Grizzly band saw

[Russ Boyd]

I know a lot of you guys have band saws. I am hoping to purchase the Grizzly GO555 soon. Can any one tell me if the base (platform) has holes in the bottom to allow for wheels? I like a particular wheel and don't really want the mobile base they make for it. Thanks for any replies. Keep up the good stuff. I've been reading this forum for a long time. It's great. Thanks again, Russ

[Don Dorn]

I just went out and checked mine. It was purchased in Dec of 03 so I can't say if they are the same still or not, but mine does have holes where the rubber pad bolts go through. Mine is on a mobile base but if you don't like that, you could put the wheels with the studs on top through them. If they aren't there on the new ones, the metal is not so thick you couldn't drill them.

[Paul Ryan]

Russ,

I just put my G0555 together Friday. It has rubber feet in all four corners that are adjustable to level. Instead of putting in the rubber feet you could just bolt in casters. It is just a whole in the base there is not a welded in nut or anything like that. The rubber foot is just a bolt with a rubber pad on it, you then thread on a nut slide on a washer. Then inside the base you put another washer and thread on another nut. Hope that helps.
I just put mine on a shop fox mobile base and it is really nice and stable. I dont really like the shop fox mobile base because it is all srewed together unlike the jet base I have on my table saw. But the rubber feet on the shop fox base, that you screw down to stabilze the base when you are going to use it, are really nice.

[John Bailey]

If they aren't there on the new ones, the metal is not so thick you couldn't drill them.

Don't take this to the bank, because I've not tried it, but is seems that somewhere here at the Creek there was a discussion that concluded the frame was not thick enough to hold the caster securely. If the casters were to catch on something while rolling the saw, it could bend the stand. Again, just something to check out.

John

[Russ Boyd]

Thanks for the replies. I'll go without the mobile base and make the other work. I can always attach a couple of pieces of angle iron to stiffen up the frame if needed. Thanks again, Russ

[Doug Rogers]

I used a Shop Fox mobile base on my G0555. On my Rigid jointer and my Ridgid planer I placed a piece of 3/4" plywood on the bottom of the machines. I made the plywood 2" wider than the machine in all directions. I put a WoodCraft locking swivel caster in each corner. I used carriage bolts, placing them through the casters and secured them with a washer and a bolt on top. I also rounded the corners off.

The machines are more stable now. They also roll around real easy.

Doug

[david kramer]

I have a 555x. I put casters through the holes in the corners of the base, it works just fine. I wouldn't worry about bending the base or anything like that. Griz supplies feet to go through those holes. If it can stand on the feet it can stand on casters.

Whatever you're going to do, do it before you assemble the saw. It's heavy and, if you have the riser, a pita to assemble. So once it's all put together you won't want to change whatever system you have there.

[Charlie Plesums]

... I wouldn't worry about bending the base or anything like that. Griz supplies feet to go through those holes. If it can stand on the feet it can stand on casters.....

Although you may be fine, the casters have far more side force than the feet.

[Jack Porter]

I just put my new G0555 on a mobile base, HTC2000, seems pretty stable and rolls around without a problem. So far so good, but this is based on about 1 hour of work.

[Gene E Miller]

Greetings & Salutations,

I have that same bansaw and put mine on a mobile base.

However the 2 swivel casters on the one end of the base
do not always swivel smoothly and if I am not careful the
saw tends to want to tip over, especially if I have my hands
too high on the throat of the saw.

I have to make sure I place my hands below the level of
the saw table and to not get in too big a hurry to move
or I get that tippy scare most everytime.

I got the mobile base from Rockler and have one on my
Grizzly Planer that moves smoothly with no problems but
this one has been difficult to move from day one.

Maybe I should have contacted Rocker about it but I move
the bandsaw so rarely that I just endure.

Gene

[david kramer]

Although you may be fine, the casters have far more side force than the feet.

Charlie,

I have a pretty smooth concrete floor so the saw rolls around with almost no side forces at all. If there is any side force it's when I'm resawing with the casters locked. In this case the casters are basically feet, it's a wash. So I don't understand your concern. Maybe I'm blissfully ignorant, all I can say is so far I've had no problems. Other than the fact that I don't like the casters I put on there, but that's a whole other story :).

David

[Charlie Plesums]

David, as long as your floor is smooth AND CLEAN you will probably not have a problem. When the wheels are stopped and you are sawing you will probably not have a problem.

My big bandsaw weighs about 1000 pounds (I don't know the weight of my small saw). If I am rolling that across the floor, and a wheel hits a power cord, a dropped screw, a scrap of wood, or a bump in an ALMOST level floor, there is one wheel that wants to stop, and a half ton of machine that wants to demonstrate the conservation of momentum in the direction it was moving. That becomes a large amount of horizontal stress on that wheel mount. Much more stress than when the saw was parked.

I am still not saying you will have a problem, but, as I said, the casters can have far more side force than the feet

[Burt Alcantara]

I've had my 0555 for about 3 years. In that time I've rearranged the shop about 5 times. While the saw is on a mobile base, I've found that it's not all that hard to move around without the base.

My 0514X2 is close to 300 pounds. I don't have any wheels on it but I find I can move it around when I need to change blades. In other words, you may not really need wheels, especially if you don't think you're going to be moving it all that much.

Burt

[Charlie Barnes]

I've had a G0555 for about 3 years now. I removed the leveler feet and mounted the stand to a piece of 3/4" plywood over sized vs. the original footprint by about 3 inches in both directions. I then mounted lockable casters to the plywood at each of the corners. Not pretty, but it works for me.

Charlie

[Garth Keel]

I have the Grizzly 555X on a Shop Fox Mobile base. It seems to work fine but I am a little uncomfortable when I move it due to the high weight distribution. No real problems but still I don't move it too often so it may not be a real problem.

[Greg Narozniak]

Mine is on a sheet of 3/4 ply mounted to the center of the Delta Mobile base that you add the 2x2 strechers and it has been fine for a number of years.