In a previous thread I sought some information regarding my newly ordered Grizzly G1023SL. Figured I'd share my experiences with the acquisition . . .
Saw was ordered from Grizzly on Monday 10/26 at 10:00 AM. Figured it would be a week or so making it to Georgia. Salesperson said would only take 3-5 days. Great! I had read some other posts on SC indicating
Grizzly's shipping delivery was quite fast. I watchted UPS Freight's tracking on the shipment. Within 36 hours my saw moved from Harrisburg, PA to Atlanta, GA. The next day, Thursday, the saw made a 30 minute trip
from Atlanta to Blue Ridge, GA where UPS handed it off to a subcontracting freight company (Ground Cartage Company). Blue Ridge is 58 miles away. Tracking showed delivery scheduled for Friday 10/30 (4th
day), so I rearranged my work schedule to be available. No delivery by late in the day, so I called UPS who put me in touch with Ground Cartage. I was told that they should be able to deliver the shipment - get this -
THE NEXT THURSDAY! (That is 8 days after they received the shipment.) What really got my goat, was when the guy suggested I could drive over and pick the shipment up myself! Called UPS. Two customer service
persons I spoke with were dismayed. They put me on hold while they called Ground Cartage - said there was nothing they could do. Called Grizzly. VERY helpful customer service person took my information and
said they would get back to me. There was, of course nothing Grizzly could do - and it wasn't their fault - I just felt they needed to know what UPS Freight had done with their shipment. I received at least four
calls from Grizzly checking on the situation over the next week . . . and, yes, Ground Cartage sat on my saw for 8 days before delivering it - just as they said they would. In summary, Grizzly gets high marks for
showing concern and following up repeatedly on something they didn't cause and could do nothing about. UPS Freight did a good job getting the shipment in the general area - but their choice of contractor for end-point delivery in north Georgia . . . well, it just stinks. End of rant.
Now, to the saw. I've read numerous posts regarding concerns about Grizzly's packing methods - and with my saw spending an extra 8 days "who knows where", I was a bit apprehensive. The Grizzly customer service folks I talked to all emphasized the importance of inspecting the shipment and noting even the slightest damage to packing on the shippping receipt. I would say that, in my case, the packing was in "fair" shape. The cardboard carton was crumpled from weight placed on top of it. The second carton containing the fence parts (at about 100 lbs.) was on top of the saw carton on the truck. This may have been the source of the crumpling.
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On removing the cardboard carton I was pleased to find a thick block of styrofoam fitted to the saw's table and extending maybe 3" below the table. That's some pretty good protection. The palette on which the saw sat was caving on one side. But . . . the packing seems to have done its job - and that's all we really care about, right?
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First order of business in setup is removing the cosmoline from the metal surfaces. Read a lot of whining about how hard this is. Used my favorite solvent: WD-40, a plastic squeegee, and half a roll of paper towels. 30 minutes. Done. No big deal . . . But, let's talk about the finish on the table. VERY NICE. Better that the finish on practically every saw I have looked at. Saw Stop probably has an equal table finish. High marks to Grizz here as well.
Answers to my previous post requesting mobile base suggestions convinced me to build my own. I temporarlily attached the table extesions so I'd have something to lift by. Here's a picture of assembly to that point.
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Haven't had the time I'd like in the shop this week, but just finished my mobile base tonight. Tomorrow Kubota meets Grizzly, Grizzly meets mobile base. Will post photos.