor out I had problems and Grizzly agreed to take the sub-assembly back and replace the parts for me.

Lessons learned ...

Use anti-sieze grease on the spindle receptor and spindles liberally.

Never leave a spindle in the unit when you are done. This was from Grizzly tech support. It seems that the unit heats up during use and they have found that as it cools the threads can sieze (they claim this is true of all brands of OSS). Usually the easy fix is simply to turn the machine on for 10 minutes and allow it to heat back up. Then you can unthread the stuck spindle normally with little effort. Obviously this didn't work in my case.

In spite of this issue I would still buy this machine again, and suspect that once I get the bad parts replaced, and follow the simple rules above, it will give me many years of great service.

[Steve Kohn]

Not to hijack the thread, but what brand name grease would you suggest, and where can it be bought?

[Dick Rowe]

I was considering one of these ..

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80078-Anti-Seize-Lubricant-Brush-Top/dp/B000AAJTXY

http://www.amazon.com/Loctite-Anti-Seize-Silver-Lubricant-brushtop/dp/B0006Q7H2W/ref=pd_sbs_auto_7