Grizzly G0526 6" Jointer - Review
George Gibeau
observations and a couple of questions.
This is their "6th Anniversary Edition" spiral cutter head jointer (it was
my Christmas present from SWMBO - they just started receiving these items
into their warehouse). The jointer comes in 2 boxes, the first one,
weighing around 90kg, contains the jointer bed, fence and misc. parts. The
second box, weighing ~50kg, contains the base and magnetic switch arm. I
was able (with some creative swearing) to fit both boxes in the back of a
RAV4. Once home, I managed to wrestle the boxes out of the car into my
shop, and started the process "some assembly required". Once I got the
components out of the box, I spent about an hour removing all the cosmoline
(or whatever they use to keep the metal from rusting on the boat ride over).
Next was to lay out all the parts and read through the instruction manual.
While the manual is well written, there are some differences between reality
and the manual (and since this is a brand new model, I would not have
through that there would be differences). The fence is shipped unattached
from the bed - which actually makes cleaning the anti-rust gunk a lot easier
(the manual states to remove the fence to clean the sliding parts). The
base is the new whitish color, powder coated, and is very stable. I had to
call my neighbor to help me get the bed up onto the base (it only takes 3
bolts to hold it on - but you need some tiny hands to get the bolts to go
from inside the base up into the bed). The next step is to install the
v-belt, ensure the pulleys are aligned, install the dust port, install the
fence, and then the safety cutter head cover - and here is where my first
problem manifested itself. The safety cover is supposed to be installed
through a hole and make attachment to a spring-loaded device underneath the
bed - the theory is that when you push a board through, the safety cover
moves out of the way (counter-clockwise) and then springs back. However,
for the life of me, I cannot get it to function as it is supposed to. I
even took the spring device apart and cleaned and oiled it, but to no avail.
The orange safety cover pivots, but does not "spring" back to its original
position (guess I will stop by the store and talk to them - I live about 25
minutes from the Springfield, MO Grizzly showroom/warehouse).
Does anyone else have this jointer yet - and if so, did you get the safety
cover to work correctly?
Next was to install the hand wheels, the v-belt cover and mount the magnetic
switch arm. I am a bit reluctant to attempt power yet until I get the
problem with the safety cover resolved. The spiral cutter head appears to
be pretty massive, and the indexed cutter blades appear to be very easy to
rotate to a new cutting edge if they become dull or get chipped - certainly
easier than setting a blade ;-)
Included are some extras such as; 2 orange push blocks - kinda of cheap,
but hey - at least they did not come with a HCA enrollment ;-), 5 extra
cutter blades in a cute little plastic box, 5 torx drill bits sized for the
cutter blades (not sure why 5), extra cutter blade screws, and open end
wrench that has the correct mm ends for all bolts that you need to turn to
assemble.
All in all it seems like a well built unit - very sturdy and attention to
detail seems pretty good - - however I will save my final analysis until I
actually run some wood through it.
Regards,
-George-
Brian
This is indeed an interesting jointer. I'm ready for a new unit myself, and
it is on my short-list. Cons for me with this jointer are price, inability
to re-sharpen those squares, and concern about being the guinea pig for a
new "technology" from Grizzly. I also wonder how the squares are seated on
that cutterhead. If those things have a tendency to become unaligned, I
think it could be a big headache.
With Woodcraft offering 10% off the Powermatic 54A next weekend, I think
I've made up my mind, but would still love to hear about your results!
Brian.
"George Gibeau" <ggi...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:mpZdc.1035$FB1...@fe25.usenetserver.com...
Harvey Levin
However, I do remeber having more than a few choice words with the spirits
in my shop about getting that damned safety cover on. Sounds like you have
the same problem. Take a look at the directions again. You need to rotate
the spring-loaded pin on the safety cover a couple (or a few) turns in one
direction or the other and then while the pin is under load, slip it into
the hole on the jointer bed. Once it's in there, when the cover is pushed
off the head, it will spring back into place after the wood goes past the
head. Now, the pin has a couple of slots in it that fit over a small metal
wire in that hole, so good luck getting it lined up. It's a stupid design,
but I have nothing to compare it to, so maybe all jointers are like this and
I'm just being daft.
"George Gibeau" <ggi...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:mpZdc.1035$FB1...@fe25.usenetserver.com...
George Gibeau
however once pressure is removed from the coverplate, it does not "spring"
back. I will try what you suggested and see what happens..
-George
"Harvey Levin" <harvey...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:PZ%dc.9661$192.8750@lakeread06...
George Gibeau
The squares are seated on the cutterhead in a slot, and have a small "dot"
depression on each square for indexing. If one edge gets dull or chipped,
you just loosen the torx screw and rotate the square 90 degrees - really no
way to get them back in place out of alignment.
I will definitely report back in a day or two once I run some wood through
it.
-George-
"Brian" <bria...@oohay.com> wrote in message
news:107gr8h...@corp.supernews.com...
Andy
<ggi...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>Just picked up my new Grizzly G0526 6" jointer yesterday - and have a few
>observations and a couple of questions.
>
>SNIP...
>
>Does anyone else have this jointer yet - and if so, did you get the safety
>cover to work correctly?
>
>
>Regards,
>
>-George-
>
George, I have a different model Grizzly jointer and had the same
problem. If you dismantle the spring return device and look closely
at the spring inside, the spring pins may not be lining up but binding
inside the housing. I was able to bend the ends of the spring
slightly with vise grips & pliers, re-assemble, and it works fine now.
If you are close to a Grizzly outlet and don't want to mess with it,
I would get them to give you a replacment part.
- Also check the spring tension winding as another poster suggested.
>>> Andy
Morris Dovey
> from inside the base up into the bed). The next step is to install the
> v-belt, ensure the pulleys are aligned, install the dust port, install the
> fence, and then the safety cutter head cover - and here is where my first
> problem manifested itself. The safety cover is supposed to be installed
> through a hole and make attachment to a spring-loaded device underneath the
> bed - the theory is that when you push a board through, the safety cover
> moves out of the way (counter-clockwise) and then springs back. However,
> for the life of me, I cannot get it to function as it is supposed to. I
> even took the spring device apart and cleaned and oiled it, but to no avail.
> The orange safety cover pivots, but does not "spring" back to its original
> position (guess I will stop by the store and talk to them - I live about 25
> minutes from the Springfield, MO Grizzly showroom/warehouse).
>
> Does anyone else have this jointer yet - and if so, did you get the safety
> cover to work correctly?
I have adifferent model and discovered that vertical positioning
of the guard is important. You might experiment a bit.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
Gordon Airporte
so the split pin engages the spring, wind it up whichever direction is
appropriate, then clamp it in place temporarily and put the fence back on.
George Gibeau
someone else mentioned. I tried some of the suggestions below, but none of
them seemed to improve the situation - the problem is that if I wind the
cutterhead counter-clockwise enough to get enough tension on the spring to
return the cutterhead against the fence, the spring lets loose inside its
housing. Oh well.
In spite of that - I decided to at least test the machine ;-) I really like
the way the magnetic switch works. The off button depresses, and you cannot
apply power until you rotate the off button to the right about a quarter
turn (there is a power indicator light between the on and off switch).
After I double checked all bolts and made sure I left nothing laying on the
top of the bed, I switch the unit on (keeping my hand on the off switch just
in case) - I was pleasantly surprised by the noise level of this unit - it
really was not much louder than my drill press - without hearing protection
it was certainly comfortable, with hearing protection the noise all but
disappeared. I then ran some board across it (being extra careful of my
hand position due to the cutterguard not having spring tension on it -
although I did leave it in place) - I tried red oak, white oak, hard maple,
cherry, walnut and poplar. Wow - the finished cut is really nice - very
smooth, no chatter marks, no snipe - the table and the fence was almost dead
on from the factory (had to do some minor adjustments to the infeed table
gib and the fence) - and the manual has very clear instructions on how to
check to ensure you are at factory spec. The dust port on the side of the
base provided excellent dust control - and very little dust/chips stayed up
around the bed area.
With the exception of the spring for the cutterhead, I am very impressed by
this unit.
If anyone lives in the Springfield, MO area and actually wants to see one
in action - drop me a line (they don't have this unit set up in the showroom
yet).
-George-
no affiliation with Grizzly other than a satisfied customer, blah, blah,
blah.. - heck, I teach networking technologies at the local college and
sometimes wish I worked at Grizzly ;-)
"George Gibeau" <ggi...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
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Brian
running wood across it!
Brian.
"George Gibeau" <ggi...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
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