Are grizzly machines good?

[Travis Conner]

I noticed the newer stuff seems to be a good bit cheaper than the other brands, powermatic, jet and delta. Is it a cheaper knock off? I know for the helical cutter heads, I believe they have their own in house brand of head.

[Richard Coers]

Your replies have a chance of being a little lopsided on this forum.

[jeff norris 2011]

Simple answer is yes. Yes they are good for the most part. They do have some less expensive items that aren't great, but I don't think anything in that price range is.

[Patrick Walsh]

This is all I’m gonna add. Staying out of this one..


https://media.giphy.com/media/tFK8urY6XHj2w/giphy.gif

Your replies have a chance of being a little lopsided on this forum.

[Travis Conner]

Let me know when you run out, I'll bring you a refill. 😁

[Andrew Seemann]

Well, they are pretty popular around here, and the owner is a sponsor of the site. That said, they are a pretty good value for what you get, and their selection and support is good. The "big four" for the last few decades have been Delta, Powermatic, Jet, and Grizzly (you could maybe include General in here, but alas, they are no more).

Delta kind of went into a tailspin after Pentair sold them, and is just starting to recover. Powermatic and Jet are owned by JPW. Powermatic is known for their warranty, which probably drives up the cost of their tools. Jet was kind of a quality but still value line, but has crept up in price over the years. Grizzly started out with a little bit of a suspect reputation (I'm thinking 30 years ago), but is now known as one of the more quality and reliable brands. My next jointer will more than likely be a Grizzly (someday, sigh).

I've had tools from all four, Delta, Powermatic, Jet, and Grizzly. No complaints on any of them, other than the fact that my jointer is too small, but that is not the fault of the jointer; just the guy to cheap to upgrade it.

[Mike Kees]

I don't think that the statement "Is it a cheaper knockoff" is true at all. They are marketed direct to the buyer ,essentially eliminating at least one layer of "middlemen"and therefore reducing cost to the consumer. I have a Grizzly cyclone dust collector and a grinder to sharpen planer knives,both are good machines that do what they are supposed to do. I pretty much put all Asian made equipment in the same category no matter the color,it works . Yes there are better made machines out there but they cost far more. There are different quality levels in Grizzly's catalog as well. Get a catalog and spend some time looking you will quickly figure out there are "budget" tools and then better ones,kind of something for everyone.

[glenn bradley]

It’s hard to classify by brand in today’s market. It is wiser to shop the machine, not the color of paint. Through no preplanned sort of grand scheme I have ended up with five grizzly machines in my shop. I also have Jet, Delta, Supermax and an array of other colors. For the particular grizzly machines I have I feel they are the best bang for the buck. In the cases where Powermatic and others make near identical machines the cost difference makes no sense to me. This does not mean that Powermatic, Jet and others don’t have their particular machines which excel; they do. The point being that a generic brand question is not really viable in today’s market.

[johnny means]

In general, Grizzly machinery is a good value. I've seen plenty of their machines do commercial duty day in and day out for years.

[Curt Harms]

When Grizzly first came on the scene they did sell some Harbor Freight level machines. I still have one, a Shop Fox metal cutting band saw. It's pretty crude but it cuts metal pretty accurately and given my frequency of use - rarely - and I paid $80 for it at one of the last tent sales in Muncy PA, pretty good value . Their higher $ machines compare favorably to Delta/Powermatic/Laguna etc. etc. I know some cases where owners of orphaned "American" conpanies' machines have found Grizzly parts to fit perfectly. So yeah, some Asian machines are indeed knock-offs of U.S. machines.

[Joe Hendershott]

Like most things- you get what you pay for. If you have never used a better built machine then you will be just fine.

[Mike Cutler]

Travis

I have absolutely no dog in this fight. I do not own, nor have ever used a Grizzly machine, but I have seen this question asked many, many times through the years.( I do have a Grizzly 3HP motor though.)

On this forum you have professional woodworkers, "prosumer" wood workers, some very talented hobbyists, and DIYs that need machines for home maintenance and the odd projects.
if you're processing thousands of linear feet cut of material through a machine on a weekly basis, than a Grizzly probably won't have a robust enough build for your needs.
It comes down to build quality and machine tolerance. Their machines are much lower priced than others, but they're not really intended for widespread application in a commercial, or industrial environment.
I will also say, at the risk of offending some folks, that the machine lines you are comparing them too, are overpriced when sold as new. This is reflected in Craigslist,and FaceBook Marketplace, adds all over the country.

The machine name, or color, has nothing to do with the quality of what is produced by the wood worker. I've seen folks that could pull a tablesaw out of a scrap dumpster, and do wonderful work with it, and I've seen folks with tablesaws that cost thousands of dollars that can't cut a straight line, square to a side, with it.

[Travis Conner]

That's the other thing is the jet 208HH planer is the same looking planer with 4 or 5 different brand names. Same thing with the jointer. The powermatic jointer looks the same as the grizzly jointer. The only difference visually is the maybe the handle and knob designs, so it's like who originally makes these?

[Edwin Santos]

I don't own any Grizzly tools but I certainly wouldn't disqualify them if I were in the market.

It seems to me that early on in their history, the quality of Grizzly tools was questionable. But at some point they made a commitment to improving the standards of their machinery and things improved quite a bit. I have worked in a shop where they had a large Grizzly jointer with a segmented cutterhead and it was very robust and stood up to a lot of volume. On this discussion forum, there are more than a few very discriminating woodworkers who seem to be enthusiastic endorsers of Grizzly based on their tool purchases.

[Andrew More]

I currently own an original G1023 Cabinet saw from the 90s, a 1 1/2 HP Cyclone Dust collector, and a 8" jointer with segmented cutter head. I am very pleased with all three purchases, at the price point. I think this is an important point to make. Grizzly has excellent machines, that perform the task at hand, but are not luxury products. If you like tools that are functional, then Grizzly is excellent. If you want a tool that will blow you away, with quality in every point, then maybe you want to think about something else.

All of my grizzly tools perform the task very well, in that I have little to complain about. However, the manuals tend to be subpar, generally consisting of simple black and white. In the case of the DC it was slightly out of date with the model I was actually shipped, which said I needed to direct wire the cyclone, but when it arrived actually had a plug. A quick call with one of their very helpful techs addressed the issue. I also had some minor issues with the power coat in the DC.

For the planer the mobile base that it shipped with would drop the base onto the floor with a very hard impact. Not a problem for anybody who occasionally moves theirs, but a problem for me, because I move it each time I use it. I fixed this with a new mobile base, instead of the free one included with the tool. I'm also a bit disappointed with the dust collection, in that the jointer does not appear to be sealed. This means I can feel the DC when I put my hand under the supporting table.

None of these are serious flaws that effect the quality or performance of the tool, but I also not the level of polish I would next expect it from a top of the line manufacturer either.

To me it's a bit of a Honda Civic, vs Bugatti Chiron distinction. A Honda Civic is a perfectly functional vehicle, but it's not going to have the same level of fit and finish. For me I don't need a luxury tool, so Grizzly provides excellent value for the money. I have bought tools from them in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.

I also drive a 13 year old Honda Accord, have a house in a less desirable neighborhood, in a low cost of ownership part of the country, and don't own any Festool products. I make a lot of my own tools, buy used off Craigslist, and look for deals on everything. For me value for money is a higher priority than people who want high fit and finish, cool looking tools, or items that convey status.

So you need to figure out for yourself what is your priority in buying tools. If you want something that works well, with a minimum of bells and whistles, Grizzly is a good brand. If you want something that looks amazing, will impress people, and has lots of bells and whistles, I think you want another brand.