There is not much in the way of reviews out there on this saw. I see Popular Woodworking likes it, but other than that not many reviews yet. Anyone have one? Any comparisons to the Italian saws?
[OP]
Member
There is not much in the way of reviews out there on this saw. I see Popular Woodworking likes it, but other than that not many reviews yet. Anyone have one? Any comparisons to the Italian saws?
Member
It's a solid performer. I haven't seen the Italian saws, but I don't need to. I can't imagine what could possibly be done to improve this saw. I have it paired with the TriMaster 1" blade and can effortlessly saw paper thin veneer all day if I wanted to. The saw is everything Grizzly claims it to be.
Member
You are comparing apples and bananas.
Two different beast that dont come close.
Are you mainly using for resaw?
Member
Curious as to why you say that? Seems to me that it is a very reasonable question comparing relatively similarly spec'd bandsaws. Please justify your response for the benefit of the rest of us reading this thread.Originally Posted by Steven Hsieh
Member
Because the asian made and italians are built differently.
Moderator
I think the GO636XB' are very similar to the Italian saws. We may be mixing up the GO513 series bandsaws with the GO636. Grizzly's naming everything "Extreme" and "Ultimate" confuses sometimes.
The GO636 and the larger GO701 are Grizzly's direct attempt to compete with the Italian saws, so it would be a fair comparison. Whether or not they live up to the rightly deserved good reputation of the Italian saws will be answered by those who buy them and write their oppinions and reviews. My guess would be that, at their price point, they will review favorably. At this point, I'm not sure there are enough Grizzlies out there to get a lot of input.
John
Friend of the Creek
I've had one for at least a couple of years in my production shop. It replaced an 18" Jet. I've not operated any of the Italian saws, but I would be surprised if they could do anything I can't do with the Grizzly.
Perry
Member
Went through a similar process in at least two separate threads back in 2010 Jim: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...O636XB-bandsaw
I ended up buying an almost new 24in Agazzani that (very rare to see an Agg come up here) turned up as a result of shop going out of business at a very attractive price, and couldn't really turn it down. It's been great (hardly breaks sweat no matter what - while its predecessor - a much lighter German saw - struggled to control blade tracking on deep re-sawing), but then the opportunity has never come up to make a direct comparison.
I very much had my eye on one of the GO636XB family saws - they have some very nice features around the table tilt, availability of an extension table, the blade tensioning lever and so on. There's a UK distributor that seems to do it in different colours (out of the same Taiwanese factory as Grizzly), and another in Germany. The two users of the UK saws i found gave very positive feedback
It's extremely hard to get solid information by which to make the comparison between the 636 and the Italians though, never mind to confirm whether or not the saws going to Germany and the UK (my sourcing options) were the same spec as the Grizzly. In the end i basically failed and was overtaken by events when the 'safe' option of the Agazzani came up.
What seemed to emerge was that there's a well established market for big re-saw capable heavy duty model (there are lighter models in most ranges including the Grizzly) Italian bandsaws in the US (the heavy duty models of Agazzani/Minimax/Felder/Centauro etc), with the result that there's lots of highly credible and very positive reported user experience about. The trouble is that there's very little cross over between this Italian saw user community and those buying Eastern made saws.
There were some individual buyers of the GO636 that kindly posted in my threads and spoke very highly of it when used for similar tasks, but in the end it can be very hard to unravel what different people mean by 'good'. Many buyers of saws for example just use them in very undemanding ways - for profiling curved parts in sheet materials. Some use them for heavy re-sawing - but even that can be more or less demanding depending on needs and i felt i couldn't reliably get a lock on the 636.
Mr. Grizzly came on and was fairly cautious apart from generalised comment. I'd been hoping for information on specific design features (like the thickness of the sheet metal used in the chassis, stiffness relative to say the Minimax 16in - which the 636 was seemingly directly targeting - and so on), but none was available. Not from the UK or Germany either.
None of which solves a lot for you either. There hasn't been much comment about (that I've seen anyway) since then (around the time the 636 was introduced), and some of the Italians and their importers have struggled too what with the recession and so on. If I had to guess my sense is that the GO636 is rock solid, but maybe a few more users will post. Maybe you could get to do some testing on one??
ian
Last edited by ian maybury; 01-26-2013 at 11:48 AM.
Member
Thank you, Steven. Those are some of the most complete answers I've ever read, and you make a wonderful and compelling argument for the Italian saws. I can now see why you are such a fan. It's the details and your experiences/comparisons of both that won me over.
Contributor
I would call Grizzly and get someone who could speak to the frame construction. The specs state the saw is heavy- probably over 600 lbs net and heavier is better in the resaw world. Looks like the trunnions are solid. You should be able to compare the steet metal thickness on the neck and type of construction to the MM 16. If it compares favorably it then comes down to how well they balance the wheels and the quality of the motor. I don't know the cost of the MM16 but it seems the Grizzly is worth a look. There is a Bridgewood ACM 28" on CL at half the price so I'm not ever likely to buy new in the bandsaw world. Dave
Member
You, eloquently, took the words right out of my mouth. Well played.
[OP]
Member
Hopefully I'll get to see one in action at some point or meet someone that's has used the Italian saws and one of these. The fact that Popular Woodworking rated it so high really caught my interest and it does seem heavy enough to be a broadly capable saw. Like to take the plunge this year, it will really round out my shop. If money were not an object, the big Powermatic would probably be my choice, but...
Member
Powermatic in the last year came out with a new 15" model. http://www.powermatic.com/Products.aspx?Part=1791500
Priced at $2899.00. I got to see one at a local dealer and it looks to be well built. They had it sitting right next to a 19" Shopfox (grizzly Like) band saw and the powermatic looked way better built. But the Shopfox was priced at around $1,399.00 (And it also looked well built, just not as heavy duty)
Just to note- I was looking at bandsaws at my local dealer and was comparing the Shopfox with Grizzly (catalog). After dealer discount, tax, shipping, etc.... the dealer Shopfox brand came in at only $25 more vs the Grizzly. Does Shopfox have an ultimate bandsaw??? may be worth a check at your dealer. For $25 would gladly give my dealer the bizz to save the possible shipping damage hassle. Just some info for you to think about and look into.
Last edited by Dave Lehnert; 01-26-2013 at 5:13 PM.
"Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
- Rick Dale
Member
Just got home from Grizzly so while I was there I took a look at their bandsaws. The 0636 looks like twice the saw that the 0614 is, and the 0614 is a really nice saw IMO. Seems to have all the features one would need and that 5HP motor on the back looks impressive. Everything about it looked very sturdy and capable, but I can't compare it to the Italian saws as I haven't used on or seen one.
[OP]
Member
I did not see that one yet, looks nice, no real reviews for that either. Fits my shop a little better though...
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