Grizzly Tools

[Shawn Siegrist]

I was looking through a grizzly catalog and I could help but notice that their prices are lower than powermatic, delta, or even steel city. Is their equipment comparable to powermatic, delta, and steel city?

[Scott Loven]

It depends on the item as you would expect. Search on the item number for opinion's of owners. I have a powermatic 6 inch jointer and a Grizzly 8 inch Jointer and like them both. The powermatic has a better finish but cost more.
Scott

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Shawn,

My understanding is Grizzly tools are manufactured in China, Powermatic is owned by WMH who also makes Jet tools made in Taiwan. Steel City tools are made in China, but they have their own factory.

Steel City gives a 5 year warranty, Grizzly 1 year, Powermatic, 1 year for some products, 5 years for others. Delta used to be the best of the best, but many of there newer tools also made in the far east and are lower quality, when compare to their previous machines.

As Scott indicated: Before you purchase a major tool ask the people at SMC. They can give you feedback and recommendations on nearly any machine built. Hope this helps.

Joe

[Sean Kinn]

Shawn,

My understanding is Grizzly tools are manufactured in China.....
Joe

Some yes, but not all. Unfortunately, for pretty much all of the tool companies you have to look machine by machine now.

Here's a few examples just off the top of my head:

Grizz G0555x bandsaw - made in Taiwan
Delta 17-950 drill press - made in China
Grizzly G0490 Jointer - made in China
Steel City Benchtop Mortiser - Made in China

[Bill White]

with all my Griz stuff. AND??????? THey have some of the best customer service anywhere. Can ya name the owner of Powermatic, Steel City, etc.?:D

[glenn bradley]

Many makers have certain really good items. I second the vote to "ask and owner".

[scott spencer]

It's difficult to make accurate summations about entire lines of equipment, b/c we're talking about 100's of models....some are more comparable than others. Which machines are you looking at specifically?

Grizzly is a direct importer who sells mainly through mail order, whereas PM, Steel City, and Delta have dealer networks. In general, Grizzly machines are well respected as good value for serious hobbyists and light industrial use, but like most brands, they have some excellent models, and some that are less competitive. The larger Grizzly machines tend to have a better reputation than their smaller benchtop tools, which is true of most tools in the benchtop categories regardless of brand. Grizzly serves some of the same market as PM, Delta, SC with their bigger machines, but also serves some of the same benchtop market that competes with the lower end Delta Shopmaster line, Hitachi, DW, Tradesman, Craftsman, Ridgid, Ryobi, some SC, etc.

I have a Griz DC1029 that's been excellent. A G1182HW 6" jointer that's also been excellent, and my Shop Fox 1677 (same as a Griz 1023SL) is excellent.

Here's another thread about Grizzly (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=96760).

[John Keeton]

I replaced all of my stationary tools this spring, and chose Grizzly after much research. I had previously owned a Grizzly bandsaw for several years and was familiar with their customer service - which is second to none. I agree that you do need to look at the specific machines to make comparisons, but I do think generally Grizzly presents good value. I have been extremely pleased with mine. Let me also say that I had a couple of issues with my previous bandsaw that were technically outside the warranty period. Grizzly took care of the issues fairly.

It isn't enough to simply say something is made in China vs. Taiwan, etc. Most manufacturers have specs to which they want their machines manufactured. One could have two machines that appear identical and made in the same factory, but the tolerances, bearings, "innerds", etc. could be entirely different. I think we can all agree that China is not known for its inherent quality, so we are relying on the various importers to require a certain level of adherence to standards. Grizzly seems to do well with that.

[Mikail Khan]

Is their equipment comparable to powermatic, delta, and steel city?


I am a hobbyist. I own 3 grizz machines. For me the equipment performs comparably - e.g. jointer produces straight edges as one would expect from powermatic, delta, or SC.

Warranty is one year as stated above and fit and finish may not be as nice as other more expensive machines, but that is not a requirement to produce good furniture.

For the 3 machines I purchased grizz offered the best value for my money.

From what I have read their customer service is good.

I expect that I will buy grizz machines again.

MK

[Jim Barstow]

We finished a new house (and new shop) last june and I upgraded all my machines. After a lot of research, I got a Sawstop table saw, grizzly 12" jointer, and grizzly 15" planer. All my previous equipment was made by Inca which is much smaller scale but absolutely the best in terms of fit and finish. My impression of grizzly is that it is much more industrial in nature so not as much attention is paid to the cosmetics. In terms of performance, both grizzly machines have been terrific. They required a little experimentation to dial in the best performance but so did the Inca.

I'm now going to replace my Inca bandsaw and I'm trying to decide between a grizzly 514x2 and 636x.

[Ben Martin]

Perhaps look into buying used tools. Not many people around here recommend it, but it is the best value.

With the economy in the terrible state that it is now, cabinet shops are going belly up all the time leaving and a good suppy of used industrial tools are available for bargain pricing. You just have to know where to look.

[Jeff Duncan]

Perhaps look into buying used tools. Not many people around here recommend it, but it is the best value.

With the economy in the terrible state that it is now, cabinet shops are going belly up all the time leaving and a good suppy of used industrial tools are available for bargain pricing. You just have to know where to look.


Ben offers good advice, the key is what your going to do with your equipment. Many on this forum are hobbiests and so they consider Powermatic and Delta to be top of the line and Grizzly to be industrial. Grizzly does have some machinery which would qualify as industrial,as do Delta and Powermatic, but those machines aren't talked about very frequently here.
Industrial machinery is very heavy, very expensive when new, and infinitely better than it's smaller cousins. Someone mentioned Inca as being high quality. Sure for small scale work it's pretty good. I looked at a couple of their machines years ago for my shop. But if you want to see real quality take a look at a Martin machine. SCM, Paolini, and much of the older American made equipment like Oliver, Buss, Whitney, those are quality machines.
All this to say your best bet for decent advice is to investigate one tool at a time and figure out what your needs and budget are. Personally I think the older Powermatic and Delta, (and Invicta if you can find them) are great machines and superior to Grizzly. But that's just my opinion from having used a lot of machinery over the years.As for the new stuff....well it's probably a toss up depending on the particular machine.
good luck,
JeffD

[Perry Underwood]

I live in Taiwan most of the year. I've had the opportunity to purchase several machines directly from manufacturers. I find it interesting to determine which company in Taiwan makes various machines that are sold in the states. Sometimes I do this to get a better manual for a particular machine. Here's a list of some of the major power tool manufacturers.

www.maoshan.com (http://www.maoshan.com)
http://www.rexon-taiwan.com.tw/home.htm
The above website is mostly in Chinese but I've included it over the English version because it shows more tools.
http://www.oavequipment.com/
The above company makes many of the tools for Jet. I visited their showroom once and half of it was of Jet tools.

The companies below seem to be more exporters than manufacturers. My assumption is that they provide tools from a variety of manufacturers. You can sometimes see machines from the companies above on their websites.

http://www.trupro.com.tw/com.htm
http://www.longthunder.com.tw/

Hope some find this of interest.

[Rick Fisher]

If I where you, I would post the type of tool your looking at. Most all those tools are from Taiwan or China. Your purchase decision should be based on customer service.

Grizzly is fantastic. If you have a problem, it will be addressed promptly. The top end Grizzly is the same stuff as the top end Powermatic and General, but cheaper because they sell direct.

WMH Group, Jet and Powermatic get good reviews for Customer service as well, but I think you might pay a premium for the gold paint.

Delta ... Black and Decker customer service.. They arent happy, till your not happy.

General International customer service is great. Its like dealing with a family. You pay a premium for the name, which is likely not worth it to most folks in the USA.

Steel City has fantastic customer service. There tools are no different than anyone else, other than the granite stuff. They are a new company and all the employees seem very customer driven.

[Jack Briggs]

with all my Griz stuff. AND??????? THey have some of the best customer service anywhere. Can ya name the owner of Powermatic, Steel City, etc.?:D

This is true and what it really comes down to for me.



Cheers,

[Shawn Siegrist]

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded, I was looking for a general over view of everyone opinion on Grizzly and I will definitly consider them for my future tool purchases.

My next purchase will probably be a 20" planer, I was leaning towards the steel city 40280 20" but for the same money I can get the Grizzly G0454Z 20" grizzly with a Spiral cutterhead.

Any opinions?


Thanks,
Shawn

[Marcus Ward]

I have several Grizzly machines and find them to be outstanding. It's curious we go on about fit and finish when comparing. Paying 2-5x as much for 'fit and finish' to me is foolish. Note, I said TO ME. And really, the Grizzly stuff looks great. I ain't putting this stuff in my living room, it doesn't need a walnut dashboard. For me the question is - can I get excellent service from the item at an affordable price point? With Grizzly, yes, without a doubt.

Also -- you guys ever see the president of powermatic, delta, general, etc post in this forum? You ever see those presidents take a personal interest when someone has a problem? Can you send a private message on this forum to those presidents asking about potential products and get a response? The answer is NO to all of the above. Mr. Balolia is the real deal, I think he's a bit of a Hank Rearden (Atlas Shrugged), and to me that's an admirable trait.

[Dick Bringhurst]

well said Marcus. Dick B.

[Rick Fisher]

A helical cutterhead on a planer is an excellent choice. Its an upgrade that should not be passed up if possible.

A Steel city with straight knives or a Grizzly with a helical head is a no brainer, take the helical head, you will never look back.

[scott spencer]

well said Marcus. Dick B.

...agreed...very well stated Marcus.

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thanks again for the information.

[Marcus Ward]

This is probably unnecessarily fractious so I'll delete it.

[Steve Griffin]

Hi Shawn,
I'm a big fan of Grizzly tools. I run a small 3 guy shop and most of my stationary tools are Grizzly.

In a circle around a Grizzly dust collector, I have 8" joiner, 3Hp shaper,20" planer, edge sander and 15" belt sander. Most of these are 9 years old and I hardly can think of a complaint.

On two of them, the electronic switches have failed, and that's about it for troubles.

I've just ordered a G1023 table saw with 7' rails, and look forward to setting it up.

-Steve

[Andy Casiello]

Another fan of Grizzly tools here too. I have a G1023SL table saw, a G0452 jointer and a G0513X2 bandsaw. They all have been great tools, work perfectly, run smooth and strong and look good. I'm very satisfied with their products.