I searched and searched and finally came to the conclusion that for the average home woodworker's budget, there are three types of bandsaws. Cheap ones that you will wish you didn't buy (think 12" saws made in China and sold at the big box stores), medium priced saws that are ok but have some serious shortcomings (think of the Delta and Jet low-medium priced models), and saws that are good but expensive (Powermatic and Delta X5). After reading absolutely everything written on the subject in the past 5 years (I am a librarian after all) I decided that this Grizzly saw deserves a category of its own. Though it is priced closer to the "cheap" category than the other two, it sports features and performance that are much closer to the "expensive" saw category.
Now that I own this saw I can say that my experience supports my research and vica-versa. Once it was properly set up, this saw has minimal vibration and I quickly came to appreciate features such as a great stand, excellent blade guides, a decent sized table (ground to a nice finish), blade quick-detentioner, a smooth running powerful motor, and a lightweight yet strong and accurate fence and rail system. Did I mention the stand? I am almost embarrased to go on about it, but from the pictures I was expecting a cheapo thin sheet metal stand that I would replace asap. Boy was I wrong. This stand is HEAVY gauge metal and bolts together quickly and perfectly to form a rock solid platform for this saw. I will never bother to change it. I am also well pleased with the power of the 1hp motor. I almost spent hundreds more for the Jet 1.25hp model and am really glad I didn't. With the 6" riser block and an average quality Olson resaw blade installed I have been able to resaw some HARD, 12" wide old growth pine into beautiful bookmatched pieces without so much as a stutter. I wasn't terribly gentle with the feed rate either. It has also handled resawing 6" white oak and walnut with ease.
Overall I can't say enough good things about this saw. The power is excellent, the features all exceed the hype, and the price is outstanding compared to the competition. I highly recommend this product and give Grizzly an A+ for offering high quality at such a great price. Grizzly G0555 The Ultimate 14" Bandsaw
After many months of agonized research, the decision was made to purchase this saw. I figured that because it was less expensive, it must be inferior. That is simply wrong. This saw has now been in service for over a year. It has run two-to-four hours a day, 5 days a week, for 13 months. The saw has never had a mechanical problem. The fence is still dead on. The motor has NEVER stalled, even when ripping 8/4 oak. I saved enough money buying this saw a year ago, and am so incredibly impressed, that now I am buying a second one. The second saw will have cool-blocks and keep a 1/8 inch blade permanently mounted. Both saws will cost less than ONE Delta. And the delta does not even have a fence.Also, the blade tensioning and release is much superior, and the dust collection is a a 4 inch port instead of 2 1/2 inch plastic piece that gets in the way.The saws arrived with one 3/8's inch blade that is 92 1/2 inches long. The only vendor that I have found for that lengh blade is Grizzly and it now seems that they are discontinuing their stock.The table tilt mechanism works well for a saw of this size. The rails for the fence are long enough to be able to mount the fence in FRONT of the blade when the saw is tilted. This was a very pleasant surprise.The handle broke off of the miter in the first months after my purchase. Customer service was fast, and accurate, and professional. The replacement part arrived in less than 72 hours.All-in-All... This is the best saw at this size on the market today.
I have delayed writing this review because I wanted several months and board feet under my belt before making comment. As my title suggests, it is a fine band saw for the money -- certainly a lot better than my old Craftsman 14"er that it replaced.
I'll get my complaints out of the way first:
1. The blade it comes with, and the other Grizzly blades I bought, are poor, poor blades. They go dull very, very quickly. I ended up buying a 3/4" 3tpi Lennox 92.5" Classic bi-metal and things improved dramatically.
2. The saw does not have a light to illuminate the blade and cutting area. Even my old Craftsman had a decent light to help see the work in progress.
3. Dust collection is barely adequate - even with the 4" chute and my 4" collection hoses. It leaves a lot of dust on the table and around the saw.
Now to what I like about it, in no particular order:
1. I love the table and fence system. The fence is easy to move and remove and accurate enough for my needs.
2. It is fairly quite and vibration free.
3. It handles re-sawing (with the Lennox blade) with ease. I re-saw 3" maple and walnut, and 4" Western Red Cedar, and the saw/saw blade handles it well.
4. Centering the blade is very easy with a handy knob that can be turned to adjust the blade and then locked in place.
5. Set-up was straight-forward and fairly easy.
6. Access to the blade and wheels is easy via the pop-open doors.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this band saw. I would buy it again, and would recommend it to my friends.
I now have three bandsaws... From 11" 12" and now the Grizzly 14".. and I must compare them all and my Jet 12" is a superior saw for general use... The Grizzly Ultimate is a close runner.. The Grizzly Ultimate 14" saw is not as smooth as I would have expected it to be.. A good product none the less and if it were my only saw I would have graded it at least 4.5 stars but since I can compare I've got to say the Jet 12" is a better, smoother, cleaner, quieter and more handsome saw.. (Just for comparative reasons alone) The Grizzly Ultimate does have some vibration and is a little more noisy.. Also, the saw is not what I call properly balanced on it's stand... Can be tilted forward (towards you) with ease.. Outstanding features on the Grizzly however... The rip fence and miter is super and works great... resawing is a breeze even at a max height of 6".. My saw arrived in perfect condition, easy to assemble and setup... Was up and running in less then an hour.. comes with a crappy blade installed but good enough for setup and general sawing I spose... No wheel brush but has a large 4" dust port.. All and all for the price and quality of the saw is super. Sorry Grizzly, you'll have to settle for Silver on this one as I have to place my JET in the Gold.... If only I hadn't compared this saw I wouldn't have known better.. - Grizzly - Riser - Woodworking - Bandsaw'
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