Opinions and experiences with Grizzly G0889 Planer?

[Andrew More]

I would buy a DeWalt DW734 before the Grizzly, and I've had good results with both companies. The question in my mind is how would you replace the blades on the Grizzly. With the DeWalt I can just go to my local Lowes/Home Depot.

[Alex Zeller]

I think that if it was me I would opt to get the Grizzly 0889Z. It's not much more than the DeWalt and you don't have to deal with knives. Most of the stuff I've bought from Grizzly has been very good. I have one that was less than I was hoping for so I see everything they sell as a risk. But I feel it's the stuff made in China that is more of a concern to me. If the G0889Z is made in Taiwan that's the one I would buy. If you decide down the road to swap out the cutterhead in the DeWalt to a Byrd you're going to have a lot more sunk into it. As a bonus with the inserts the chips are very small so they are much easier for a dust collector to remove.

[Charlie Jones]

I replaced my Delta lunchbox with a Grizzly G1037z planer /molder about five years ago. It is a heavy, well built in Taiwan machine with an induction motor. I haven’t used it as a molder yet but it is a good planer. It is limited to 13 inches but it fits well in a small shop. It cost a bit more than the Dewalt. I highly recommend it.

[Robert London]

Oliver also just came out with a portable unit that already has the BYRD installed.

It's about 150+ less money than buying the Dewalt and then retrofitting the new cutter. If I didn't already have my Cutech, I'd probably buy this.

https://olivermachinery.net/12-5in-planer

[Eric Schubert]

Hey Eric,

I highly recommend getting a better planer with some sort of spiral cutter and ditching the straight blades. A straight blade lunchbox planer is incredibly loud and the knives don't last long.

I bought the cutech 13" with snipe lock and carbide cutters. It's about 650 or so. Not a true spiral or helical system, but loads better than setting straight knives and a heck of a lot quieter. I've been running this thing almost a year and have yet to turn the cutters. I'll probably do so shortly. Made in Taiwan and a nice machine for the money.

https://cutech.tools/collections/pla...31617274282087

Thanks, Robert. I've seen a few mentions of Cutech, but don't know much about them. Discussions have been positive, though. So, I wouldn't rule them out. It seems spiral cutters pull more current during cutting due to the constant contact with the workpiece. But, I'm looking into adding 20A circuits in the garage to handle bigger tools anyway.

I would buy a DeWalt DW734 before the Grizzly, and I've had good results with both companies. The question in my mind is how would you replace the blades on the Grizzly. With the DeWalt I can just go to my local Lowes/Home Depot.

Good point. DeWalt blades are easier to find, especially locally.

I think that if it was me I would opt to get the Grizzly 0889Z. It's not much more than the DeWalt and you don't have to deal with knives. Most of the stuff I've bought from Grizzly has been very good. I have one that was less than I was hoping for so I see everything they sell as a risk. But I feel it's the stuff made in China that is more of a concern to me. If the G0889Z is made in Taiwan that's the one I would buy. If you decide down the road to swap out the cutterhead in the DeWalt to a Byrd you're going to have a lot more sunk into it. As a bonus with the inserts the chips are very small so they are much easier for a dust collector to remove.

Definitely costs more to add the Byrd head later on the DeWalt. I estimate the Grizzly G0889Z would run around $860 shipped to my door. However, if you can get the DeWalt on sale (or even buy with gift cards at a discount), it will be pretty close in cost. But not convenience, since the Grizzly already has the helical head installed.

I replaced my Delta lunchbox with a Grizzly G1037z planer /molder about five years ago. It is a heavy, well built in Taiwan machine with an induction motor. I haven’t used it as a molder yet but it is a good planer. It is limited to 13 inches but it fits well in a small shop. It cost a bit more than the Dewalt. I highly recommend it.

I'd love a larger machine, but it's just not going to happen in our 2-car garage. I need to park the cars in there, so tools need to be portable and take up as little space as possible. I'll likely attach the planer to a rolling cart, which will help.

Oliver also just came out with a portable unit that already has the BYRD installed.

It's about 150+ less money than buying the Dewalt and then retrofitting the new cutter. If I didn't already have my Cutech, I'd probably buy this.

https://olivermachinery.net/12-5in-planer

I'm not familiar with Oliver. I'll have to learn more about them. Shipping is almost $100, so it would be $770+tax+shipping, which totals approximately $920 here. As I mentioned above, if I can snap up the planer on sale, it may not make much difference. But having the helical head already installed is pretty convenient, and the Oliver comes with the Wixey height gauge, too. Lots of nice features listed for the Oliver. I'd just like to know a little more about Oliver as a company before committing to a purchase, since returns and service aren't as easy as running down to the big box store. It looks really good on paper, though. Thanks for mentioning this one.

On the upside, stimulus checks came in, so... maybe I'll get lucky and can convince the Mrs. to go for the pricier option without any real need for upgrades.

[Tim Nguyen]

+1 on Cutech. I bought mine about a year and a half ago. Planer has been fine and handles boards just fine. I am a hobbyist so I don't run a lot through, but I just rotated the blades.