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228 of 229 people found the following review helpful: By Scott Pointon "Former Marine, Librarian, Wood... (Crest Hill, IL United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Grizzly G0555 The Ultimate 14" Bandsaw (Misc.) 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,...Read more 213 of 215 people found the following review helpful: By Jon C Sandberg (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Grizzly G0555 The Ultimate 14" Bandsaw (Misc.) 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...Read more 127 of 128 people found the following review helpful: By Randy Ardie Davis "Dulcimer Maker" (Arlington, Tx United States) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Grizzly G0555 The Ultimate 14" Bandsaw (Misc.) 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...Read more |