Update on Grizzly G0514X2

[Richard Coers]

The saga of my lemon is all over. It only cost me $34 and about 8 hours of labor to not get a band saw from Grizzly. They did not refund the $34 lift gate delivery charge, but did completely refund the machine price and regular delivery charges. Some details of the machine. It was a vibrating mess on initial start up, and the table blade slot was miss bored. After making parts orders for a replacement bottom wheel and a second order for the bearings on the bottom wheel, the machine still had a ton of vibration. The table blade slot pin would align the table halves if the pin was in mid positon. Push it all the way in and the back of the table would be high, pull it out too far and the front would be too high. I asked for and received a return authorization. It took a couple of emails to get them to agree to pay for a return lift gate service. I paid for the initial lift gate delivery, and for some reason they had to be reminded that it is their policy to pay for return lift gate service if the delivery service was on the initial order. They evaluated the returned saw and agreed that the top wheel was also bad, and the table was warped. So on a machine with basically two moving parts and a table, all those were bad from the factory. The frame, motor, pulleys, and switch were good. So, to be fair, not everything was bad. The customer relations people were always professional, and very helpful. I've decided to hot rod my Minimax S45 for a little more resaw capacity since that machine seems like a dream compared to what I bought. Lessons learned, and not too expensive.

[Dave Morrow]

Wow, quite a saga. I ordered a Grizzly 14" bandsaw back in December and it came with a warped table as well. When I inserted the table slot pin the table was too high on the trailing edge of the slot. The work piece would catch in the slot everytime. Customer service shipped me a new table immediately and it's been fine since.

I've heard a few of these stories lately. Not sure I would order from Grizzly today considering what I've been reading.

[Brad Patch]

In my younger days I worked at a facility that made cast iron machine parts. Newly cast iron parts are not dimensionally stable and will continue to change shape. The standard practice at that time was to store newly cast parts outside for an extended time and let them season, prior to final machining. Final machining newly cast iron parts is asking for the type of problem stated.

I'll admit that this perhaps is an old fashioned process and no doubt there are more modern ways to handle newly cast parts.

[John Coloccia]

My table did the same exact thing. I ended up taking a file and modifying the hole to get the table halves to align. The rest of my saw seems fine, though. I'm glad you were able to work it out where it wasn't too painful, Richard. That really stinks.

[Chuck Wintle]

In my younger days I worked at a facility that made cast iron machine parts. Newly cast iron parts are not dimensionally stable and will continue to change shape. The standard practice at that time was to store newly cast parts outside for an extended time and let them season, prior to final machining. Final machining newly cast iron parts is asking for the type of problem stated.

I'll admit that this perhaps is an old fashioned process and no doubt there are more modern ways to handle newly cast parts.

Its a method that is not used anymore fro what I understand....now they cycle the parts through an oven that heats them and then cools of very slowly.

[Andrew Joiner]

I had an 18" Rikon for several months. I got it in the shop and it had several problems. Rikon was nice about shipping me free parts, but I finally got tired of rebuilding a "new" saw and took it back to Woodcraft. I may have gotten a lemon or I'm to much of a perfectionist as I see lot's of people are happy with 18" Rikons.

Now I have a Grizzly 21". It's a great saw. None of the problems the Rikon had. Many people on this forum have 17" and 19" Grizzly bandsaws and love them.

[Sam Layton]

Richard,

I also have a MM S45. I am interested in how you are going to Hot Rod yours, and what kind of blade you are going to use?

Sam

[jonathan eagle]

Too bad about the saw. You obviously shouldn't have to rebuild one. I've had great luck with grizzly. And the customer service is the best, even if you got a lemon.

[Joel Shappell]

I too own Grizzly tools and upon arrival there were a few broken parts due to shipping. Customer service was great and quickly sent me the replacement parts. I'd buy from Grizzly again.

[Richard Coers]

My saw had nothing to do with shipping. It was several issues of poor quality from the factory. I own Grizzly tools, I started a business with Grizzly tools, and have purchased Grizzly machines for my day job. So I know all about Grizzly since the day they opened for business. Since day one they have asked me if I have received a good product based upon the price paid. This time was a definite NO. I will not be buying machinery from Grizzly again.

[Chuong Nguyen]

This is my first post, and probably shouldn't start with something negative, but I just purchased my very first Grizzly tool, a G0514X bandsaw, and received it this past Friday. All seems ok, except one of the holes in the table top (to accept the brackets the fence rides on) was not threaded. Not sure how they missed that one. I'm waiting for them to call me back. I hope the Customer service is as good as everyone states.